Tanner Akol, David Mondragon, Dos Santos and Tayou are participating in their first Concacaf Championship.
GROUPS AND FORMAT:
Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Guatemala
Group B – Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, U.S. Virgin Islands
Group C – USA, Bonaire, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas
Group D – El Salvador, Guadaloupe, Belize, Guyana
The complete schedule can be found here.
The top two teams in each group after round robin play advance to the quarterfinals and will be matched up as follows:
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A1 vs. B2; A2 vs. B1
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C1 vs. D1; C2 vs. D1
The winners in each bullet above will meet in the semifinals, and the two finalists will square off in the title game and automatically qualify for the 2019 FIFA Beach World Cup in Paraguay.
THE USA’S GROUP OPPONENTS:
Bonaire:
The Caribbean island of Bonaire is a relatively ‘new’ participant in the region, accepted by Concacaf’s XXVIII Ordinary congress as an Associate Member in April 2013. The island was formerly part of the Netherland Antilles, and in 2010 became a “special municipality” of the Netherlands, officially considered “public bodies” under Dutch law.
They recently fielded teams at the senior level in Concacaf Nations League Qualifying and in the first round of the Concacaf U-17 Championship. They are not a FIFA member nation, therefore not eligible to represent the region at the World Cup should they finish in the top two. The USA has never played Bonaire at any national team level.
Roster:
Alsy Anthony, Henrich Beaumont, Raydolf Felix, Elionard Janga, Ruvelio Josephia, Ruviano Josephia, Clifford Martis, Gilbertson Piard, Edson Sint Jago, Giandro Steba, Andrew Wout, Cristian Zuniga.
Antigua and Barbuda:
The USA has faced Antigua and Barbuda in each of the last two Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship. In the 2015 group opener, the USA won 4-1 behind goals from Andrew Feld, Chris Toth, Nick Perera and Lewie Valentine. In 2017, the USA won 7-2 with two goals from Valentine and one each from Feld, Ryan Futagaki, Mathew Van Zytveld, Alessandro Canale as well as an own goal.
Roster:
Samuel Watley, Desmond Bleau, Kevin Richards, Omarie Daniel, Elvis Thomas, Shakore Simon, Chevon Moore, O’Dell Murray, Stephen Hughes, Roy Yorks, Janiel Simon, Malique Jarvis.
Bahamas:
This is the sixth straight Beach Soccer Championship in which the USA and Bahamas will square off, with the USA winning the previous five meetings:
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June 17, 2009 in Puerto Vallarta: W 6-2; Anthony Chimienti (3), Brendan Taguinod, Yuri Morales (2)
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Dec. 2, 2010 in Puerto Vallarta: W 6-3; Chimienti (2), Oscar Gil (2), Zak Ibsen, Yuri Morales
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May 10, 2013 in Bahamas: W 9-2 W; Perera (3), Valentine, Taguinod (2), Chimienti (2), Eric Meister
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March 31, 2015 in El Salvador: W 6-2; Valentine (3), Jason Leopoldo, Feld, Mike Griffin
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Feb. 26, 2017 in Bahamas: W 4-2; Oscar Reyes, Canale, Perera, Toth
Roster:
1-Michael Butler, 2-Timothy Munnings, 3-James Thompson, 4-Jean Francois, 5-Kyle Williams, 6-Gary Joseph, 7-Nesly Jean, 8-Dwayne Forbes, 9-Daron Beneby, 10-Lesly St. Fleur, 11-Gavin Christie, 12-Torin Ferguson
HISTORY OF BEACH CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING:
The first official FIFA Beach World Cup was held in 2005 and was played every year from 2005-2009. Teams from Concacaf and CONMEBOL combined for an ‘America’s Championship’ to determine its four participants for the inaugural Beach World Cup.
Concacaf held its first stand-alone Beach Soccer Championship as its World Cup Qualifiers in 2006, before the two Confederations joined again in 2007. Since then Concacaf has held its own Championship, including in 2008 and 2009. The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup switched from annual to a bi-annual event in 2011, with Concacaf holding respective Beach Championships in 2010 (for the 2011 World Cup), 2013, 2015, 2017 and this year.
CONCACAF ENTRIES AT THE FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUPS:
The U.S. has qualified for four of the nine FIFA Beach World Cups: 2005 Brazil, 2006 Brazil, 2007 Brazil and 2013 Tahiti.
2005: USA - Third place in Combined Championship (Concacaf/Conmebol)
2006: USA – Winner, Inaugural Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
Canada – Runner up, Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
2007: USA – Winner of Combine Championship (Concacaf/Conmebol)
Mexico – Top Four
2008: Mexico – Winner, Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
El Salvador – Runner up
2009: El Salvador – Winner, Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
Costa Rica – Runner up
2010: Mexico – Winner, Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
El Salvador – Runner up
2013: USA – Winner, Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
El Salvador – Runner up
2015: Mexico – Winner, Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
Costa Rica – Runner up
2017: Panama – Winner, Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship
Mexico – Runner up
Bahamas – World Cup Host
ALL-TIME GOALS IN QUALIFYING:
The USA roster has scored a combined 53 goals over the past six Championships. Leading the attack is Nick Perera, whose 24 goals in three editions makes him the USA’s all-time leading scorer in World Cup Qualifying. Alessandro Canale is fifth all-time in Qualifying with 11, followed by Ryan Futagaki (7), Chris Toth (6), Oscar Reyes (3) and Jason Santos 2.
Assistant coach Francis Farberoff scored 10 total goals, and is the only USA player to score in seven different Concacaf Championships (2005-2013).
The USA’s top-five scorers in World Cup Qualifying:
24 - Nicolas Perera: 11 (2013), 9 (2015), 4 (2017)
21 - Yuri Morales: 5 (2006), 4 (2007), 2 (2008), 7 (2009), 3 (2010)
20 - Anthony Chimienti: 3 (2006), 2 (2007), 3 (2008), 3 (2009), 6 (2010), 3 (2013)
12- Brendon Taguinod: 1 (2006), 4 (2007), 2 (2008), 2 (2009), 3 (2013)
11 - Jevin Albuquerque: 6 (2007), 3 (2008), 2 (2010)
11 - Alessandro Canale: 2 (2015), 9 (2017)
