U20s, U17s Set For Upcoming 2009 CONCACAF Championships

Canada U20s drawn into Group B in Macoya
Canada’s men’s U-20 team has been drawn into a group with Mexico, Costa Rica and Trindiad & Tobago for the upcoming 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship. The four Group B teams will play a round-robin series at Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya, Trinidad & Tobago starting 6 March.

The top-two teams in the group then advance to the elimination round which concludes with the 15 March final. The four teams in the opposite group are USA, El Salvador, Honduras and Jamaica. The full tournament schedule is expected to be released next week.

The top-four teams in the CONCACAF championship will also qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009, which runs 25 September to 16 October. So far, 11 spots have been filled for Egypt 2009, including one by host Egypt. Spots have been by Europe (Germany, England, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic) and Asia (Australia, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Korea Republic).

Canada has participated in eight of the 16 FIFA U-20 World Cups, including each of the last four (Argentina 2001, UAE 2003, Netherlands 2005 and Canada 2007). While Canada did not participate in the qualification process in 2007, it did finish first in its group in 2005 (San Pedro, Honduras), 2003 (Charleston, SC) and 2001 (Victoria, BC).

Also of note, the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship will crown the first confederation champion since 1996. While in recent years each group qualified through separate groups, the 2009 tournament will play down to a championship match. Canada was the last CONCACAF champion in 1996 (Saltillo, Mexico).

The most recent FIFA U-20 World Cup, of course, took place in Canada this past 30 June to 22 July 2007. The FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 set a tournament record by drawing 1,195,239 spectators for the 52-match event. It also generated $259-million in economic impact and some 469.5-million cumulative viewers from around the world.

Canada U17s drawn into Group A in Tijuana
Canada’s men’s U-17 team has been drawn into a group with USA, Honduras and Cuba for the upcoming 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship. The four Group A teams will play a round-robin series at Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico starting 21 April.

The top-two teams in the group then advance to the elimination round which concludes this 2 May final. The four teams in the opposite group are Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago. The full tournament schedule is expected to be released next week.

The top-four teams in the CONCACAF championship will also qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009, which runs 24 October to 15 November. Canada last qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup at Ecuador 1995.

Of note, the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship will crown the first confederation champion since 1996. While in recent years each group qualified through separate groups, the 2009 tournament will play down to a championship match.