BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Feb. 17, 2022– Yesterday at the Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador, in El Salvador, the Belize National Senior Women’s Team lost, 6-0, to El Salvador National Women’s Team in our first of four matches to be played in Group D of the “Concacaf W Qualifiers.”

According to an August 2021 Concacaf release:

“The 30 Concacaf Member Associations participating, all ranked 3 and below in the FIFA Women’s Ranking as of July 2021, have been divided into six groups of five teams each…”

And it listed: “Group D: Panama, El Salvador, Barbados, Belize and Aruba”

The new competition format is designed to give weaker teams a chance to play at least a few games before being eliminated from competition, so Belize will get to play three more matches. Having lost our first match by a big margin, winning the group is obviously not a realistic possibility; but our girls will still be taking advantage of the experience to chart the way forward in preparing for their next opportunity at the international level.

The six group winners of the Concacaf W Qualifiers will advance to join the USA and Canada in the “2022 Concacaf W Championship” which “is scheduled for the summer and will serve as the final round of qualifying to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 and the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games.”

Belize has two more matches to be played in April. For now, the same Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador will be the venue for Belize vs Panama this Sunday afternoon. Panama and El Salvador are the “big dogs” in our Group D, but having gotten over opening day jitters, Belize is looking forward for a better result on Sunday. Le’s go, Belize!!

“The 2022 Concacaf W Qualifiers will be broadcast live through the Confederation’s partner networks, including CBS | Paramount + (USA), One Soccer (CAN), and multiple partners in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and the world. Matches will also be available on the Concacaf Official App (subject to territory restrictions). The free mobile app is available in the Apple and Google Play stores.”