USA, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti will form a fiercely competitive group at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, which will serve as a qualifying tournament for both the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ and the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024. Canada, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago will make up the other section.

The 2022 Concacaf W Championship will take place from 4-18 July in Monterrey, Mexico.

Australia & New Zealand 2023 The top two in each pool will qualify for the Women’s World Cup, while the two third-placed finishers will go into inter-continental play-offs, a 10-team competition which will offer three tickets to the global finals. Paris 2024 The winners of the Concacaf W Championship will reach the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. The runners-up will face the third-placed team for the region’s remaining ticket to France.

The highest-positioned team from each pot on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking went into Group A. USA are, of course, the record four-time and reigning Women’s World Cup winners. Furthermore, coach Vlatko Andonovski has a frightening assortment of established greats at his disposal, along with 19-year-old revelation Trinity Rodman.

Mexico are one of only three Concacaf nations to have gone to multiple Women’s World Cups, having been there in 1999, 2011 and 2015. The explosion in popularity of women’s football in the country, and the development of their domestic league, have also been significant boosts to El Tri. Defenders Jimena Lopez, Karina Rodriguez and Kenti Robles represent OL Reign, Washington Spirit and Real Madrid respectively, while in Maricarmen Reyes and Diana Ordonez they have two hugely promising youngsters. Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz will be optimistic Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw can inspire them to back-to-back Women’s World Cup qualifications, while Haiti, despite having the odds stacked heavily against them, have many youngsters based in France and the USA and certainly don’t lack belief.

What they said “We’re excited because we now know the three rivals we’ll be playing against. We can start planning in the best way possible. We’re excited to await everyone in Monterrey. We’re really motivated having our fans at home, which will definitely be a plus.” Monica Vergara, Mexico coach “Every game is like a final. We have to put our best foot forward. It’s going to be a competitive [group]. Alicia Wilson-Lopez, former Jamaica international

They finally won their first major trophy at the Tokyo Olympics. Now Canada want to top the podium at the Women’s World Cup. And with arguably their finest-ever generation – one which features Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, Jessie Fleming, Janine Beckie and the ageless Christine Sinclair – they want to seize Concacaf’s automatic slot at Paris 2024 ahead of favourites USA.

Costa Rica gave an admirable account of themselves in their only Women’s World Cup campaign in 2015, registering stunning draws with Spain and Korea Republic before a narrow loss to Brazil sent them home. Playmaker Shirley Cruz, 36, can still pull the strings, while Portland Thorns’ Raquel Rodriguez is an outstanding talent. Panama produced an astonishing upset of Mexico en route to a personal best fourth place at the last Concacaf W Championship. Las Canaleras also won all four of their matches in qualifying for this year’s competition, scoring 24 goals and conceding zero. Few would give Haiti hope, but in Montpellier forward Nerilia Mondesir they have a genuine match-winner. What they said “We’re a really competitive team, just like everyone else. We have three difficult games in our group. It will come down to little details. I hope we can play some great games and progress in the tournament.” Amelia Valverde, Costa Rica coach

Concacaf revealed the official song for the tournament, Lions by Skip Marley featuring Cedella Marley, during the draw. The catchy track promotes inspiration, change and empowerment. Skip and Cedella are respectively the grandson and daughter of reggae legends Bob and Rita Marley. Shortly before his death in 1981, Bob, who was obsessed with football, played a 6-a-side game in Rio de Janeiro alongside Mexico 1970 winner Paulo Cezar Caju.

USA (8) Canada (2)

USA (8) Canada (7) Mexico (3) Costa Rica (1) Jamaica (1)