Beach Soccer Championship schedule released
MIAMI, Florida, CMC – Nine Caribbean Football Union teams taking part in the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship to be staged in Nassau, Bahamas, from February 20 to 26 next year, now know their schedule.
The regional governing body and Beach Soccer Worldwide disclosed the full schedule of matches on Friday which also includes Barbados, a late replacement for Guatemala, which is currently prohibited by FIFA, football’s world governing body, from taking part in international competition.
All but three of the CFU teams will take to the sand on the opening day of the tournament with the hosts bringing the curtain down against Guyana in the night cap match.
Earlier in the day, Barbados get things rolling, when they face Canada, followed by an all-CFU contest between Trinidad & Tobago and Antigua & Barbuda, then Jamaica vs Belize, Mexico vs Guadeloupe and the United States vs United States Virgin Islands.
The Championship will include a field of 16 teams. During the first four days, teams will contest a round-robin format in four groups of four teams each, as selected at the official draw for the competition held last October in Miami.
Group A consists of Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize and Guyana, with Group B comprising Mexico, Barbados, Canada and Guadeloupe.
Group C includes the United States, Trinidad & Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda and the United Virgin Islands, with Group D formed by El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama and Turks & Caicos Islands.
The winner and runner-up from each group will advance to the quarterfinals, while the thirdand fourth-placed teams from each group will also participate in positioning matches over the final three match dates.
The champion and the runnerup of the competition will join host Bahamas as the three CONCACAF representatives at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to be staged two months later in the same venue.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Monday, February 20, 2017 Barbados vs Canada Trinidad & Tobago vs Antigua & Barbuda Jamaica vs Belize Mexico vs Guadeloupe United States vs United States Virgin Islands Bahamas vs Guyana Tuesday, February 21, 2017 Costa Rica vs Panama El Salvador vs Turks & Caicos Islands Guadeloupe vs Barbados Canada vs Mexico Guyana vs Jamaica Belize vs Bahamas Wednesday, February 22, 2017 United States Virgin Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago Turks & Caicos Islands vs Costa Rica Panama vs El Salvador Belize vs Guyana Antigua & Barbuda vs United States Bahamas vs Jamaica Thursday, February 23, 2017 Canada vs Guadeloupe Antigua & Barbuda vs United States Virgin Islands Panama vs Turks & Caicos Islands Mexico vs Barbados El Salvador vs Costa Rica United States vs Trinidad & Tobago