Canada’s weather-delayed opener at CONCACAF U-20 tournament rescheduled for Friday

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – Canada’s weather-delayed opener against Jamaica at the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship has been rescheduled for Friday.

The two teams had been slated to meet Wednesday at Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez but the game, along with the U.S.-Panama matchup in the nightcap of the Group A doubleheader, was called off due to bad weather.

Canada and seven other countries are fighting for CONCACAF’s three berths at next year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Canada will now face Panama on Sunday and the defending champion U.S. on Tuesday with the robin-robin portion of the schedule pushed back by two days.

The schedule for all matches in Group B, semifinals, third place match and final remain unchanged, according to CONCACAF.

Play in Group B, which is made up of Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and the host Dominican Republic, was slated to kick off Thursday.

The top two from each group advance to the knockout stage with the two finalists and the third-place match winner qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Canada has qualified for eight of the 10 previous FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups, finishing runner-up to the U.S. in 2002 when Canada hosted the event.

Canada made it to the CONCACAF tournament by handily winning its qualifying group in the Dominican Republic last month. The Canadians defeated Martinique 15-0, St. Vincent and the Grenadines 12-0 and Cuba 4-0 before thumping previously unbeaten El Salvador 9-1.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2023.