in the Hex based on FIFA rankings. What happened last qualifying campaign for El Salvador? They finished last in a group including Canada for the chance to even get into the Hex. What have they done since then? They flunked out of the Gold Cup in the Group Stage, with Curacao making it out ahead of them after El Salvador suffered an embarrassing beatdown from Honduras. The fact that they would automatically qualify over Canada and Curacao in this context makes absolutely no sense, as they are only buoyed by their achievements from many years ago, with the FIFA Rankings serving as a life raft in the middle of the CONCACAF sea for them to cling on to.



It makes CONCACAF less competitive at the World Cup:



Canada was hopingthe old qualifying system was imposed (for teams that look weakened like Honduras and El Salvador, who both failed to make the knockout stages of the Gold Cup). Lastly, the quality and the intensity of the Hex will suffer, as the big appeal of it before was that it provided a final stage of qualifying after a couple of intense rounds, meaning each team came in at the top of the game. Now? The first few matches will be lethargic, as teams go from Nations League and Friendlies to having to fight for their World Cup lives right away, but in a system like the Hex, that allows them 2 or so games of leeway to get comfortable, as teams take the time to adjust to the standard.



Teams