Olympic qualifying wraps up in Carson

CONCACAF women’s semifinals and finals will be played Feb. 7-9.

The semifinals and final of the CONCACAF women’s qualifying tournament for next summer’s Olympic soccer tournament will be played Feb. 7-9 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, the confederation announced Thursday.

The eight teams in the tournament were drawn into two groups, one made up of the U.S., Costa Rica, Panama and Haiti and the other consisting of Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and St. Kitts and Nevis. Round-robin group play will open Jan. 28 in Houston and Jan. 29 in Edinburg, Texas, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the semifinals. The winners of those matches will qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, regardless of the final results.

“It’s always great when your path to your goals becomes clearer, so I know everyone is excited for our new challenges in 2020,” newly appointed U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said in a statement. “It’s a nice thing to see some of the smaller soccer countries get the chance to pursue their dreams as well.

“In our group, we have opponents that we’ve faced in the past in qualifying competitions, so we’ll be well prepared as these teams want to go to the Olympics as much as we do.”

Half of the 12-team Olympic field is already set, with host Japan, Brazil, Great Britain, the Netherlands,

Sweden and New Zealand already in.

The top-ranked U.S., winner of the last two Women’s World Cups, was eliminated by Sweden in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the team’s earliestever exit. The Americans made it to the gold-medal game of the first five Olympic tournaments, winning the title four times. No. 7 Canada, meanwhile, has won bronze medals in each of the last two Olympic tournaments.

Ticket and TV information and kickoff times will be released at a later date.