2024 CONCACAF U20 Championship: All Teams & Tournament Thread

While we're still waiting for the first U.S. camp of the cycle (for '05 YOBs and younger) CONCACAF's pre-tournament is getting under way later this month. Twenty-seven teams are competing for six places in the regional final; the group winners advance.

The U.S. obviously isn't in this. Neither are Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica or the DR.

Some of the team rosters are starting to land and I'm not gonna pretend I know much about them but a few of the groups look interesting. Canada is presumably a favorite to advance but one of its opponents is host T&T. Given the slim margins for error here, might be worth watching groups C and E, too.

https://www.concacaf.com/under-20s-...als-groups-for-2024-concacaf-u-20-qualifiers/

Full match schedule:

https://stconcacafwp001.blob.core.windows.net/media/3vxksa5o/cu20q-match-schedule.pdf

Here's the thread for the U.S. program/pool.

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-2025-u-20-player-pool-thread.2125827/

 

Here by the way is Canada's roster. I see at least two known Americans, Stefanovic and Schilte-Brown.

https://canadasoccer.com/news/canad...f-mens-u-20-championship-qualifiers-released/

 

These matches start Friday, I believe. I don't know if CONCACAF plans to publish squadlists, but it does appear the roster deadline has passed. Here's a list from PR.

⚽️ Convocatoria para el Concacaf Qualifiers Sub-20 Masculino el cual se llevará acabo del 23 de febrero al 2 de marzo en SKNFA Technical Center pic.twitter.com/K0OddO9dVo

— Selecciones Nacionales de Puerto Rico (@HuracanAzulPR) February 20, 2024

 

To my untrained eye, none of the "bigger" teams seem to have much on the line in today's games. But I reserve the right to be wrong!

https://www.concacaf.com/under-20s-...nder-20-qualifying-kicks-off-with-10-matches/

 

I don't want to make much of games I didn't watch between teams I know nothing about, but after the first set of matches -- during which there were a LOT of big blowouts -- maybe a few results could turn out meaningful.

Neither T&T nor Guatemala put up big numbers as hosts despite winning, and Jamaica's Group F might be tight, who knows. Since only one team from each group advances, things might get interesting. Or they might not!

Tracking things here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_CONCACAF_U-20_Championship_qualifying#Groups

 

Some teams have now played two matches (of three or four, depending on the group -- most are playing four). Cuba and host Nicaragua are cruising so far; they play each other on in their final game so we'll see how that shakes out; Guyana got a late PK to tie El Salvador, which maybe opens up that group a bit; host Guatemala is off to a good start, but they haven't played Curacao or Aruba yet; big game tomorrow between Canada and host T&T; same thing with Puerto Rico and Haiti, with the former needing to win.

 

Over in Group F, it looks like Jamaica will advance with a win or a tie tomorrow against Bermuda. But I think theoretically Bermuda or maybe even Martinique could break through depending on what happens.

 

In Group A (remember, these are winner take all groups) host Nicaragua and Cuba continue to look like they're on a collision course.

B still looks funky. Tomorrow's El Salvador-Suriname game should clarify things. If the latter wins, El Salvador's probably in trouble.

Tomorrow's (host) Guatemala-Aruba game should clarify C, though I think even if Guatemala wins Curacao could still take the group with a win against the hosts in the final round.

Canada won D. Not advancing would've been a bummer for a 2026 host.

In E, Puerto Rico needed to beat Haiti, and they were winning for most of the game before giving up an equalizer. Haiti advances.

And in F, Bermuda needs to beat Jamaica today to force tiebreaker stuff.

 

Jamaica won, so they advance. They went up 2-0 early, then Bermuda scored two second-half goals, then Jamaica got the winner late.

That means half the groups are done. As for what's left, Cuba needs to (and I'm guessing will) beat Belize today to stay alive in A. El Salvador-Belize looks important in B, as does Aruba-Guatemala in C.

 

Some big games tomorrow.

Cuba managed to beat Belize, so they'll play (host) Nicaragua for all the marbles.

El Salvador goes through if they beat (host) A&B, but if they don't, A&B or Suriname could advance.

Curacao needs to beat (host) Guatemala for the latter not to advance.

 

It's done! And I guess this means I can spot posting here for a while:

• Cuba beat Nicaragua, going up 2-0 and then giving up a late goal.
• El Salvador won 1-0 on a second-half goal.
• Guatemala did the same.

So those three winners join Canada, Haiti and Jamaica in the finals.

 

OK, one more thing: All I've seen about the draw is that it's in April. If you see specifics, let us know!