Bermuda will learn their opponents as CONCACAF has announced that the official draw for the 2023 CONCACAF Men’s Under 17 Championship (CU17C) will take place on Thursday, September 29th, 2022, at 12:00 noon Bermuda time.
The 2023 CU17C is scheduled to be played in Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, between February 11th – 26th, 2023, and will include the participation of a total of 20 CONCACAF Member Associations – the top-ranked 16 nations according to the CONCACAF Men’s U-17 Ranking and the four group winners from the 2022 CONCACAF Men’s Under 17 Qualifiers (CU17Q), which Bermuda was one.
The World Cup qualifying competition will begin with a 16-team group stage, followed by a knockout stage involving the top three nations in each group stage group and the four nations that secured a round of 16 berths via the 2022 CU17Q.
The entire knockout stage (Round of 16, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Final) will be played in a single-match elimination format and the Semi-Finalists (four teams) will qualify for the FIFA Under 17 World Cup Peru 2023.
Matches will be divided across two venues, Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores in Guatemala City and Estadio Pensativo in Antigua.
Draw Procedures
The official draw will be executed using a single-blind system and four pots. Based on the CONCACAF Men’s Under 17 ranking, the 16 nations participating in the competition’s group stage will be distributed in Pots 1-4 as follows (top-ranked nations in Pot 1 and listed in raking order per Pot):
Pot 1: Mexico (Group E), USA (Group F), Costa Rica (Group G), Honduras (Group H) Pot 2: Canada, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica Pot 3: Cuba, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala Pot 4: Curacao, Suriname, Barbados, Guadeloupe
The draw will begin by placing the seeded nations (Pot 1) in their respective groups. Once these are confirmed, the nations from Pot 2 will be drawn and placed in sequential order in Groups E, F, G, and H. The same process will be followed with Pots 3 and 4.
At the end of the draw, each group will consist of four teams, with no more than one team from each Pot.
Details regarding the official schedule will be confirmed after the draw.
In the previous edition of the CONCACAF Under 17 Championship, played in Bradenton, FL, in 2019, Mexico won its eighth title at this age level, with a 2-1 extra-time win over the United States in the final.
Tournament details
Dates: February 11 - 26, 2023
Host cities and stadiums (2): Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores (Guatemala City, Guatemala) and Estadio Pensativo (Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala)
Nations participating in the group stage (16 and in ranking order): Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Canada, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, Curacao, Suriname, Barbados, and Guadeloupe
Nations participating in the knockout stage (16): Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and the top three teams in each of the 2023 CU17C group stage groups (12 teams).
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