St John's, Antigua - Host Antigua and Barbuda sealed top spot on maximum nine points when it registered a close 1-0 triumph over closest rival St Lucia in Group D of the Concacaf Caribbean Women's Qualifiers (CCWQ) at the Antigua Recreation Ground here on Sunday.
On target for the victor was Britney Edwards who got the all-important strike in only the second minute of play.
Antigua and Barbuda had earlier registered a 1-0 victory over St Vincent and the Grenadines on Wednesday and followed that up with a comfortable 3-0 shutout of Curacao on Friday.
St Lucia, which ended on six points, had identical 2-1 wins over Curacao on Wednesday and St Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday.
Curacao ended third with three points after Sunday's 1-0 victory against point-less St Vincent and the Grenadines courtesy of a 53rd-minute goal from Riesmarly Tokaay.
Antigua and Barbuda progresses to the Caribbean final and will join Cuba (Group A), Jamaica (Group B), Trinidad and Tobago (Group C), Antigua and Barbuda (Group D) and Bermuda (Group E) as those teams to advance to the final Caribbean qualifiers scheduled for August 25 to September 2 at a venue to be named.
The top three teams in the final round will qualify for the 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship from October 4 to 17 in the United States. Group A will be played in Cary, North Carolina, while Group B will be played in Edinburg, Texas.
The final stage will take place in Frisco, Texas, and the top three teams will qualify as representatives of Concacaf for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.
With the possibility of qualifying another Concacaf nation, the fourth-place team will engage in an intercontinental playoff against a country from Conmebol, the Confederation of South America.
