(CONCACAF)Media Release
Miami (Tuesday, November 29, 2016) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) today conducted the draw for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Costa Rica 2017, at the National Stadium, in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The draw, which determined the groups and match schedule for the tournament that kicks off on February 17, in San Jose, was opened with welcoming remarks from Philippe Moggio, CONCACAF General Secretary and Costa Rican Football Federation President Rodolfo Villalobos. The event was conducted with the assistance of Melissa Herrera, Costa Rica Women’s National Team player and Ronald González, former player and coach of the Under-20 and veteran of the full Costa Rican National Team.
Tournament host Costa Rica was seeded into Group C, and will face El Salvador, Bermuda and Trinidad & Tobago. In Group A, defending CONCACAF Under-20 Champion Mexico was joined by Antigua & Barbuda, Honduras and Canada, while the United States, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Haiti make up Group B.
The National Stadium and Estadio Ricardo Saprissa will both be used for the tournament, to be played in a new format consisting of a group stage, a classification phase, and the grand final.
Under the new format, designed to increase the number of meaningful, competitive matches, the top two teams from Groups A, B, and C will advance to the Classification Stage, where the Confederation’s four tickets to the World Cup at this level will be determined in round robin play among two groups of three teams each. The top two teams of each of the two Classification Stage groups will qualify as CONCACAF representatives to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017.
For the draw, the Participating Member Associations were ranked and separated into four pots, based on their performance over the last four editions of the competition. Mexico, as current CONCACAF Under-20 Champions was seeded in position A1. The United States, as the best-ranked CONCACAF team in the last edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, was placed in position B1 and Costa Rica as host, earned position C1.
The remaining teams, from pots 2-4, were drawn in order and placed in the group position drawn from Pots A, B and C. The positions of each group winner and runner-up from the group stage were then drawn in group pairs, randomly into the two groups (D and E) for the Classification Stage.
Under-20 Championship Costa Rica 2017 Groups
Group A
Mexico
Antigua & Barbuda
Honduras
Canada
Group B
USA
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Haiti
Group C
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Bermuda
Trinidad & Tobago
CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Costa Rica 2017 – Classification Stage Group Positions
Group D
Second Place Group B
First Place Group A
First Place Group C
Group E
First Place Group B
Second Place Group A
Second Place Group C
CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Costa Rica 2017 Schedule
*Local Time
Friday, February 17, 2017 – Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
17:30 Honduras vs Canada
20:00 Mexico vs Antigua & Barbuda
Saturday, February 18, 2017 – Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
12:30 Saint Kitts and Nevis vs Haiti
15:00 USA vs Panama
Sunday, February 19, 2017 – Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
13:30 Bermuda vs Trinidad & Tobago
16:00 Costa Rica vs El Salvador
Monday, February 20, 2017 – National Stadium
17:00 Antigua & Barbuda vs Honduras
19:30 Mexico vs Canada
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 – National Stadium
14:00 Panama vs Saint Kitts and Nevis
16:30 USA vs Haiti
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 – National Stadium
16:30 El Salvador vs Bermuda
19:00 Costa Rica vs Trinidad & Tobago
Thursday, February 23, 2017 – Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
17:00 Antigua & Barbuda vs Canada
19:30 Mexico vs Honduras
Friday, February 24, 2017 – Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
14:00 Panama vs Haiti
16:30 USA vs Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saturday, February 25, 2017 – National Stadium
13:30 El Salvador vs Trinidad & Tobago
16:00 Costa Rica vs Bermuda
Monday, February 27, 2017 – Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
16:00 Second Place Group B vs First Place Group A
18:30 First Place Group B vs. Second Place Group A
Wednesday, March 01, 2017 – National Stadium
16:30 First Place Group A vs First Place Group C
19:00 Second Place Group A vs Second Place Group C
Friday, March 03, 2017 – National Stadium
17:30 Second Place Group B vs First Place Group C
20:00 First Place Group B vs Second Place Group C
Sunday, March 05, 2017 – National Stadium
15:00 Winner Group D vs. Winner Group E