April 28 – Detail of the qualifying tournament on the ‘2023 Road to Concacaf W Gold Cup’ has been released with 33 nations taking part in the Women’s International Match Windows of September, October, and November 2023.
The inaugural 12-team Concacaf W Gold Cup will be played February 17 – March 10, 2024 and will see eight Concacaf teams competed with four guest teams from Conmebol.
The Concacaf qualifiers see the 33 nations split into three ranking tiers with each tier comprised of three groups with nations playing home and away.
The winners of League A groups will qualify for the W Gold Cup, while the runners-up will play-off against the winners of League B groups for a further three slots at the finals.
The USA (winner of the W Championship in 2022) and the winner of the 2024 Olympic qualifier between Canada and Jamaica, are pre-qualified.
In announcing the W Gold Cup in April, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, said: “This new Concacaf W Gold Cup will be the flagship event for women’s national team football in our region and will showcase some of the very best women’s football in Concacaf and the world. The tournament will be a celebration of the work we have done so far, hand-in-hand with our federations, implementing our groundbreaking Concacaf W strategy, which was launched in 2019 to prioritize the growth of women’s football at all levels.”
Concacaf have qualified six teams for the Women’s World Cup in Australia-New Zealand this summer. Four of those teams – Canada or Jamaica, Costa Rica, Haiti and Panama – will all be competing in League A of W Gold Cup qualifying.
The nations have been split into the three leagues according to their Concacaf rankings.
League A (nine top-ranked teams divided into three groups of three): Canada or Jamaica (Olympic Play-In loser), Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Saint Kitts and Nevis
League B (next 12 best-ranked teams divided into three groups of four teams): El Salvador, Guyana, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Honduras, Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Martinique, Barbados, and Dominica
League C (lowest 12 ranked teams divided into three groups of four teams): US Virgin Islands, Belize, Curacao, Cayman Islands, Aruba, Grenada, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Bahamas, and Sint Maarten.
The pots for each League are:
League A
Pot 1: Canada or Jamaica (Olympic Play-In loser), Costa Rica, and Mexico
Pot 2: Panama, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago
Pot 3: Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Saint Kitts and Nevis
League B
Pot 1: El Salvador, Guyana, and Dominican Republic
Pot 2: Bermuda, Nicaragua, and Antigua and Barbuda
Pot 3: Honduras, Suriname, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Pot 4: Martinique, Barbados, and Dominica
League C
Pot 1: US Virgin Islands, Belize, and Curacao
Pot 2: Cayman Islands, Aruba, and Grenada
Pot 3: Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands, and British Virgin Islands
Pot 4: Guadeloupe, Bahamas, and Sint Maarten
The draw will take place in Miami on May 17.
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