The Golden Jaguars have been drawn in group B in the 2024 edition of the CONCACAF Men’s U20 Qualifiers following the official draw on Wednesday in Florida, USA.
The Guyanese, who were seeded in pool 4 of the five-pot selection process, have been paired with El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, and Turks and Caicos. The matches will be staged in Antigua and Barbuda at the island’s technical center.
Meanwhile, group A comprises Cuba, Nicaragua, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla, while group C contains Guatemala, Curacao, Aruba, Saint Martin, and Barbados, and group D consists of Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica.
On the other hand, group E is made up of Haiti, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Cayman Islands, with Jamaica, Bermuda, Grenada, and Martinique comprising group F.
The qualifying tournament, which will occur across five venues in the Caribbean and Central America, is scheduled for the period of February 23–March 2nd. The teams were seeded in their respective pots based on their current rankings.
Guyana, which is ranked 27th, will open its campaign against the hosts on February 23rd. They will then oppose El Salvador two days later before battling Suriname on the 27th. Guyana’s final match will occur on February 29th against the Turks and Caicos.
Upon the conclusion of the group stage, the respective pool winner will advance to the 2024 CONCACAF Men’s U-20 Championship, joining the top six seeds that have automatically qualified in the form of the defending champion United States of America, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.
The 12 teams in the championship round will be divided into three groups of four teams, with the top two teams from each pool, as well as the two best third-place finishers, advancing to the quarterfinal section. The resulting top four finishers [semi-finalists] will earn berths to the 2025 FIFA Men’s U20 World Cup.
Guyana finished third in Group D in the 2022 edition of the qualifiers, ending with a record of one win, one draw, and a loss for four points and a goal differential of -1. In the 2020 edition, Guyana ended in second place in group ‘A’ of the qualifiers with a record of three wins, a draw for nine points, and a goal differential of +10.
