Canada women to face Puerto Rico, Panama and Nicaragua in CONCACAF U17 Championship

Canadian is shown in a team photo before a 3-0 win over Scotland at the U-17 Costa Cálida MIMA Cup women's soccer tournament in Murcia, Spain, in this Thursday, February 13, 2025 handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Canada Soccer

Canada has been drawn alongside Puerto Rico, Panama and Nicaragua in Group B at the CONCACAF Women’s U‑17 Championship.

The 12-team regional tournament, which is divided into three groups, is set to run March 31 to April 6 and will send four teams — the three group winners and the best second-place finisher — to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled for Oct. 17 to Nov. 8 in Morocco.

Panama will host Canada’s group.

Group A consists of host Mexico, Haiti, Costa Rica and Bermuda while Group C features the United States, El Salvador, Honduras and host Trinidad and Tobago.

Canada, Haiti, Mexico and the U.S., received byes to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying. The other eight entries came through a 22-team qualifying round Jan. 27-Feb. 1 that sent six group winners (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Puerto Rico) and the two best second-place finishers (Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago) to the final round.

Canada will open April 1 against Nicaragua before facing Panama on April 3 and Puerto Rico on April 6 with all three games at Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City.

The young Canadians recently competed at the MIMA Cup in Spain, where a win over Scotland (3-0) was sandwiched around losses to England (2-0) and Sweden (3-1).

The expanded FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco will feature 24 teams, up from 16.

Canada has qualified for seven of the eight previous editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s Cup, missing out on the 2024 tournament. Its best showing was fourth in 2018. It made the quarterfinals in 2008, 2012 and 2014.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2025.

The Canadian Press