In association football, the term Hexagonal (known in English as The Hex[1]) was often used to refer to the final round of FIFA World Cup qualification among the six remaining teams in CONCACAF.[2] The six-team round robin format was used by CONCACAF since the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification process, up until the 2018 tournament. For 2022, this round was expanded to eight teams or an octagonal. It was modeled after the CONCACAF Championship which used the format ever since its second edition in 1965, and served as the World Cup qualifying tournament from 1974 to 1990.

The United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica were present in every Hexagonal.[3][4] Mexico was the only national team that qualified for the FIFA World Cup in every Hexagonal.

The Hexagonal, or Hex for short, was named for the hexagon (a six sided shape) due to there being six teams remaining in the tournament at the time.[5]

United States vs. Mexico rivalry

See also: Mexico–United States soccer rivalry

The United States and Mexico were the most successful teams in the Hexagonal, with Mexico qualifying for every World Cup since 1994. Indeed, the Mexico–United States soccer rivalry has been hotly contested during the Hexagonal. Matches between the two opponents hosted by Mexico often sell out the 100,000 seat Estadio Azteca in Mexico City; matches hosted in the United States are often held in cold northern cities such as Columbus, Ohio.

Episodes of this rivalry during Hexagonal matchdays include the Dos a Cero, a streak of four consecutive 2–0 victories for the United States at the Columbus Crew Stadium between 2001 and 2013.[6][7][8] The streak ended on November 11, 2016 as the Mexicans defeated the Americans 1–2.[9]

Another noteworthy event occurred on 15 October 2013, the final matchday of the Hexagonal on the road to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Mexicans were out of the World Cup as they were losing against Costa Rica in San José and Panama were defeating the Americans, both matches by 2–1. However, during stoppage time, Graham Zusi and Aron Jóhannsson scored for the United States, resulting in an American victory by 3–2, which helped Mexico qualify to the intercontinental play-off series against New Zealand.[10] The United States national team Twitter account tweeted #YoureWelcomeMexico and tagged their Mexican counterparts' profile.[11] Because of the significance of his goal, Zusi received recognition from some Mexican fans as "a saint".[12] Zusi also revealed that Mexican player Marco Fabián thanked him for the goal.[13]

1998

Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fourth round

The first hexagonal round was played in 1997, between 2 March and 16 November. Mexico topped the round robin undefeated, being the only team to do so.[14] Jamaica qualified to their first (and so far, only) FIFA World Cup.[15] It was Canada's only participation in the hexagonal round, and their last appearance at the final stage of a FIFA World Cup qualification until 2022, in which they qualified for the tournament after 36 years.[16]

2002

Main article: 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF final round

The second edition of The Hex was played in 2001, between 28 February and 11 November. It was topped by Costa Rica, who totaled a record 23 points.[17] The Costa Ricans marked the first defeat Mexico ever had at a World Cup qualification match at home soil, in a match known as El Aztecazo.[18]

2006

Main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fourth round
  • United States finished ahead of Mexico based on results between tied teams which were the first tiebreaker.
  • Mexico, United States and Costa Rica directly advanced to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
  • Trinidad and Tobago advanced to the AFC-CONCACAF play-off, where they would defeat Bahrain 2–1 on aggregate to advance to the World Cup.

2010

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fourth round

The six teams that reached the fourth round formed one double-round-robin, home-and-away group nicknamed the "Hexagonal." The top three teams qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fourth place team qualified for a home-and-away play-off against the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL.

2014

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fourth round

In the fourth round, the three group winners and three runners-up from the third round competed in a double round robin, including a home and away match against the other five teams between 6 February and 15 October 2013. The draw for 'The Hex' was conducted by FIFA on 7 November 2012.[19]

The top three teams qualified directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals, while the fourth-placed team advanced to a home-away series against the winner of Oceania, which ended up being New Zealand. Teams are ranked first by total points in all games, then, if tied, by best goal differential in all games, then by total goals in all games. If still tied, the same criteria are applied to games among the tied teams (including head-to-head away goals scored).

2018

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fifth round
  • Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
  • Honduras advanced to the CONCACAF–AFC playoff; they would be defeated by Australia 3–1 on aggregate.
  • The United States failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since the Hexagonal was introduced; they had qualified for every World Cup between 1990 and 2014.

Replacement and future

The Hexagonal was initially the top-seeded round in the CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup,[20] but, following FIFA's decision on 25 June 2020 to postpone the September international window due to the COVID-19 pandemic (except UEFA), CONCACAF noted that "The challenges presented by postponements to the football calendar, and the incomplete FIFA rankings cycle in our confederation, means our current World Cup qualifying process has been compromised and will be changed."[21] The confederation eventually announced on 27 July its new qualifying format for the World Cup, replacing the Hexagonal with an eight-team final round,[22] dubbed the Octagonal. FIFA subsequently announced that a January–February window will be used for all confederations except UEFA.[23]

For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Canada, the United States, and Mexico automatically qualified as co-hosts, so they will not participate in qualifiers for the final tournament, which will be expanded to 48 teams. The number of places allocated to CONCACAF for the 2026 tournament has been increased from three and a half to six including the hosts, meaning three non-hosting CONCACAF teams will earn their berths in the final tournament from the CONCACAF qualifiers, along with two intercontinental play-off berths (one for each confederation except UEFA and one additional berth as CONCACAF is the host confederation).

Records

Ranking of teams

TeamHexagonalsTimes qualifiedTotal apps
199820022006201020142018
1Mexico12224166
2United States23111556
3Costa Rica41342246
4Honduras―4―33424
5Jamaica35――6―13
6Panama――6―5313
7Trinidad and Tobago―646―614
8El Salvador5――5――02
9Guatemala――5―――01
10Canada6―――――01
Notes

All-time table

3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss.

TeamTotalsHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsPldWDLGFGAGDPtsPldWDLGFGAGDPts
United States603214149557+381103024336118437530811113439−535
Mexico6030181210253+491083022627016547230812103237−536
Costa Rica602914178763+24101302172572136703087153042−1231
Honduras401610146059+15820114538221637205692237−1521
Trinidad and Tobago4086263274–4230206592227−5232021171047−377
Jamaica30512131939–202715474111101915159828−208
Panama30411152345–2223154741617−119150411728−214
El Salvador2046102031–111810442161241610028419−152
Guatemala103251618–21153111055105014613−71
Canada10136520–156513135−265005215−130

Team

Individual


  1. goals
PlayerMatchQualification
4Francisco FonsecaMexico 5–2 Guatemala2006
3Carlos HermosilloMexico 6–0 Jamaica1998
3Carlos PavonHonduras 3–1 Mexico2002
3Jozy AltidoreUnited States 3–0 Trinidad and Tobago2010
3Clint DempseyUnited States 6–0 Honduras2018

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerGoals
scored		Matches
played		Goals
per game		Qualifications
1Carlos Pavón12170.712002, 2010
2Jozy Altidore11290.382010, 2014, 2018
3Paulo Wanchope10200.501998, 2002, 2006
4Carlo Costly9170.532010, 2014
Stern John9230.402002, 2006, 2010
6Carlos Hermosillo8100.801998
Cuauhtémoc Blanco8190.421998, 2002, 2006, 2010
Álvaro Saborío8210.382006, 2010, 2014
Clint Dempsey8280.292006, 2010, 2014, 2018
10Jared Borgetti7140.502002, 2006
Landon Donovan7260.272002, 2006, 2010, 2014
12Francisco Fonseca690.662006
Bryan Ruiz6270.222010, 2014, 2018
14Benjamín Galindo580.621998
Rolando Fonseca5160.311998, 2002, 2006
Michael Bradley5240.212010, 2014, 2018
Celso Borges5260.202010, 2014, 2018
Christian Pulisic5100.502018

Top goalscorers by tournament

QualificationTop scorer(s)Goals
1998Carlos Hermosillo8
2002Cuauhtémoc Blanco
Rolando Fonseca
Carlos Pavón		5
2006Francisco Fonseca6
2010Carlos Pavón7
2014Carlo Costly
Jerry Bengtson
Jozy Altidore		4
2018Christian Pulisic5

References

  1. ^ "Vexed by the Hex? A Simple Guide to the final round of World Cup Qualifying". USSoccer.com. United States Soccer Federation. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Whitecaps FC players set for important World Cup qualifying matches". WhiteCapsFC.com. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  3. ^ Solano, Jeison (9 September 2016). "Las selecciones con mayor cantidad de presencias en la hexagonal final de Concacaf". Diario Diez. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Top Concacaf WCQ Moments: U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica, the Hexagonal stalwarts". Concacaf. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  5. ^ "What is the Hex?". Major League Soccer. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  6. ^ Longshore, Jason (9 November 2016). "The History of Dos a Cero". Stars and Stripes FC. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  7. ^ ColumbusCrew.com. "USMNT History of "Dos a Cero" | Columbus Crew". ColumbusCrew.com. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  8. ^ Hernandez, Cesar & Gomez, Eric (2022-06-16). "The biggest Dos a Cero turns 20: How the U.S. win over Mexico at the 2002 World Cup forever altered the rivalry". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  9. ^ Rogers, Martin (11 November 2016). "Mexico stuns U.S. with 2-1 win in World Cup qualifier". USA Today. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  10. ^ Borden, Sam (15 October 2013). "U.S. Ends Panama’s World Cup Run and Saves Mexico". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  11. ^ "U.S. Soccer MNT on Twitter: "#YoureWelcomeMexico @miseleccionmx"". Twitter
  12. ^ "Zusi, reconocido por aficionados del Tri como 'santo'" (in Spanish). Récord. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Graham Zusi reveló que Marco Fabián le agradeció el pase de México a Brasil 2014" (in Spanish). Récord. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  14. ^ Cortés, José Antonio (6 February 2013). "El Hexagonal no es un bombón". ESPN Deportes. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  15. ^ "Jamaican footballing names that should not be forgotten". The Jamaica Observer. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  16. ^ Hernandez, Dan. "Why Canada Will Make the Hex This Time". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Solo un Aztecazo". Al Día. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  18. ^ "Costa Rica, autor del primer 'Aztecazo' de la historia". Récord. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  19. ^ "World Cup qualifying - draw set for CONCACAF 'hex' round - ESPN FC". ESPN. 19 Oct 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 6 Nov 2012.
  20. ^ "Concacaf Announces Format for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Confederation Qualifiers". Concacaf. 10 July 2019.
  21. ^ "CONCACAF confirms 2022 World Cup qualifying will change - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  22. ^ "New Concacaf Qualifiers announced for regional qualification to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022". Concacaf. 2021-02-18. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  23. ^ Dunbar, Graham (2020-08-18). "FIFA creates new national-team game dates to cut backlog". AP News. Retrieved 2024-12-02.