The Brilliance of the Hex
I started this blog in medias res - right in the middle of the action. While this allowed me to jump into writing about a crucial period in the Hex, I didn't really explain, for the uninitiated, exactly what "the Hex" is.
CONCACAF was a hopelessly corrupt confederation for years, and has a lot of member "nations" that are tiny islands with little impact on world soccer and no hope of qualifying for the World Cup but which have FIFA votes and earn easily-embezzled multimillion-dollar grants for simply being FIFA member nations. Most of the rounds of qualifying exist to weed these teams out and see which will have the privilege of getting spanked in the fourth round (The United States' fourth round group included Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which has a smaller population than West Jordan, Utah; lost every single game; scored six goals; and conceded 34 times).
When a last-minute goal from American defender Jonathan Bornstein against Costa Rica - in the last game of qualifying - secured Honduras' own spot, the country went wild, with citizens taking to the streets just months after a brutal military coup to celebrate their second-ever qualification (the first was for Spain '82).
The Hex is a big deal, even in the United States. After losing its opening two games, the U.S. fired its coach, former World Cup-winning Germany striker Jurgen Klinsmann, and reappointed former boss Bruce Arena to steer out of the crisis. His first competitive game back in charge saw a 6-0 smashing of Honduras, engineered by teenage star Christian Pulisic and veteran forward Clint Dempsey.
The Hex is a testing ground for young players hoping to make the World Cup squad. It's a chance to wave the flag and peacefully triumph in demanding sporting conflict against fellow nations. It's a pressure cooker with huge amounts of money and patriotic bragging rights on the line. And all of that makes for a really fun soccer competition.
The short answer: the Hex is the fifth and final round of qualifying for the men's World Cup (of soccer) from the CONCACAF confederation (North and Central America and the Caribbean). The informal name refers to the fact that the round is contested by a group of six teams - it's six-sided, hence "hexagonal."
The long answer is a lot more fun, however. The World Cup is the holy grail of soccer. It's played every four years, a month-long tournament watched by billions. Qualification is worth tens of millions of dollars for the country's soccer program and far more in local economic activity and national pride. For a country like Mexico, qualifying from the Hex is avoiding disaster, averting national humiliation. For a team like Honduras, it's a triumph that might not happen again for a generation.
CONCACAF was a hopelessly corrupt confederation for years, and has a lot of member "nations" that are tiny islands with little impact on world soccer and no hope of qualifying for the World Cup but which have FIFA votes and earn easily-embezzled multimillion-dollar grants for simply being FIFA member nations. Most of the rounds of qualifying exist to weed these teams out and see which will have the privilege of getting spanked in the fourth round (The United States' fourth round group included Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which has a smaller population than West Jordan, Utah; lost every single game; scored six goals; and conceded 34 times).
By the time all that fat has been skimmed away, only the cream of the region remains: this time around, the U.S. is joined by Mexico, long the dominant team in CONCACAF; Costa Rica, the strongest team in Central America and a quarterfinalist in the 2014 World Cup; Trinidad & Tobago, the most successful nation in the Caribbean, and a pair of tough Central American teams, Honduras and Panama. Of these six teams, three will qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. One will face a playoff against a team from another confederation (Asia's AFC, this time). Two will suffer disgrace and watch the World Cup from home.
All of this makes sure the qualification process hard-fought, impassioned and unforgiving. It produces moments of high drama, unlikely heroism, and national ecstasy. Bruising striker Conor Casey played just 19 times in his six-year national team tenure and scored only twice, but both of those goals came in the 3-2 win over Honduras in San Pedro Sula that sent the Stars and Stripes to South Africa in 2010.
When a last-minute goal from American defender Jonathan Bornstein against Costa Rica - in the last game of qualifying - secured Honduras' own spot, the country went wild, with citizens taking to the streets just months after a brutal military coup to celebrate their second-ever qualification (the first was for Spain '82).
The Hex is a big deal, even in the United States. After losing its opening two games, the U.S. fired its coach, former World Cup-winning Germany striker Jurgen Klinsmann, and reappointed former boss Bruce Arena to steer out of the crisis. His first competitive game back in charge saw a 6-0 smashing of Honduras, engineered by teenage star Christian Pulisic and veteran forward Clint Dempsey.
The Hex is a testing ground for young players hoping to make the World Cup squad. It's a chance to wave the flag and peacefully triumph in demanding sporting conflict against fellow nations. It's a pressure cooker with huge amounts of money and patriotic bragging rights on the line. And all of that makes for a really fun soccer competition.
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