TT to meet hosts US in CONCACAF U-20 Champs

TRINIDAD AND Tobago have been drawn in Group A of the CONCACAF Under 20 Men’s championship scheduled to take place from November 1 at the IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida, United States.

The tournament, which also serves as qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Under-20 Men’s World Cup in Poland, comprises of six groups and, following the draw on Thursday, TT were placed alongside United States, Puerto Rico, St Vincent/Grenadines, Suriname and US Virgin Islands.

The draw was conducted using a single-blind system, involving five pots.

Based on the CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 ranking, the top six ranked teams were seeded into position one of each group, while the remaining 29 teams were distributed in five pots.

TT will open their campaign against St Vincent/Grenadines on November 1. They then face Puerto Rico on November 3, USA on November 5, Suriname on November 7 and US Virgin Islands two days later.

Only the group winners will advance to the qualification stage which will be played in two groups of three teams each.

A new format was previously announced by CONCACAF for this championship, removing the regional Central American and Caribbean qualifiers and guaranteeing each entrant a minimum of four competitive games.

The competition will determine the four CONCACAF representatives at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. It will also determine the CONCACAF teams playing at the 2019 Pan American Games men’s football tournament in Lima, Peru. The United States are the defending champions.