As we look ahead to the Concacaf W Gold Cup Quarterfinals, I want to congratulate and thank all 15 of the federations and their participating teams for their performances throughout the Preliminary Round and Group Stage.
In this inaugural edition, there have already been some great matches and memorable football stories, from El Salvador’s thrilling win over Guatemala and the excellent football played by Puerto Rico, to the landmark performance by Mexico in their win over the United States which caught the imagination of fans and media across the world.
When Concacaf launched our W strategy in 2019, our focus was on elevating standards across the whole region and providing every Member Association with the support they need to reach their next level. We launched initiatives to develop coaches and referees, we supported federations to develop off the pitch through capacity building initiatives and we delivered a consistent calendar of competitions.
We are of course proud of our federations when their teams succeed on the global stage in FIFA World Cups and Olympic Games, as the United States and Canada have on many occasions, and we are just as proud when the likes of Panama or Haiti qualifies for a World Cup for the very first time, as they did last year, or Puerto Rico displays their brilliant talents on the field like they have in this W Gold Cup.
This tournament is the continuation of a journey that started with our W strategy. We have long had our nations that have had expectations of the highest level but what our W strategy is all about is creating the opportunities for more stories like we have seen with Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. We will continue to strategically invest in development and in competitions to support our federations, and to provide opportunities for coaches and players. And we will continue to work with stakeholders to engage partners who can support us with the continued sustainable economic growth of women’s football in our region.
Right now, we can all look forward with great anticipation to the Knockout Stage of the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup and what look on paper to be some tremendous matchups between our region’s best, and the best national teams representing our friends and partners from CONMEBOL.
Good luck to all of the competing federations and their teams and let’s have a fantastic final week of the tournament before crowning our first Concacaf W Gold Cup champion on March 10 in San Diego.
