Panama, Honduras and Costa Rica Continue on the Road to 2014 World Cup · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

Tuesday, October 16 marked the last matches in the third round of the Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) qualification competition for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Because the Federation is one of the largest (due to the amount of islands), the qualification consists of three rounds where six teams rank for a final round called ‘the Hexagonal‘. Those six teams will fight for three and half tickets to the World Cup.
With the classification of these six teams, a qualifying round two years in the making has started to take shape. Fernando Palomo (@Palomo_Espn) [es] lists the six ranking countries in this Tweet:
@Palomo_Espn: México, Honduras, Panamá, Estados Unidos, Costa Rica, Jamaica entran al Hexagonal de Concacaf.
@Palomo_Espn: Mexico, Honduras, Panama, the United States, Costa Rica, Jamaica form the Hexagonal of Concacaf.
Thus three Central American countries enter among the six best in the Federation.
Football fans on various social networks have been discussing the qualification matches. The “marea roja” or the “red tide” (the name that followers of the Panamanian selection identify with), for example, took over Twitter last Friday and managed to create a global trending topic under the label “Somos Marea Roja” [es] (We Are the Red Tide).
Panama The Red Tide is with You, image shared by José A. Balmaceda A. (@elbalma507) on Twitter
October 16 was no exception, and although Panama dealt with an agonizing tie in Cuba, Panamanians celebrated their entry to the Hexagonal in the streets and on social networks. Felipe Baloy (@pinbaloy23) [es], the captain of the Panamanian team, posted on his account:
@pinbaloy23: Panama Disfruten el pase a la Hexagonal ya habra tiempo de ver q se hizo mal y q se hizo bien y trabajaremos para corregir, objetivo cumplido
@pinbaloy23: Panama Enjoy the spot in the Hexagonal. There will be time to see what was done wrong and what was done right and we will work to correct it, objective accomplished
Meanwhile Honduras, which needed a win to classify, crushed Canada in San Pedro Sula with a final score of 8-1. Honduran fans also expressed their joy on social networks, like Héctor Martínez (@heremaga2009) [es]:
@heremaga2009: Buenos días.. Despertando después de esa borrachera de goles de #Honduras ayer ante#Canadá y darle esa alegría a ese pueblo q lo necesita.
@heremaga2009: Good morning.. Waking up after that inebriation of goals by #Honduras yesterday against #Canadá and the joy that the team gave to this nation which needs it.
Costa Rica also qualified in a crushing manner beating Guyana 7-0 in San Jose. Joel Campbell (@joel_campbell12) [es], a promising young Costa Rican footballer, commented after the game:
@joel_campbell12: Primer objetivo cumplido, pero esto apenas empieza, la meta es el mundial de Brasil, juntos llegaremos, gracias por tanto Costa Rica!
@joel_campbell12: First objective completed, but this is just the beginning, the goal is the World Cup in Brazil, together we'll make it together, thank you for everything Costa Rica!
The Hexagonal begins in February 2013 and will certainly be full of surprises and more activity on social network sites. The table is set.