Jamaica’s Young Reggae Girlz confirmed their place in the Round of 16 of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship with a 3-1 victory over the Dominican Republic inside the Estadio Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
Also securing their place in the Round of 16 were top seeds Canada, who had blanked Bermuda 5-0 earlier in the day.
The North Americans lead Group F with maximum six points, the same as Jamaica, but with a superior goal difference.
The hosts were quickly out of the blocks when Maria Torreira opened the scoring after only three minutes.
But the visitors would eventually pull level as Tiny Seaton brought parity on the half-hour mark.
The game remained keenly contested until Dannique Wilson gave Jamaica the go-ahead goal in the 70th minute. And Natoya Atkinson made the game safe in the 90th +1 minute.
The Young Reggae Girlz totalled 21 shots compared to the Dominican Republic’s 11. Thirteen of the 21 shots were on target, with only four on target for the hosts.
The Dane Chambers-coached Reggae Girlz are vying for one of three spots in the 2022 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup set for India this October 11 through to 30.
Twenty teams are contesting the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, 16 of which will be divided into four groups of four, in addition to four teams which have already advanced to the Round of 16 from a pre-tournament qualifying.
The four groups are as follows:
Group E – Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and Nicaragua.
Group F – Canada, Jamaica, Bermuda and Dominican Republic.
Group G – United States, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Grenada.
Group H – Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador and Cuba.
The four teams already qualified for the Round of 16 are Curacao, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, and Honduras.
Jamaica will close out the preliminary phase when they oppose Canada on Thursday to determine the group winners.
The top three finishers from each of the four groups of four will advance to the Round of 16, where they will be joined by the already qualified four teams.
The Round of 16 through to the final will be a knockout phase played in a single match direct elimination format with the winners, runners-up and third-placed finishers gaining qualification to India.
