Homeless World Cup draw deconstructed

Canada’s first games are Monday when they play Ireland and Cambodia. The next two games are on Tuesday against Mexico and Romania.

Teams for the Homeless World Cup play a brand of indoor soccer, with six players on the floor at a time and the walls in play. Only two defenders are allowed in the defensive zone which ensures that the play is fast paced, with plenty of goals.

The competition itself  is divided into three stages. In the preliminary stage the teams play a single round robin. At the end of the round robin the top 3 teams from each group are placed in section 1, and the other teams going into section 2. In the second phase of the competition there are 8 groups of six teams each with 4 groups in each section.

After the secondary phase of competition, the teams are split one more time into 6 groups of eight based on their results, and a final, championship round is played with a trophy available for each group.

For the preliminary stage Canada is drawn in Group G with Ireland  , Mexico (12), Romania (23) and Cambodia(52). Canada is fortunate to have avoided teams from the top 5, but can expect to be in very tough against 8^th ranked Ireland and 12^th ranked Mexico. Canada is currently ranked thirty third in the world and will have to win against 23rd ranked Romania and 52^nd ranked Cambodia to be placed in section 1 for the second phase.