LONDON (AP) " World Cup qualifying in North America set to be overhauled to avoid shutting out the majority of countries in the CONCACAF region so early. "Something needs to change because you can't have 85 percent of your members who are on the outside looking in two years before the World Cup," Montagliani told The Associated Press. Since qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, CONCACAF has used a system where teams play home and away in early rounds. "So we seriously need to look at our World Cup qualifying system that is a bit archaic. The top four have guaranteed World Cup places and the fifth-place team has to go through a playoff against a country from Oceania.

Source: New Zealand Herald October 09, 2016 13:18 UTC