MIAMI, Florida – This Friday at 7:00 PM ET, Concacaf will be airing a re-broadcast of the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship semifinal between Mexico and Canada, followed by the 2018 CU20W Final between Mexico and the United States. Both matches will be shown on Concacaf’s Facebook and YouTube pages, plus the Concacaf App.
There was plenty of intrigue surrounding the start of the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, with a number of teams looking to knock the United States from the CU20W mountaintop.
Heading into the tournament, which was the ninth edition of the CUW20, the U.S. had won the previous four editions, and five of the last seven. Only Canada had disrupted the U.S.’s reign of dominance in the CU20W by lifting the trophy in 2004 and 2008.
However, in addition to the powerful Canadians, several other teams had their sights set on a first-place finish, including Mexico and Haiti.
Mexico entered the tournament with two runner-up finishes on their resume (2010, 2014) and many of the players that took home the 2013 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship made up the Mexico squad.
There was, of course, also the prize of punching a ticket to the 2018 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup to be had for the top three finishers.
Trinidad and Tobago was named as the host country for the tournament, which took place from January 18-28, with eight teams split into two groups of four.
Adding to the intensity of the competition was the fact that none of the eight teams were making their CU20W debut, meaning there would be no first-time jitters.
Hailing from the North American Zone, the U.S., Canada and Mexico had a combined 22 previous CU20W appearances among them to begin the tournament and 22 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup appearances.
There was plenty of depth and experience among the three Caribbean qualifiers, with Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, including a fourth-place finish for the Soca Warriors in the 2014 CU20W.
Not to be outdone were the two representatives from Central America, with three-time third-place finisher Costa Rica taking the field, in addition to a hungry Nicaragua making their first CU20W appearance since 2008.
Needless to say, expectations were high for all eight sides to start what would become a memorable CU20W.
