Concacaf announced the new format for the 2027 U-17 Qualifiers, which will be held from February 8 to 14. An announcement that comes when the dispute has still begun U-17 World Cup 2026 which will begin next Thursday, November 19 with Panama as the protagonist.
The sports entity, in a statement, detailed the new process in which 16 teams affiliated with Concacaf will compete for one of the 8 tickets in contention for the U-17 World Cup Qatar 2027. It should be noted that in the 2026 qualifying edition, 34 teams of the 41 that had been announced participated.
For next year, Concacaf took notes on the matter and there will only be 16 participating teams, which are: Barbados, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, United States, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago.
Besides, It was also announced that Mexico and Honduras will be the venues for the contest. In the last two years, Panama had been home to its group, with all matches being played at the Rommel Fernández stadium. For next year, the national team will have to play the tournament in one of these two countries.
In addition to this, Concacaf emphasized that the tournament will now be played under the format of four groups made up of four teams. The first and second in each group will qualify for the 2027 U-17 World Cup. FIFA grants eight places to Concacaf for the 48-team World Cup competition.
The official draw will take place on November 19, the date on which the World Cup in the category begins this year. The team currently led by Felipe Baloy is in Pot 1 along with the United States, Canada and Mexico.
