MIAMI, Florida – The 2024 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship kicked off on Thursday at the headquarters of the Mexican Football Federation in Toluca, Mexico, with Haiti and hosts Mexico marching to victories.
Haiti 2-1 Costa Rica
The tournament opened with Haiti edging Costa Rica 2-1 on FMF Campo 1 thanks to a brace from Lourdjina Etienne.
Haiti broke the deadlock in the waning moments of the first half on an excellent team goal in transition, as Pierreline Nazon found Desert Dominique, who then slotted a pass over to Etienne and it was a picture-perfect finish for a 1-0 lead.
Etienne would then get her second of the day on the hour mark with an effort from outside the area to double the lead to 2-0.
Costa Rica desperately sought a response and almost got one in the 75’ when Alondra Gonzalez’s shot was deflected wide.
The goal would come, though, for Costa Rica, and it was in spectacular fashion in the 89’ when Daniela Ocampo fired in a right-footed shot from distance to make it 2-1.
However, Haiti hung on in the end to pocket the victory and the three points.
Mexico 3-0 El Salvador
The second match of the day on FMF Campo 1 saw Mexico down El Salvador 3-0.
The star of the day for El Tricolor was Abril Fragoso, who scored a goal in each half to pave the way to a full three points.
Mexico hit the ground running and opened the scoring in the seventh minute of play on a sensational left-footed strike from Fragoso for a 1-0 lead.
El Salvador hung in and tried to get back on level terms, but instead Mexico would double their margin in the 57’ on a finish from Dana Sandoval from just outside the area for a 2-0 advantage.
Fragoso then completed her brace in the 61’ via a penalty conversion, extending the Mexico lead to 3-0, which held until the final whistle.
United States vs. Panama
Group B gets things going on Friday with defending champions the United States taking on Panama in their second all-time CWU17 meeting. The U.S. were 7-0 winners in their previous encounter.
The U.S. are five-time champions of the CWU17 and will be looking to start the road to a sixth crown with a win, while Panama’s best finish came in 2012 in Fourth Place.
The U.S. qualified as the top-ranked team, while Panama reached this phase as the winner of Group E in qualifying. Lauryn Smith and Analia Arosemena were among the Panamanian goal scorers in qualifying.
Canada vs. Puerto Rico
The second game of the day in Group B will see Canada face Puerto Rico in a rematch of the Third-Place Match from the 2022 CWU17 when Canada collected a 3-0 win. The two sides also met in the 2008 tournament in what was also a 3-0 Canada win.
Champions in the 2010 edition, Canada are making their eighth appearance, while Puerto Rico are appearing in their fourth CWU17 and seeking to improve upon their best finish of Fourth Place in 2022.
Both teams reached the CWU17 as group winners in qualifying, Canada from Group F and Puerto Rico from Group D.
Anabelle Chukwu (7 goals) and Nikolina Istocki (6) topped the scoring in qualifying for Canada. Olivia Bevilacqua, Sienna Aviles and Susana Roberts led the way with three goals each for Puerto Rico.
