Montserrat will host Belize at Trinidad's Ato Boldon Stadium from 7 tonight to open World Cup qualifying in one of five CONCACAF preliminary round match-ups. Belize will host the second leg four days later in Belmopan with the winner advancing to the World Cup qualifying draw at Rio de Janeiro on July 30. Anguilla will play the Dominican Republic July 8 and 10, with both games in Estadio de Futbol Pan Americano in San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic.
The US Virgin Islands will host the first leg of its series with the British Virgin Islands on July 3 in St Thomas and then travel to Tortola for the second leg a week later. Guillermo Trinidad Stadium in Oranjestad will be the venue for the first leg on July 8 for Aruba's series against St Lucia, which will host the second leg on July 12. The final series between Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands will be played July 2 and 9, beginning in Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos Islands.
The five winners, along with Bermuda, will be grouped together for the World Cup draw. They will join 18 other teams, all divided into six-team pots. The 24 teams will be drawn into six, four-team groups for the first group stage. The six first-round group winners will advance to a semifinal round with the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Cuba. The 12 teams will then be divided into three, four-team groups, with the top two in each qualifying for a final six-team, or "hexagonal" round.