Tag: CONCACAF U20 (Women’s)

2020 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship: Host, Dates, and Knock-Out Bracket Confirmed

See CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship: Costa Rica and Panama Out, Bermuda and Barbados In for current schedule and bracket details.

Update (31-Jan-2020):  THIS ARTICLE IS NO LONGER CURRENT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:  

  • THE DATES FOR THIS TOURNAMENT HAVE BEEN CHANGED.  (They are now February 22nd to March 8th).
  • COSTA RICA AND PANAMA ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THIS TOURNAMENT.  THEIR GROUPS AND THE KNOCK-OUT BRACKET HAVE BEEN ALTERED.

Update (20-Dec-2019):  FIFA has confirmed that Costa Rica and Panama will be joint hosts for this cycle’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which will be held in August 2020 (FIFA.com). Not yet confirmed is how this will affect qualifying in CONCACAF.  Absent exceptional circumstances, the most likely result is that the number of open qualification slots will be reduced to 2, as Costa Rica and Panama will be given the host slot plus 1 slot from CONCACAF’s allocation.  Another uncertain wrinkle is whether Costa Rica and Panama will be participating in this CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, as they are currently assigned to Group D (with Mexico) and Group F (with Haiti), respectively.  Given the timing of this announcement, right before the end-of-the-year holiday break, it is possible that these qualifying matters may not be resolved until January 2020.

On Tuesday, CONCACAF confirmed that the Dominican Republic will be hosting the confederation’s final qualifying tournament for next year’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. (CONCACAF.com)  As things currently stand, CONCACAF has three open qualifying slots, though that could change depending on who actually ends up hosting the U-20 WWC in 2020.

The qualifying tournament, which is officially known as the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, is scheduled for February 15, 2020 to March 1, 2020, and in a departure from past tournaments, will feature twenty teams instead of the usual eight.  The tournament will have a Group Stage involving the top sixteen U-20 women’s national teams, based on historical rankings (CONCACAF.com).  Those sixteen teams will be divided into four standard round-robin groups of four.  The top three teams in each group will advance to the knock-out stage.

The knock-out stage will start with a Round of Sixteen that includes the twelve advancing teams from the Group Stage, plus four teams from a preliminary qualifying stage for teams outside the top sixteen.  (Wikipedia has a decent summary article on the preliminary qualifying stage.)  After the Round of Sixteen, the knockout round will proceed normally, with a Final to determine the champion and a Third Place match.
Continue reading “2020 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship: Host, Dates, and Knock-Out Bracket Confirmed”

U-20 USWNT: A Statistical Comparison to Past Cycles (Part 1)

The main inspiration for this post was a quote by German U-20 WNT head coach Maren Meinert on FIFA.com, from earlier this month:

Who are favourites to win?
We’re one of the favourites. As hosts, Japan are up there, as well as Brazil and USA, who have a very good U-20 team this year. In my opinion it’s one of the best USA U-20 teams I’ve ever seen.

Maybe Meinert is just being nice because she would like to be the USWNT’s head coach someday, or maybe she is trying to prop up her team’s case for being one of the seeded teams…

…But, in any case, at least by a few metrics, the facts back up her opinion. Continue reading “U-20 USWNT: A Statistical Comparison to Past Cycles (Part 1)”

USWNT Neighbor Watch: Mexico’s Cuellar, ‘We are on the right track’

After returning from the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in Panama, where Mexico qualified for the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, Mexican Women’s National Team head coach Leonardo Cuellar, Mexico’s U-20 WNT head coach Roberto Medina, plus a handful of U-20 players, including senior national team goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago and U-20 team captain Nayeli Rangel, participated in a press conference. A video was posted (direct link, in MP4 format) on Femexfut.org.mx’s website and a text summary (in Spanish) was provided as well. Based on the summary, the press conference was rather uneventful, but did provide a few interesting quotes (translated to English using Google Translate as a starting point): Continue reading “USWNT Neighbor Watch: Mexico’s Cuellar, ‘We are on the right track’”

U-20 USWNT: Where Do They Go From Here?

The United States Under-20 Women’s National Team returned from Panama on Monday, Champions of CONCACAF, but their journey to Japan and the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup has only just begun. That tournament begins five months from now, and in the intervening months ahead, the U-20 USWNT will come together for camps, scrimmages, and test matches before departing for Japan. Based on the team’s performance in Panama, the squad has several key areas where they need to work on.

Also, It is very likely that not all the players who earned a gold medal in Panama will make the U-20 WWC roster. Besides current roster players not being available due to possibly getting injured, there are also other players currently recovering from their injuries, who could get a roster spot. Continue reading “U-20 USWNT: Where Do They Go From Here?”

U-20 USWNT: CONCACAF Championship Playing Time Table

Here is the table of playing time for the U-20 USWNT at the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship that concluded last Sunday in Panama. Only one player, Kassey Kallman played all possible minutes for the USA. Every player had at least 90 minutes of on-field action.
Continue reading “U-20 USWNT: CONCACAF Championship Playing Time Table”

U-20 USWNT: 2012 CONCACAF Championship Match Analysis

Adding to my quick recap, here’s a much more detailed look at the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship final between the USA and Canada. All of the USA’s 28 shots and 15 corner kicks are broken down. Plus, for each USA player, notes are included on the good and not-so-good things that the player did during the match. Continue reading “U-20 USWNT: 2012 CONCACAF Championship Match Analysis”

CONCACAF WU-20 Championship: The USA Win, But… (Quick Recap)

…the team has a lot of work to do between now and August.

The USA’s Under-20 Women’s National Team won 2:1 over Canada’s U-20 WNT in the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship final, but had to overcome an early Canada goal scored via an American error. Two late goals in the final eleven minutes gave the USA a comeback lead.

Continue reading “CONCACAF WU-20 Championship: The USA Win, But… (Quick Recap)”

CONCACAF WU-20: USA-Canada Championship Final Pre-Match Notes

In advance of tonight’s CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship final between the USA and Canada, here are some notes on Canada’s roster, as well as predicted line-ups for both teams, plus tables of minutes played for both rosters.

Continue reading “CONCACAF WU-20: USA-Canada Championship Final Pre-Match Notes”

USA-Canada: Past Women’s U-20/U-19 Championship Encounters

This Sunday, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern (EDT),  the USA and Canada will meet once again to decide a Women’s U-20/U-19 Championship. The first time was in 2002, at the final of the inaugural FIFA Under-19 Women’s  World Championship. The two sides have also met in the 2004 CONCACAF Women’s Under-19 Championship final as well as the 2006 and 2008 Under-20 editions of that Championship. Continue reading “USA-Canada: Past Women’s U-20/U-19 Championship Encounters”

CONCACAF WU-20: Semifinals Recap (USA-Mexico, Canada-Panama)

Friday night, the Under-20 Women’s National Teams for the United States and Canada qualified for the 2012 Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Japan by winning their semifinals at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in Panama. In the first semifinal, the USA defeated an under-powered Mexico side by 4 goals to nil. Then, in the second match, Canada defeated host Panama by 6 goals to nil, with five of Canada’s goals coming in the second half.

Continue reading “CONCACAF WU-20: Semifinals Recap (USA-Mexico, Canada-Panama)”