The dream is over! The Honduras Under-17 Women’s National Team was on the verge of advancing to the final round of the Concacaf qualifying towards the 2026 World Cup. The Catrachas fell 1-0 against Jamaica in the stadium Guillermo Prospero Trinidadbut for an unusual reason they could not seal their pass despite adding 9 points.
The Bicolor arrived as leader of Group D, this after the victories against Aruba (3-1), beaten by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (15-0) and the last against Guyana (1-3), so they needed a draw or win against the Caribbean.
This Monday, in a closely contested game, those led by Mario Abadía gave battle to the ‘Reggae Girls’, but could not react to Elizabeth Miller’s header in the 43rd minute that put them ahead before the break.
After the restart, the Catrachas were left with a numerical advantage on the field after the expulsion of Ricquanna Richards, however, the Jamaican team was firm to avoid a tie. The game ended 0-1 against Bicolor.
After this match, the Jamaican National Team took the lead in box D with 10 points, relegating Honduras to second place with 9 points; With this panorama, the “H” looked to qualify with one of the tickets as best second, however, due to a strange Concacaf regulation, the Catrachas were not allowed to have their place in the final round.
What happened to the Women’s National Team?
Honduras was equal in points with Nicaragua (both with 9 units) after the end of this first phase and due to its goal difference it was aiming for qualification. But, that is where Bermuda appears, the second selection confirmed by Concacaf to be in the next round, this they did by achieving 7 points.
Many wondered why the Bicolor was eliminated. And the thing is, in the Concacaf regulations it establishes that at the end of this first round the best runners-up will be evaluated based on their score and games played: Bermuda was classified in group B where it only played three games and in the case of the Women’s “H” it played four games.
“In the case of unequal groups, a weighted points system will be applied to determine the two (2) best second-placed teams. The total number of points obtained by each second-placed team at the end of the Group Stage will be divided by the number of matches it has played, resulting in a weighted average of points. Based on this average, the two (2) best-placed teams will advance to the Final Phase,” dictates the Concacaf regulations.
Therefore, the Women’s “H” finished with an average of 2.25, while Bermuda qualified with an average of 2.33. This is how the U-17 National Team was at the gates of the Final Phase where it was going to seek the World Cup ticket.
Those classified for this stage were as follows: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Bermuda, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Costa Rica and El Salvador, as the teams that made it to the last round, where they will fight for the long-awaited ticket to the World Cup in this category.
Format heading to the 2026 World Cup
In this Final Round four teams will qualify: they will be played in three groups (A, B and C) of four teams each. The winners of each group and the best second place will seal their ticket to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
For this last phase, the rivals have not yet been stipulated and Concacaf will determine and confirm the dates of all matches.
