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Unbeaten Canada wins as Panama women keep World Cup hope / Photo: Julio Cesar AGUILAR - AFP
Unbeaten Canada wins as Panama women keep World Cup hope
Reigning Olympic champion Canada remained unbeaten and Panama kept alive its hopes to reach the 2023 Women's World Cup with victories Monday at the CONCACAF W tournament.
Jessie Fleming scored in the fifth minute and Sophie Schmidt followed in the 70th to give Canada a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica and the Group B title.
Both teams had already clinched berths in Thursday's CONCACAF semi-finals and thereby qualified for next year's Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Marta Cox scored in the 43rd minute to give Panama a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago and third place in Group B, sustaining the team's hopes of reaching next year's global women's football spectacle.
The eight-team North American regional tournament is a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics as well as next year's Women's World Cup.
The two top teams in each group advance to Thursday's CONCACAF semi-finals and reach the 2023 Women's World Cup while third-place group teams earn a berth in a global playoff next February for three final Women's World Cup spots.
Two-time defending Women's World Cup champion United States, which faces Mexico later in a Group A match, has already qualified for a chance to win a third straight global crown by reaching the CONCACAF semi-finals.
Either Haiti or Jamaica will take the last available Women's World Cup berth and CONCACAF semi-final spot depending on the outcome of their later Group A match.
The winner of next Monday's CONCACAF final will secure a 2024 Paris Olympic berth. The runner-up and third-place teams will meet in a playoff next year to determine another Olympic qualifier.
F.T. Michaud--SMC
