Covid travel issues force start of Concacaf W Qualifiers back to February 2022

October 11 – Concacaf has been forced to push back the start date of its Concacaf W Qualifiers to the FIFA Women’s Window in February 2022. The new timetabling has been necessary because of issues with travel and different quarantine restrictions across the region due to the Covid pandemic.

The qualifiers, which had been due to start in November, are for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and 2024 Women’s Football Olympic Tournament.

Last month Concacaf unveiled a major revamp of its women’s national team competitions with 2022 being the springboard for more matches, bigger competitions and greater national team engagement .

In addition to the Concacaf W Qualifiers, 2022 will also include the Concacaf W Championship, the Concacaf Women’s U-20 and U-17 competitions and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica.

Concacaf said that the schedule for the matches taking place during the FIFA Women’s Match Window of April 2022 remains unchanged.

30 Concacaf Member Associations will participate Concacaf W Qualifiers (all ranked 3 and below in the FIFA Women’s Ranking as of July 2021), with the groups drawn as follows:

Group A: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda and Anguilla
Group B: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Saint Kitts and Nevis, US Virgin Islands, and Curacao
Group C: Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Grenada and Cayman Islands
Group D: Panama, El Salvador, Barbados, Belize and Aruba
Group E: Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and British Virgin Islands
Group F: Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Nicaragua, Dominica and Turks and Caicos Islands

Matches will be played home and away with group winners going to the Concacaf W Championship, joining the top two ranked Concacaf nations (USA and Canada) who have received a bye.

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