San Cristobal, Dominican Republic - Cuba booked its place in the final round of the Concacaf Caribbean Women's Qualifiers (CCWQ) following a comprehensive 4-0 win over Anguilla at the Estadio Panamericano here on Sunday.
Cuba finished atop Group A with 10 points following three victories and a draw, edging out Puerto Rico which ended on eight points from two wins and two draws.
On target for the Cubans were Rachael Pelaez Ellis (18th, 66th minutes), Maria Perez Torres (33rd) and Francis Requilme Kellys (55th)
Also on Sunday, hosts Dominican Republic got their second win of the campaign, blanking Aruba 3-0 to finish marginally off in third with seven points on the heels of two wins and a draw.
The Dominican Republic triumph was inspired by a double from Denny Vargas (5th & 36th minutes), while Andrea Rivas Pena added another in 45th+1.
Aruba closed its show in fourth with three points after registering their only victory over pointless Anguilla in a 2-1 result in the third round of matches.
With only the winners of the five CCWQ groups guaranteed to advance to the final round of the Caribbean qualifiers to be held August 25-September 2, Cuba can now look ahead to preparation as it continues its World Cup journey.
The top three teams from the final round of the Caribbean play-offs will qualify for the 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship October 4-17 in the USA. Group A of the confederation qualifiers is set to be played in Cary, North Carolina, while Group B will be contested in Edinburg, Texas.
The final stage will then take place in Frisco, Texas, with the top three teams qualifying as the CONCACAF representatives to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.
The fourth-place finisher will engage in an intercontinental play-off for the possibility of qualifying another Concacaf team.
Group A results
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Puerto Rico vs Anguilla (10-0)
Dominican Republic vs Cuba (1-5)
Monday, May 7, 2018
Cuba vs Aruba (11-0)
Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic (0-0)
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Anguilla vs Aruba (1-2)
Cuba vs Puerto Rico (2-2)
Friday, May 11, 2018
Aruba vs Puerto Rico (0-5)
Dominican Republic vs Anguilla (3-0)
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Anguilla vs Cuba (0-4)
Aruba vs Dominican Republic (0-3)
