Buried among the news that Jill Ellis is the new full-time coach of the United States women’s national team is the announcement that the United States will host CONCACAF 2015 Women’s World Cup qualifying this fall.
The tournament was originally scheduled for Oct. 16-26 in Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Mexico, but U.S. Soccer announced on Friday that qualifiers will be held on home soil. FIFA still lists Mexico as the host.
U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said that Mexico had some “issues” with their venues and the U.S. stepped in, with the green light from CONCACAF. Venues are expected to be finalized sometime in June.
“(Ellis’) first major tournament will come on home soil as U.S. Soccer has been selected to host the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” U.S. Soccer’s press release reads.
The eight-team tournament will be played in October, with format, schedule, venues and ticket information to be determined. Three teams from the region will automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the fourth-place finisher will enter a playoff with the third-place finisher from CONMEBOL (South America).
Pre-qualifiers in the Caribbean and Central America take place later this month. Three teams from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) will advance to the eight-team tournament, while two from Union Centro Americano (UNCAF) will move on to play in the U.S. this fall.
Gus Johnson will reportedly be calling World Cup qualifying matches, which means they would air on one of the Fox networks.
