PANAMA CITY – The United States followed Costa Rica, Honduras, and Mexico in qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 after a 6-2 victory over Cuba at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Panama City.
Building on Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Honduras, the Americans proved too strong for their Cuban opponents on Friday. With the win, USA also earned their spot in Sunday’s continental final after finishing top of their Classification Stage group.
Victories over hosts Panama in each of their opening Classification Stage matches were enough for Costa Rica and Mexico to secure their spots at India 2017. Mexico then claimed top spot in their group after beating Costa Rica 6-1 on Friday evening to set up a final meeting with the Stars and Stripes.
Honduras, meanwhile, booked their ticket for India after a 7-1 victory over Cuba in their opening Classification Stage game.
The four countries thus took the tally of qualified teams for what will India’s first ever FIFA event to 15 with representatives from Asia, South America and Oceania along with the hosts already confirming their places.
Welcoming the teams, Tournament Director for the LOC, Javier Ceppi said: “The teams of CONCACAF promise to be very strong and will delight the fans in India.”
“Mexico is a two-time U-17 World Cup champion (2005 and 2011), made it to the final in 2013 and semifinal in 2015. Costa Rica got to the Quarters in 2015 and most of the players of their celebrated Brazil 2014 run, including star Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas, started their careers in an U-17 World Cup.
“The U.S. came to India last year for the 5 Nations Tournament and is a very strong team. Honduras has featured regularly in World Cups. India 2017 is getting a lineup of very strong participants, so we expect fans to give a good response when tickets go on sale on 16th May.”
The FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 will be played between October 6-28, and the tickets will go on sale online on 16th May.
