What’s next in U-17 World Cup qualifying in CONCACAF?

Four teams in CONCACAF are looking to qualify for the U-17 FIFA World Cup in the seventh edition of the tournament. This year it was hosted by Guatemala and the knockout stages have begun with only eight teams left trying to make a push to play at the finals.

Mexico and the United States were the first two teams to secure their spot to the knockout stages and they are the top two contenders to win the championship. Meanwhile, Honduras, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Puerto Rico have shown the potential to make a late push to fight for one of the four World Cup spots.

Mexico’s run at the campaign

The Mexican youth national team finished in first place in Group E with seven points and a goal difference of +11. Their record is two wins and one draw and their best result was against Curaçao in their opening match with a 9-0 win. El Tri struggled against Panama in the last match of the group stage and they were only able to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw.

Mexico then began the knockout stages with a 6-0 win over Nicaragua in the round of 16 on 18 February. El Tri will now play against El Salvador in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night in hopes of continuing their run to qualify. A positive result against Los Cuscatlecos will secure Mexico’s participation in the 19th edition of the U-17 World up in Peru this winter.

The United States next opponent

The Americans are the team to beat in the CONCACAF U-17 Championship as they have yet to lose or tie in four games. The United States had a perfect record during the group stage with three wins and a goal difference of +8 and they went on to defeat the Dominican Republic 7-0 in the round of 16. The Americans will play against Guatemala on 21 February in the quarter-finals.

Other quarter-final fixtures