Concacaf W Championship Preview
Tonight the Concacaf W Championship kicks off in Mexico with the first day of group stage matches. With only eight nations qualifying for the tournament, from start to finish the W Championship will only run for two weeks, almost half the amount of the UEFA Women’s Euro being held this month.
Format
The Concacaf W Championship format will have the 8 teams divided into two groups of four, playing three matches each from July 4–11. Following the group stage the top two from each group will qualify for the knockout stage and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The third place side in each group will head to the inter-continental playoff for a shot at a WWC spot.
The side who wins the two match single elimination knockout stage will automatically qualify for the football competition at the 2024 Olympics and the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. The runner-up and third place winner will earn the right to face each other in an Olympic play-off to determine the final Concacaf spot in the Olympics and for a guaranteed spot in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.
Locations
The host location for the W Championship was not announced until February of this year when Monterrey, Mexico was announced as the host. All matches will take place in one of two stadiums, those being Estadio BBVA in the suburb of Guadalupe and Estadio Universitario in the suburb of San Nicolás de los Garza. Estadio BBVA seats 53,500 and opened in 2015 and is home of Liga MX side CF Monterrey. Estadio Universitario seats 41,615 and is home of Tigres UANL of Liga MX and was one of the stadiums that hosted matches in the 1986 World Cup. The stadiums are only 13.7 km (8.5 miles) away from each other, giving the tournament a much smaller travel distance than other Concacaf tournaments.
Team Previews
Group A
Haiti:
The qualification Group E winner, Haiti has won five of their six matches they have played in 2022, only having lost a friendly away to Costa Rica. Haiti returns to a women’s championship tournament in Concacaf after failing to qualify for the 2018 Women’s Championship. Having never qualified for the Women’s World Cup, Olympics, and only one Pan-American Games, Les Grenadières will have their work cut out for them.
Jamaica:
On a four match win streak after winning qualification Group C, the Reggae Girlz are looking to get into back to back Women’s World Cup tournaments. Jamaica went 0–3 in the 2019 WWC but they have been improving over the last 10 years with qualifications to the 2014 Concacaf Women’s Championship and a fourth place finish in the 2018 championship. Eight players on the team come from US sides in either the NWSL or NCAA Division I college soccer. Six come from the English system and two more playing for Rangers in Scotland.
México:
Entering the tournament as the hosts México has bolstered it’s women’s football profile in the past five seasons. FMF (Federación Mexicana de Fútbol) moved away from allocating players to the United States’ NWSL and instead established the domestic Liga MX Femenil for the 2017–18 season. The hosts will have a total of 15 players coming to the team from LMXF sides and eight of those 15 from either Tigres of CF Monterrey.
United States:
The USWNT enters the tournament as the heavy favourites to win and qualify for the Women’s World Cup, 2024 Olympics, and 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. All but one player (Lindsey Horan) plays for a side in the US domestic National Women’s Soccer League. A combination of a the veteran core led by captain Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Kelley O’Hara; and a crop of up and coming young players makes the USWNT a threat as always.
Group B
Canada:
One of only two sides in the tournament without a single player currently playing domestically in the nation, and the only one that has never had a high level league in the nation. While Canada may not have a league or professional team, the CANWNT are the second highest ranking Concacaf women’s side and the only country other than the US to win a Concacaf women’s title. Led by captain Christine Sinclair as well as veteran talents Sophie Schmidt and Desiree Scott, all of whom play in the US based NWSL, they’ll be looking to lead their side to try and outdo their neighbours from down south.
Costa Rica:
Runners-up in the 2014 tournament, the qualification group B winners make their 9th appearance in a Concacaf Women’s Championship. Las Ticas are coming in strong as well with only two losses in their last nine matches, the most recent was to Haiti at the end of June. While most of the players for the team come from the country’s domestic league, three are playing domestically in Europe while Valeria del Campo plays for Mexican side CF Monterrey and captain Raquel Rodríguez plays for NWSL side Portland Thorns.
Panama:
On a 7–2–1 (W-D-L) run since one year ago, Panama returns to Concacaf’s Women’s Championship after finishing in fourth place four years ago. La Marea Roja will be aiming for a top half of the group finish to try and guarantee themselves a spot in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, having never been to the WWC or Olympics before.
Trinidad and Tobago:
Rounding out with Trinidad and Tobago, the lowest ranked side in the entire competition. The TTFA’s women’s side has appeared in every Concacaf Women’s Championship, something no other nation can lay claim too. With two fourth place and two third place finishes to their name, they will be looking to take a similar result back home. Trinidad and Tobago also has never qualified for a WWC or Olympics, but a top half group finish would send them to it, a third place finish would also give them a chance at heading to Australia/New Zealand for the 2023 WWC.
