The 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship was the 10th edition of the
CONCACAF Women's Championship
The CONCACAF W Championship is a women's association football competition for national teams organized by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) that often serves as the qualifying competition ...
(also known as the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup or the CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament), the quadrennial international
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
championship organized by
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...
for the women's national teams of the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
,
Central American
Central America is a Subregion#North America, subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Ce ...
and
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
region. Eight teams played in the tournament, which took place from October 4 to 17, 2018 in the United States.
The tournament served as the CONCACAF
qualifiers to the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
in France. The top three teams qualified for the World Cup, while the fourth-placed team advanced to a
play-off
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...
against the third-placed team from the South American confederation,
CONMEBOL
CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...
. It also determined the CONCACAF teams playing at the
2019 Pan American Games women's football tournament in Lima, Peru.
The
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
were the defending champions of the competition. They successfully defended their title as hosts, winning the final 2–0 against
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
for their 8th CONCACAF Women's Championship title.
This was the last CONCACAF tournament branded as the "Women's Championship". In August 2019, CONCACAF announced a rebranding of the competition as the
CONCACAF W Championship
The CONCACAF W Championship is a women's association football competition for national teams organized by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) that often serves as the qualifying competition ...
.
Qualification
Regional qualification tournaments were held to determine the teams playing in the final tournament.
Qualified teams
The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament. Canada, Mexico, and the United States, as members of the
North American Football Union
The North American Football Union (NAFU; ; ) is a regional grouping under CONCACAF of national football organizations in the ''North American Zone''. The NAFU has no organizational structure. The statutes say "''CONCACAF shall ''recognize'' ... ...
(NAFU), qualified automatically. Two teams from the
Central American Football Union
The Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (Central American Football Union), more commonly known by the acronym UNCAF, represents the national football teams of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and P ...
(UNCAF) and three teams from the
Caribbean Football Union
The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the representative organization for football (soccer), football associations in the Caribbean. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated with FIFA. The Union was e ...
(CFU) qualified from their regional qualifying competitions.
Venues
The venues were announced by CONCACAF on April 8, 2018.
Sahlen's Stadium in
Cary,
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
and
H-E-B Park
Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium (formerly H-E-B Park) is a stadium in Edinburg, Texas. It served as the home of Rio Grande Valley FC Toros of the USL Championship from 2017 to 2023, and currently serves as the home of the UTRGV Vaqueros football, ...
in
Edinburg,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
hosted the group stage matches, while
Toyota Stadium in
Frisco,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
hosted the four matches in the knockout stage.
Draw
The draw for the final tournament was held on September 4, 2018, 10:00
EDT (
UTC−4), at the Univision Studios in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. They were seeded into four pots. Pot 1 contained the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, seeded in Group A, and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, seeded in Group B. The remaining six teams were allocated to Pots 2–4 based on the CONCACAF Women's Rankings. The two teams from UNCAF could not be drawn into the same group.
Squads
The provisional 35-player roster (4 must be goalkeepers) for each team was announced by CONCACAF on September 10, 2018. The final 20-player roster (2 must be goalkeepers) for each team was announced by CONCACAF on September 26, 2018. After the final 20-player roster was submitted, only injury-related changes would be submitted until 24 hours before each team's first match.
Group stage
The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals.
;Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to
points
A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to:
Mathematics
* Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...
(3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). The rankings of teams in each group are determined as follows (regulations Article 12.12):
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:
Group A
All times are local,
EDT (
UTC−4).
----
----
Group B
All times are local,
CDT (
UTC−5).
----
----
Knockout stage
In the semi-finals, if the match was level at the end of 90 minutes, no
extra time
Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
would be played and the match would be decided by a
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
. In the third place match and final, if the match was level at the end of 90 minutes,
extra time
Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
would be played, and if still tied after extra time, the match would be decided by a
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
(Regulations Article 12.14).
Bracket
All times are local,
CDT (
UTC−5).
Semi-finals
----
''Canada and United States qualified for
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
. Panama and Jamaica entered into the third place play-off.''
Third place play-off
''Jamaica qualified for
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
. Panama entered
CONCACAF–CONMEBOL play-off vs.
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.''
Final
Awards
Individual awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
Goalscorers
Qualification for international tournaments
Qualified teams for FIFA Women's World Cup
The following three teams from CONCACAF qualified for the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
.
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
failed to qualify losing out the
play-off
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...
to
2018 Copa América Femenina third-placed team, Argentina.
:
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. ''Italic'' indicates hosts for that year.
Qualified teams for Pan American Games
The tournament was used to determine the four teams from CONCACAF which would qualify for the
2019 Pan American Games women's football tournament. The top team from each of the three zones, i.e., Caribbean (CFU), Central American (UNCAF), and North American (NAFU), would qualify, with the fourth team to be determined by CONCACAF at a later date.
However, both
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
declined to participate to focus on the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
, so Mexico qualified for the North American berth.
:
2 Bold indicates champions for that year. ''Italic'' indicates hosts for that year.
Controversy
In the 89th minute of the final match, Alex Morgan was
offside when she scored the second goal for the USA, but the referee did not invalidate the goal.
[.] Video assistant referee
The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...
was not used in this tournament.
Notes
References
External links
World Cup Qualifying – Women CONCACAF.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concacaf Women's Championship 2018
2018–19 in CONCACAF football
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
October 2018 sports events in North America
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
2018 in American women's soccer
Qualification tournaments for the 2019 Pan American Games
United States at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
Canada at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
Jamaica at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup