By Paul Nicholson
November 6 – CONCACAF held the draw for the confederation’s Women’s Under-20 Championship 2014 Cayman Islands, yesterday. The eight team finals will be played in Grand Cayman in January 2014, the top three teams qualifying for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals to be held in Canada in August.
This will be the second regional championships to held on the island following the success of the inaugural CONCACAF U15 Boys championship in August.
CONCACAF federations will be the focus of women’s football over the next couple of years and will host all of FIFA’s Women’s World Cup events in 2014 and 2015, starting with the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica from March 15 to April 15, 2014, followed by the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada from August 5 to August 20, 2014 and culminating with the FIFA Women’s World Cup from June 6 to July 5, 2015.
The U20s championship in Cayman will be the fourth time the finals have been held. The US have won three times, including the inaugural tournament in 2006, and the last edition in 2012. Canada won in 2008. These two nations are at the top of the women’s international game globally, having won gold and bronze at the London Olympics 2012.
At the draw at the Westin Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman, conducted by general secretary Enrique Sanz (pictured), CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb said: “We can be proud that in women’s youth football, CONCACAF has produced world class teams that have in many ways set a benchmark in the sport.”
“We can be confident that this next CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship will showcase players who in 2014 will go to Canada and win more awards for themselves, their country, and CONCACAF.”
Host Cayman Islands – seeded into Group B – will kick off the tournament against Mexico, while defending CONCACAF women’s under-20 champion United States – seeded in Group A – open against Costa Rica. Jamaica and Guatemala kick off tournament action on January 9, while Trinidad & Tobago and Honduras round out Group B, which begins play the next day.
The two groups of four teams will play over the competition’s first six match days. The top two teams from each group will then advance to the semifinals, to be played January 17, with the Final and third-place playoff taking place January 19.
All matches will be held at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
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