MIAMI BEACH, Florida (CMC) – Caribbean teams took their first steps on the road to the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup when they drew their opponents for the opening rounds of qualification here last week.The first round, which kicks of March 23, will see the 14 lowest-ranked teams in the region compete in two-leg ties, with the seven winners advancing to the second round to take on the 13 teams ranked ninth to 21st.

Return legs will be played eight days later.
For the first time, all qualifiers will be aligned with FIFA International Windows.
“Based on the last qualifiers where the region and the world saw some of the most exciting games to date, we expect this one to be even better,” said CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb who witnessed the draw attended by World Cup legend, Brazilian Ronaldo.
Three of the four CONCACAF sides – United States, Mexico and Costa Rica – qualified for the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil last year, with Costa Rica advancing to the quarter-finals.
Webb, also a FIFA vice-president, told members he expected the confederation to build on those results in Russia.
“Last year in Brazil we had the most successful World Cup in the history of our confederation,” he said.
“We celebrate the achievement of those (four) members, as a direct result of their vision, focus and investment in youth and player development, and we have just begun.”
First round match-ups will see Barbados clash with the US Virgin Islands, Dominica do battle against British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas take on arch-rivals Bermuda.
St Kitts and Nevis take on Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla face Nicaragua, Cayman Islands tackle Belize while Montserrat and Curacao lock horns.
The second round, scheduled for June 8 with the return leg on June 16, will feature the likes of St Vincent & the Grenadines, Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda, St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Grenada, Canada, Guatemala, Aruba, El Salvador, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Suriname.
Round Three will run from August 31 to September 8 with Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz and Haiti joining the ten winners from round two.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors, along with Mexico, United States, Honduras, Panama, and Trinidad & Tobago, will start their World Cup campaign from round four which will comprise three groups of four teams, doing battle between November, 2015 and September, 2016, under a round-robin format.
The fifth and final round, scheduled to take place between November, 2016 and October, 2017, will feature six teams competing for three automatic spots at the World Cup. The fourth-placed team will enter a playoff for another World Cup berth.
Overall, 35 teams will contest the qualifying campaign – 25 from the Caribbean, seven from Central American and three from North America.
CONCACAF is the continental governing body for football in North, Central America and the Caribbean.
Following are the draws for the first two rounds of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2018 World Cup:
ROUND ONE:
(March 23-31)
Match 1: Bahamas vs Bermuda
Match 2: British Virgin Islands vs Dominica
Match 3: Barbados vs US Virgin Islands
Match 4: Turks and Caicos Islands v St Kitts and Nevis
Match 5: Nicaragua vs Anguilla
Match 6: Belize vs Cayman Islands
Match 7: Curacao vs Montserrat

ROUND TWO:
(June 8-16)
Match 8: St Vincent & the Grenadines vs Guyana
Match 9: Antigua & Barbuda vs St Lucia
Match 10: Puerto Rico vs Grenada
Match 11: Canada vs Winner Match #2
Match 12: Dominican Republic vs Winner Match #6
Match 13: Guatemala vs Winner Match #1
Match 14: Aruba vs Winner Match #3
Match 15: Winner Match #4 vs El Salvador
Match 16: Winner Match #7 vs Cuba
Match 17: Winner Match #5 vs Suriname