CONCACAF qualifying draw for 2018 World Cup

An official announcement of the game will be made on Sunday and a news conference with further details will be in St. Louis on Monday.

Given a bye in the first three rounds along with the other powers of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, the United States was drawn into Group C for the fourth round, which will include Guatemala or Antigua and Barbuda, and Aruba or St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The United States, who have qualified for the last seven World Cups, will begin their quest for an eighth straight appearance in Russian Federation in 2018 with Trinidad & Tobago likely to provide the toughest opposition in their first qualifying group. But St. Louis has recently attracted large crowds to Busch Stadium, as well as to the Edward Jones Dome for friendly soccer games.

The top two teams from each group in the semifinal round, which kicks off in November, advance to the six-team final stage. In Saturday’s draw, the U.S. avoided Honduras, Panama, Jamaica and Haiti. Most of those have been met with impressive crowds.

The World Cup trophy recently won by the U.S. women in Canada will also be on display. Two of the team’s five home matches in the final round of qualifying for Italy 1990 were held at the Soccer Park in Fenton, as well as a match in an earlier round of qualifying. Each of the Semifinal Round group winners and runners-up making up the well-known “Hexagonal” that determines which CONCACAF nations will qualify for the 2018 Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cup. Play resumes March 25 and 29, and then takes a six-month break before concluding September 2 and 6, 2016.

Other large crowds watched professional men’s teams.