Wisconsin Soccer Central

Tosaint Ricketts (UW-Green Bay) and Canada kick off the fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying with two huge matches in the next 10 days, games against Honduras and El Salvador that could go a long way in determining whether they can advance to the final round of qualifying for the 2018 event in Russia.

The top two teams in each of the three groups advance to the fifth round, commonly referred to as the "Hexagonal." Regional power Mexico, ranked 21st in the latest FIFA World Rankings, are considered heavy favorites in Group A, leaving Honduras (No. 81), El Salvador (No. 89) and Canada (No. 116) to battle for the other berth.

Canada opens up fourth-round play Friday night against Honduras in Vancouver, British Columbia, then travels to San Salvador to play El Salvador on Nov. 17. The next qualifiers are in March, when Canada will play Mexico twice in five days.

The 28-year-old Ricketts had four goals in four matches in the second and third rounds of qualifying for Canada, and scored his first goal for Turkish second-division club Boluspor last week.

On Twitter: @TosaintRicketts

• The U.S. futsal national team, which included Milwaukee Wave players Philip Suprise (Milwaukee Pius) and Bato Radoncic, lost all three of its matches at the International Futsal Challenge over the weekend in San Jose, Costa Rica. The U.S. fell to Panama 4-3 on Friday, 4-2 to Venezuela on Saturday and closed out the event with a 6-2 loss to reigning CONCACAF champion Costa Rica on Sunday. The matches were part of the Americans' preparation for the CONCACAF Futsal Championship in May, which also will be held in Costa Rica and serves as regional qualifying for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia. The U.S. team, led by head coach Keith Tozer (Milwaukee) and goalkeeper coach Mark Litton (Racine St. Catherine's/UW-Parkside), will reconvene in late January for another four-team tournament in Croatia.