January 15 – Guadalajara in Mexico will host the Concacaf men’s qualifiers for the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. The eight U-23 teams will play March 18-30 to qualify two teams for Japan.
Originally scheduled for July/August 2020, the Olympics that were shifted to 2021 when the coronavirus pandemic stuck.
Concacaf’s qualifiers will see the eight teams divided into two groups headed by two seeded nations: Mexico as current champions and Honduras as the nation which outperformed the six other participating nations in the previous two editions. Mexico won the Olympic men’s tournament in 2012 in London beating Brazil 2-1 in the final.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals with the two semi-final winners going on to the Tokyo Olympics.
The Jalisco and Akron Stadiums will host the qualification games.
“I want to place on record our thanks to the Mexican Football Federation and the Governor of Jalisco for their ongoing commitment to this rescheduled Men’s Olympic Qualification tournament,” said Concacaf General Secretary, Philippe Moggio.
“This competition is an important part of elite player development for our Member Associations and provides fans with the opportunity to see the best young talents from across the region competing for the honour of representing their country at the Summer Olympic Games.”
Group Draw:
Group A: Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, and Dominican Republic
Group B: Honduras, Canada, El Salvador and Haiti
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