USA drawn into Group F for 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship
CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) — The USA will face Canada, Barbados and Guatemala in Group F play at the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship from May 1-16 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Four teams from the tournament will advance to represent Concacaf at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru. Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) conducted the final draw for the upcoming tournament today at its headquarters in Miami, Fla.
The U.S. will begin the tournament against Canada on May 2, take on Barbados on May 4 and finish group play versus Guatemala on May 6. After round-robin play, the top three teams in each group will advance to the 16-team knockout round from May 8-16, joined by four group winners from a preliminary qualifying round which will be played in March and April. The tournament’s four semifinalists will advance to October’s 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship
USA – Group F Schedule
| Date | Match-up | Kickoff (ET) | Venue |
| May 2 | USA vs. Canada | TBD | IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla. |
| May 4 | USA vs. Barbados | TBD | IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla. |
| May 6 | USA vs. Guatemala | TBD | IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla. |
The top four teams in the Concacaf U-17 rankings, Mexico, the USA, Honduras and Costa Rica were seeded for the draw. The full results of the championship draw are listed below:
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
| Mexico | USA | Honduras | Costa Rica |
| Jamaica | Canada | Haiti | Panama |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Guatemala | El Salvador | Suriname |
| Bermuda | Barbados | Guyana | Curaçao |
Groups A, B, C and D will be contested as qualifying groups before the tournament proper begins on May 1, with each group winner advancing directly to the knockout round. Groups A and C will play March 16-25 and Groups B and D will follow from April 1-10, with all matches at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Nicaragua | Dominican Republic | Guadeloupe | St. Kitts and Nevis |
| Grenada | Antigua and Barbuda | Bahamas | Puerto RIco |
| Cayman Islands | Belieze | Aruba | Martinique |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Dominica | St. Martin | Anguilla |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | Montserrat | Bonaire | — |
IMG Academy is familiar territory for the U-17 MNT, who competes annually at the Nike International Friendlies in nearby Lakewood Ranch, Fla. and gathered in the area for a training camp last month. IMG Academy was also home of the U.S. Soccer U-17 Residency Program from 1999 to 2017, an initiative that brought together the country’s best young players for full-time daily training with the U-17 MNT staff.
Six teams have already qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup thus far: host Peru, along with Australia, Japan, Korea Republic and Tajikistan, who qualified via the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship in Malaysia, as well as New Zealand from the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship in the Solomon Islands. The remaining 18 nations will qualify over the course of this year.
