BELIZE CITY, Mon. June 19, 2017–Reports indicate that our Belize National Women U-20 team lost, 5-1, to hosts Nicaragua in yesterday’s CONCACAF Women U-20 Qualifier in Esteli, Nicaragua. No scoring details have been received as yet. Congrats for avoiding a shutout, girls!

Belize is in Group 1 along with Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Group 2 includes Honduras, Panama and El Salvador. In the Group 2 opener yesterday, Honduras dropped Panama, 2-0. (Guatemala remains suspended from FIFA/CONCACAF.)

Tomorrow at 4:00 p.m., Honduras plays El Salvador in Group 2; and at 7:30 p.m., Belize plays Costa Rica in Group 1. Let’s go, Belize!!

Belize is now playing for respect, qualification being a dim prospect after yesterday’s loss.

Group play wraps up on Thursday with Nicaragua vs Costa Rica, and Panama vs El Salvador.

According to the tournament format, the top two teams of each group advance to the classification stage, where the winners of one group play the runners-up of the other group, with the two winners qualifying as the Central American representatives for the final CONCACAF Women U-20 tournament in 2018. That 8-team tournament will include the 2 Central American representatives, 2 from the Caribbean, the 3 North American teams – Mexico, USA and Canada, along with the host country to be determined.