CONCACAF U-20 Championship 2015: Fixtures, Live Stream Info and Predictions
The 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship is set to kick off on Friday in Jamaica, as 12 of the region's top teams will do battle for one of four tickets to the 2015 U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, played in May and June.
The organising committee has changed the format for this year's edition, with the teams divided into two groups instead of four. Each squad will play at least five matches in the group stages, with both group winners progressing directly to the final.
The runners-up and third-placed teams will be seeded into a play-off, and the winners of each respective match will also receive a ticket to the 2015 U-20 World Cup.
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Here's the full schedule for the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship:
| January 9 | Aruba | Panama |
| January 9 | USA | Guatemala |
| January 10 | Jamaica | T&T |
| January 10 | Mexico | Cuba |
| January 10 | Honduras | El Salvador |
| January 11 | Haiti | Canada |
| January 11 | T&T | Aruba |
| January 11 | Panama | USA |
| January 12 | Jamaica | Guatemala |
| January 12 | Canada | Mexico |
| January 12 | Cuba | Honduras |
| January 13 | El Salvador | Haiti |
| January 14 | Guatemala | T&T |
| January 14 | Aruba | USA |
| January 15 | Jamaica | Panama |
| January 15 | El Salvador | Canada |
| January 15 | Mexico | Honduras |
| January 16 | Haiti | Cuba |
| January 18 | Panama | T&T |
| January 18 | Guatemala | Aruba |
| January 19 | Jamaica | USA |
| January 19 | Cuba | Canada |
| January 19 | El Salvador | Mexico |
| January 20 | Haiti | Honduras |
| January 21 | Panama | Guatemala |
| January 21 | USA | T&T |
| January 22 | Jamaica | Aruba |
| January 22 | Cuba | El Salvador |
| January 22 | Honduras | Canada |
| January 23 | Haiti | Mexico |
Fox Sports will broadcast the entire championship, with mobile coverage available via Fox Soccer 2Go (US viewers only). The streaming service can be accessed by clicking here.
Note: the current schedule is accurate until Matchday 4 (January 12).
The USA Will Win Group A
It seems almost impossible that a tournament consisting of 12 teams divided into two groups would have a large disparity in terms of group strength, but that's exactly what happened when the group draw was finalised.
The USA were drawn into Group A, together with hosts Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Guatemala and Panama. Not a single one of those teams has ever won the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
Group B consist of Canada, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Cuba and Haiti. That's four past champions and one runner-up team in one single group, with just two progressing to the next round and one guaranteed a spot in the U-20 World Cup.
Out of all Group A teams, there's not a single squad that boasts as much experience on the international level as the Yanks. As shared by the MLS' official Twitter feed, just six of the 18 players selected currently play for MLS teams:
Looking at the competition, there's simply no reason the team shouldn't top Group A by the end of the group stages. Coach Tab Ramos knows his squad has a great chance of qualifying for the World Cup, via U.S. Soccer YNT:
The Soca Warriors have some talented youngsters coming through their ranks, and the hosts will be quite motivated to do well in front of their home fans. But on pure quality alone, this USA team has to dominate the group stages.
New Format Will be Scrutinised by the End of Competition
Dividing the teams into two groups to help promote the development of the sport is a fantastic idea in theory. Each team gets to play at least five matches against the best competition in CONCACAF—for the smaller teams like Aruba in particular, this tournament is a golden opportunity.
But you can be sure event organisers didn't speculate about the possibility of the draw playing out the way it did. As it stands, at least two of the former CONCACAF champions won't even qualify for the play-offs. Compared to the cakewalk that is Group A, that's simply not fair.
Mexico will be the heavy favourites to win the group, having won the past two editions of the tournament. On paper, Canada should be No. 2, but the Canucks travel to Jamaica without several key players, as reported by TheRecord.com's Neil Davidson:
"Canada will have to do without two of its top guns at the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, which opens Friday in Jamaica.
Captain Dylan Carreiro (Dundee) and fellow midfielder Fraser Aird (Rangers) were not released by their clubs.
'(I'm a) bit disappointed to lose some key characters with clubs not releasing them but it will provide opportunities for talented players to step up and prove they can apply themselves at this level,' Canadian coach Rob Gale said in a statement Monday.
"
This opens the door for Honduras and El Salvador to cause a major upset, and while the fans will certainly enjoy such an event, coaches and the CONCACAF brass will not.
Having more matches is fine, but in 2015, it will come at a heavy cost. And if one of the big favourites misses out on the chance to qualify for the World Cup because of it, the new format could be ditched by the time the 2017 Championship comes around.
