The Lady Jaguars were placed in Group-F of the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U20 Championship when the regional confederation conducted its official draw yesterday in Miami, Florida.
Guyana has been paired with Central American nations Mexico, Honduras and Panama for next year’s competition which is slated to occur from February 25th-March 12th in the Dominican Republic.
The Lady Jaguars’ previous outing at this level occurred in the 2020 edition. The Guyanese exited the tournament at the quarterfinal round with a record of three wins [3-1 Nicaragua, 2-1 Puerto Rico and 2-0 Cayman Islands] and two losses [0-3 Mexico and 0-3 Haiti]. Guyana defeated Nicaragua and Puerto Rico in the group round, before losing to Mexico in their final pool match. They then defeated the Cayman Islands in the Round of 16 section before suffering elimination at the hands of Haiti in the Quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Group-E comprises defending champion the United States, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua, while Group-C consists of Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, El Salvador and Saint Kitts & Nevis. Group-H contains Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala and Cuba.
The quartet of Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Curacao and Suriname were the respective group winners of the initial Qualifying tournament, and will enter the Championship section at the Round of 16 stage.
Upon the conclusion of the 16-team group stage in the Championship segment, the top three finishers from each pool will advance to the Round of 16 knockout section, joining the aforementioned foursome from the qualifiers.
According to Concacaf, the knockout stage of the tournament, which comprises the Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semi-finals, Third Place Playoff and Final, will utilize the traditional single-match direct elimination format.
“At the conclusion of the event, the champion, runner-up and third-place finisher will qualify for the 2022 FIFA Women’s U-20 in Costa Rica in August of 2022. The three teams from the region that will have qualified for the Women’s Under-20 World Cup will join host nation Costa Rica, giving Concacaf four participating teams in the tournament”, Concacaf further disclosed via a press release.
