Kansas City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., to host Championship; eight finalist nations to battle for multiple berths in FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015

MIAMI (Thursday, July 24, 2014) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) today announced that the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship will be played in four host cities in the United States: Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

The tournament, which will take place from October 15-26, features eight countries divided into two groups of four, with the top two finishers in each group after round-robin play advancing to the semifinals. The CONCACAF Women’s Championship will qualify three teams directly to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, with a fourth earning the right to face a South American country in a playoff.

“We look forward to an exciting World Cup qualifying round played in the United States at some of the best stadiums in the world in front of passionate football fans,” said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb.

As host of the Women’s World Cup, Canada has already secured its place in next year’s tournament. The 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship will feature the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica (Group II winner in Central American Football Union (UNCAF) qualifying), Guatemala (Group I winner in UNCAF qualifying), and the four semifinalists in the final round of the CFU Women’s Caribbean Cup, which will take place August 19-26, 2014, in Trinidad & Tobago.

“We are honored to serve as the local organizing committee for this tournament as we continue to support and grow women’s soccer in this region on a large scale,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “The second season of the National Women’s Soccer League has been exciting to follow, and this tournament provides fans with another opportunity to see some of the best women’s soccer players in the world compete on the international level. With the tremendous success and popularity of the men’s World Cup here in the United States this summer, we are looking forward to carrying that momentum right through to the Women’s World Cup in Canada and beyond.”

All eight countries participating in the Championship will play one match in each of the three first-round venues. Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., and RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., will each host a pair of doubleheaders on consecutive match days, one each for Groups A and B.

PPL Park in Philadelphia will host the semifinal matches on October 24, along with the third-place match and final on October 26. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place match will qualify directly for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. The fourth-place team will enter a play-off with the third-place side from South America for another berth.

The tournament begins at Sporting Park on October 15, with the first two matches of Group A followed by the first two matches of Group B on October 16. All eight teams will then move to Toyota Park where the Group A doubleheader matches will take place on October 17 and Group B matches on October 18. The teams will finish first round play at RFK Stadium with the Group A doubleheader games taking place on October 20 and Group B on October 21.

The final four teams will then move on to PPL Park for the last four games. The top two finishers in each group which will cross-over for the semifinal matches, with the Group A winner playing the Group B runner-up and vice versa, for a spot in the final.

FOX is the official English language broadcaster in the U.S. for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. All matches will be televised live across FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 or FOX Soccer Plus, and will also be available on multi-platform devises via FOX Sports GO, FOX Soccer 2GO and FOXSportsGO.com.

The final tournament schedule and kick-off times will be set at the Final Draw on September 5 in Miami. Ticket information will be made available in the near future. The U.S. last hosted the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in 2006, and split hosting responsibilities with Canada in 2002, when games were played in Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.

End

IMAGE: www.soccerwire.com