Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Director Bryan Joseph confirmed that the provisional squad for the impending 2024 CONCACAF Men’s U20 Qualifiers has been reduced to 24 players and that the team will commence its encampment period today.
This was disclosed during a brief interview with Stabroek Sports. According to Joseph, “The camp starts tomorrow [today] at the National Training Centre. The team has been there almost every day except one since the coach departed on January 29th. He returned today [yesterday] and will resume the sessions tomorrow [today]. The full coaching staff will be available. 24 players will be in the camp, 21 players will travel for the tournament, and three will be reserves. All 24 have the opportunity to make the team, which will be finalised on the 13th.”
The Golden Jaguars have been drawn in group B of the qualifiers, which will occur across five venues in the Caribbean and Central America during the period of February 23rd–March 2nd. The teams were seeded in their respective pots based on their current rankings. 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 centre.
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.
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.
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.
