August 18 – Focus has turned to the Olympic 2016 qualifying in the CONCACAF region, which in 2012 in London took both Gold medals with Mexico taking the men’s title and the US winning the women’s with Canada taking the bronze.
Both men’s and women’s qualifying tournaments will be played in the US with the eight team men’s tournament taking place October 1-13 in four venues: Sporting Park, Kansas City; StubHub Center, Los Angeles; Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Denver; and Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah.
Matches will be played as double headers and tickets for the opening rounds in Kansas City go on sale tomorrow.
The three North American teams of Canada, Mexico and the US are automatic qualifiers to the tournament with the US (as tournament host) and Mexico (as Olympic champions) being ceded in separate groups. They will be joined by three teams from the Central America and two from the Caribbean. The group draw takes place later today in Los Angeles.
Two teams will qualify for the Rio games next year, with the third team palying off against the third placed team from CONMEBOL for a further slot.
The women’s teams have more time to prepare for their qualifying tournament in February next year.
Matches will be played at the BBVA Compass Stadium, home to the Houston Dash of the NWSL and the Houston Dynamo of MLS, and Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, home to FC Dallas of MLS.
The top two finishers in the tournament will qualify for the Olympic tournament and reigning Olympic and this year’s FIFA World Cup winners USA will be red-hot favourites to retain their title.
“We’re excited to host this event at two excellent venues and look forward to some entertaining matches in what will be the first tournament competition for our team since the Women’s World Cup,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “The quality of women’s soccer in CONCACAF continues to improve over every cycle and we expect that to be the case once again over the 15 matches in Texas.”
Joining the three North American teams of the US, Mexico and Canada in the women’s qualifying tournament will be three Caribbean nations and two from Central America.
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