April 20 – Women’s World Champions USA have been drawn with 2019 World Cup qualifiers Jamaica and Concacaf’s third-highest ranked nation Mexico in the Concacaf W Championship that kicks off in Monterrey, Mexico, July 4-18.
Haiti, who impressed in qualifying, make up a difficult group of four that will see the top two teams progress to the semi-finals and automatically qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup to be hosted in Australia and New Zealand.
In the other finals group Olympic Champions Canada have been drawn with Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.
The winner of the championship will also qualify directly to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The third placed teams in each group will play off for the inter-continental play-off that will qualify a further nation to the 2023 World Cup.
The live draw was co-hosted by sports anchors Pilar Perez (ESPN) and Nicolas Cantor (CBS), and included the participation of Concacaf General Secretary Philippe Moggio, former players Alicia Wilson-Lopez (Jamaica) and Christina Murillo (Mexico), Head Coaches Mónica Vergara (Mexico) and Amelia Valverde (Costa Rica), as well as Jamaican songwriters and singers, Skip Marley and Cedella Marley.
The confederation also unveiled the official Concacaf W Championship song ‘Lions’ by Skip Marley and featuring Cedella Marley.
The Concacaf W Championship is first part of the confederation’s new women’s international football eco-system that was launched last year.
As well as providing more regular competition for the region’s national women’s teams, Concacaf will also be launching the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup in 2024, which will see a number of nations from outside Concacaf invited to participate.
The Concacaf W champion will also automatically qualify for the Gold Cup. The runner-up and third-place teams will square off in a Concacaf Olympic play-in series, scheduled for September 2023. The winner of that play-in series will also qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.
2022 Concacaf W group draw:
Group A: United States, Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti
Group B: Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago
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