_{Belize National Female Under-17 Baby Jaguars}

by William Ysaguirre

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 3, 2025

The Belize Under-17 Baby Jaguars girls enjoyed their first win of the CONCACAF qualifiers to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, by a 3-0 victory over the U.S. Virgin Islands in Group B at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.

Shanalee Smith’s hat trick (12’, a header 34’, and a long-range cruise missile 60’) clinched the 3-0 win.

The Baby Jaguars had not done so well in their debut match, losing, 2-0, to the group leaders Honduras last Monday, and another 2-0 loss to the host, Trinidad, last Wednesday.

Honduras won the group with 9 pts from 3 wins to secure their place in the final round, along with the other group winners: El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Panama, who won on Friday. Nicaragua won Group E on Saturday, and Costa Rica won Group F to enter the final round. Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago advanced as the best 2nd place teams, to join the four top-seeded teams on the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Ranking: the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Haiti. They will play the final round from which the top 4 teams will qualify as CONCACAF’s representatives to the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.