The Next Premiere Soccer Federation

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, or CONCACAF,  is the governing body for soccer in North and Central America as the name would suggest.  Up until recently, CONCACAF didn't have a whole lot to talk about as far as talent, really only Mexico and the States were ever consistently relevant on the international stage.  As such, CONCACAF has only ever had three automatic bids to the World Cup, with a 4 bid having to play through an international play-off, something that has happened only twice in CONCACAF's history, 2006 and this most recent World Cup.  However, the performance that we witnessed in Brazil from the CONCACAF nations definitely warrants some discussion.  As I said, for only the second time in it's history, CONCACAF nations filled the maximum 4 spots that they can hold in the World Cup.  This however, was not the impressive feat that these nations accomplished.  In this past World Cup, CONCACAF nations were the second most successful teams in the tournament behind South America, in terms of advancement to the round of 16, with 3 of the 4 teams advancing.  On top of this, Costa Rica became the 5th COCACAF nation to reach the quarterfinals, with only the USA reaching the semi-finals in the 1930 tournament.
In comparison to this performance, Europe only managed 6 for 13 of their representatives, Africa 2 for 5, South America went 5 for 6, finally, Asia 0 for 4.  Let's focus in on Asia specifically.  Asia currently gets 4 automatic bids to the World Cup, with one team going to the international playoff, giving therm a possibility to put 5 teams into the tournament.  This past tournament in Brazil, not only saw no Asian team make the elimination rounds, but fail to tally a single win, with a final combined record of 0-9-3.  FIFA has said it will not address the issue of reallocating automatic bids until next year at the earliest, but when the issue comes up, CONCACAF has the case already made for them as to why they deserve one of Asia's automatic bids, with one of the biggest factors being experience.
When the next World Cup comes around in 2018, the three CONCACAF teams that made their way to the round of 16 will have several reasons that even now point to continued success in the tournament.
Mexico's biggest loss is most likely going to be that of their captain, Rafael Márquez, who at the age of 35 has most likely seen the last of his playing days at the World Cup.  However, both Javier Hernandez and break out GK Guillermo Ochoa will only 32 and 31 respectively, meaning that they will both be perfect candidates to lead the team as the veteran class.  Besides these two, only one other player likely to represent Mexico the next time around has more caps, Andres Guardado.  With Guardado working with Ochoa to lead the defense, and Chicharito providing the attacking experience and leadership, Mexico has, albeit preliminarily, a chance for a very strong showing in the future.
Costa Rica, aka "The Ticos", were the Cinderella story of the tournament.  Marked by many experts to finish last in their group, with little chance of gaining even a single point, went undefeated in the group stage with a 2-0-1 record to top their group.  And as you know, the run didn't stop there.  But Costa Rica's success does not guarantee them success in the future, what could do that is their youth.  Costa Rica went to Brazil with only two players over the age of 30, with the oldest player being 32.  That means that Costa Rica has a chance to return every single one of their starters to the next tournament.  Obviously this could mean nothing at all, but with such a strong showing this time around, I think we can at least expect another relevant team in 4 years.
And finally, we have our very own USMNT.  I won't go into to much detail here, since Ollie has covered the topic extensively here, but the US team has such potential for growth.  Enough youth to return an entire starting line up is enough cause for excitement, but when you add in the fact that the USA's youth program continues to develop and grow larger each year means that our youth prospects coming in are continuing to become more and more talented and athletic. And on top of this, there is always one other factor to consider... Gedion Zelalem.

Be sure to check out our previous post here.