Canada drawn with United States, Jamaica and Panama at U20 Concacaf Women's Championships

After qualifying for the Concacaf Championships last month, the Canadian Women’s U20 National Team learned their fate for that tournament on Thursday, as Concacaf held their official draw. 

There, Canada were drawn with the United States, Jamaica and Panama in Group A of the tournament. 

Our @ConcacafW U-20 Championship Group! 🏆#canw20 are set to travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the tournament this month.#WeCAN pic.twitter.com/gPfHKBUwL5

— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) May 4, 2023

Held later this month in the Dominican Republic, Canada will be looking to return to a second-straight U20 World Cup, having qualified for last year’s edition of the tournament in Costa Rica.

Having gone winless at that tournament, one they haven’t won a game at since hosting it all the way back in 2014, Canada has big goals of getting back and showing that they can compete at the highest youth level once again. 

To do that, however, they must now navigate this tournament, one that won’t be easy. 

In order to qualify for the 2024 World Cup, they’ll need to finish top two in their group at the Concacaf Championships, allowing them to directly reach the semi-finals, as there are just eight teams participating. From there, they must finish in the top three in order to qualify for the World Cup. 

Therefore, the goal is clear - finish in the top three, and then from there, if possible, try and finish first and bring home the silverware that comes with it.

It’ll be a tall task, as Canada hasn’t reached the final of the Concacaf Championships since 2015, and hasn’t won it all since 2008, but armed with a talented group of youngsters, they believe that they can return to those heights once again. 

Given that they stormed through qualifiers in April, winning all four games by a combined score of 40-1, that sent a clear message - they’re not here to mess around.

Now, however, they’ll get a chance to prove it. It’s not easy, as they’re one of the only countries without a professional league, but there is still talent within their ranks, as they’ve shown in flashes. 

It’s one thing to put that together against teams like the US and Mexico, who have dozens of U20 players already sitting with professional experience, but Canada will certainly try, starting with when they face Jamaica on May 24th, and then going from there.