The draw details for the Concacaf Qualifiers to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 have been confirmed.
The draw will take place on August 19 and as previously announced, the Concacaf Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 will take place over the course of three rounds, beginning with the First Round in October and November 2020.
Thirty of Concacaf’s 35 FIFA Member Associations will start the journey to compete for the region’s 3.5 qualifying spots.
Based on the FIFA World Ranking as of 16 July 2020, the draw for the first round will allocate the 30 lowest-ranked Concacaf teams to six groups.
The pots for the first-round draw are as follows:
Pot 1: El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Panama, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago
Pot 2: Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic
Pot 3: Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bermuda, Belize
Pot 4: St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Montserrat, Dominica, Cayman Islands
Pot 5: Bahamas, Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla
The draw will begin by allocating the 30 teams into six different groups consisting of five teams in each group. The six teams from Pot 1, including 2018 FIFA World Cup participant Panama, will be pre-seeded to positions A1, B1, C1, D1, E1 and F1.
The highest-ranked team in Pot 1, El Salvador, will occupy position A1, while the lowest-ranked team in Pot 1, Trinidad and Tobago, will occupy position F1.
The draw will continue by identifying groups for teams in Pots 2, 3, 4 and 5. The position which each team occupies in a group is determined based on the pot from which it is drawn. For example, teams from Pot 2 will be placed in position 2 of each group, teams from Pot 3 in position 3 of each group and so on.
Teams drawn from each pot will be allocated to groups sequentially: A to F. The first team drawn will be placed in Group A, the next team drawn will be placed in Group B and so un until Group F.
Premier League COVID-19 cases drop again with eight new positives
The Premier League has announced eight new positive cases from its most recent two rounds of coronavirus testing, half the amount of players and club staff who tested positive the previous week.
Testing was ramped up to twice a week earlier this month due to a rise in the infection rate across the league and the United Kingdom in general.
A record 40 positives were identified between December 28 and January 3, with a further 36 cases confirmed the following week.
However, the number dropped by 20 between January 11 and 17 and has seen another significant decrease this time around.
Across the two rounds carried out between January 18 and 24, 2,518 players and staff were tested for the virus – eight returned positive results.
The Premier League does not provide specific information over who the individuals are who test positive, nor which clubs they are associated with.
Dardai back in charge at struggling Hertha Berlin
Pal Dardai had no doubts about stepping back up to coach Hertha Berlin again following his appointment on a deal that runs until the end of the 2021-22 season.
Having played for the club between 1997 and 2012, the former Hungary international was head coach from 2015 through to 2019.
Since then, Ante Covic, Jurgen Klinsmann and, most recently, Bruno Labbadia have been in charge, the latter fired - along with sports director Michael Preetz - following Saturday's 4-1 home loss to Werder Bremen that left Hertha down in 14th position in the Bundesliga table.
The club have moved quickly to find a replacement, returning to a familiar face by promoting Dardai, who had been working in the academy.
"It certainly wasn't my plan to move from the under-16s back to being first team coach, but nobody needs telling what Hertha means to me, so there was no doubt in my mind that I would be ready to help out in this situation," Dardai said.
"I am looking forward to the challenge and working together with the team."
Dardai's former assistants Andreas Neuendorf and Admir Hamzagic have also returned to their previous roles, joining fitness coaches Henrik Kuchno and Hendrik Vieth, plus goalkeeping coach Zsolt Petry, on a new-look staff.
Hertha - who are winless in four games, scoring just once during that run - are next in action on Saturday, travelling to in-form Eintracht Frankfurt.
Scolari leaves Cruzeiro after steering them to safety
Veteran head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has left Cruzeiro after steering them to safety in Brazil's Serie B.
Cruzeiro were shockingly relegated from the top flight for the first time in their history in 2019, and in October appointed World Cup-winning coach Scolari on a contract until the end of 2022.
When the 72-year-old took over, the four-time Brazilian champions were second-bottom due to a poor start and a six-point deduction after being found guilty of an unpaid transfer debt by FIFA.
A seven-game unbeaten run at the start of Scolari's tenure got them out of the relegation zone but back-to-back defeats to Oeste and Juventude this month put them back in danger of dropping into Serie C.
A 2-1 victory over Operario-PR last week finally secured their safety, and Scolari has subsequently stepped down.
A club statement read: "Cruzeiro Esporte Clube and Luiz Felipe Scolari mutually decided to finish the second passage of the multi-champion coach.
"Collaborating with the club in the most challenging moment in its history, Scolari and his coaching staff fulfilled the important mission of maintaining Cruzeiro in Serie B, having led the team in 21 matches and accumulating nine wins, eight draws and four defeats.
"Cruzeiro is grateful and recognises all the work, dedication and professionalism of Felipao and his staff for the club at this important moment, and wishes luck and happiness to the world champion coach and his staff."
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