 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | October 4–17 |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  United States (8th title) |
| Runners-up |  Canada |
| Third place |  Jamaica |
| Fourth place |  Panama |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 83 (5.19 per match) |
| Top scorer | Alex Morgan(7 goals) |
| Best player | Julie Ertz |
| Best young player | Jody Brown |
| Bestgoalkeeper | Yenith Bailey |
| Fair play award | United States |
←2014 2022 → | |
The2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship was the 10th edition of theCONCACAF Women's Championship (also known as the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup or the CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament), the quadrennial internationalsoccer championship organized byCONCACAF for the women's national teams of theNorth,Central American andCaribbean region. Eight teams played in the tournament, which took place from October 4 to 17, 2018 in the United States.[1][2]
The tournament served as the CONCACAFqualifiers to the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. The top three teams qualified for the World Cup, while the fourth-placed team advanced to aplay-off against the third-placed team from the South American confederation,CONMEBOL.[3] It also determined the CONCACAF teams playing at the2019 Pan American Games women's football tournament in Lima, Peru.[4]
TheUnited States were the defending champions of the competition. They successfully defended their title as hosts, winning the final 2–0 againstCanada for their 8th CONCACAF Women's Championship title.[5]
This was the last CONCACAF tournament branded as the "Women's Championship". In August 2019, CONCACAF announced a rebranding of the competition as theCONCACAF W Championship.[6]
Regional qualification tournaments were held to determine the teams playing in the final tournament.
The following eight teams qualified for the final tournament. Canada, Mexico, and the United States, as members of theNorth American Football Union (NAFU), qualified automatically. Two teams from theCentral American Football Union (UNCAF) and three teams from theCaribbean Football Union (CFU) qualified from their regional qualifying competitions.
| Team | Qualification | Appearance | Previous best performance | PreviousFIFA Women's World Cup appearances | FIFA ranking at start of event[7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North American Zone (NAFU) | |||||
| Canada | Automatic | 9th | Champions (1998,2010) | 6 | 5 |
 Mexico | Automatic | 9th | Runners-up (1998,2010) | 3 | 24 |
| United States(title holders & hosts) | Automatic | 9th | Champions (1991,1993,1994,2000,2002,2006,2014) | 7 | 1 |
 Costa Rica | Central American winners | 7th | Runners-up (2014) | 1 | 34 |
| Panama | Central American runners-up | 3rd | Group stage (2002,2006) | 0 | 66 |
| Jamaica | Caribbean winners | 6th | Fourth place (2006) | 0 | 64 |
 Trinidad and Tobago | Caribbean runners-up | 10th | Third place (1991) | 0 | 52 |
 Cuba | Caribbean third place | 1st | Debut | 0 | 88 |
The venues were announced by CONCACAF on April 8, 2018.Sahlen's Stadium inCary,North Carolina andH-E-B Park inEdinburg,Texas hosted the group stage matches, whileToyota Stadium inFrisco,Texas hosted the four matches in the knockout stage.[8]
| Cary,North Carolina | Edinburg,Texas | Frisco,Texas | Location of the host cities of the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sahlen's Stadium | H-E-B Park | Toyota Stadium | |
| Capacity:10,000 | Capacity:9,735 | Capacity:20,500 | |
 |  |  |
The draw for the final tournament was held on September 4, 2018, 10:00EDT (UTC−4), at the Univision Studios inMiami,Florida,United States.[9][10] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. They were seeded into four pots. Pot 1 contained theUnited States, seeded in Group A, andCanada, 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.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The provisional 35-player roster (4 must be goalkeepers) for each team was announced by CONCACAF on September 10, 2018.[11] The final 20-player roster (2 must be goalkeepers) for each team was announced by CONCACAF on September 26, 2018.[12] After the final 20-player roster was submitted, only injury-related changes would be submitted until 24 hours before each team's first match.[13]
The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals.
Teams are ranked according topoints (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):[13]
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:
All times are local,EDT (UTC−4).[14]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States(H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | +18 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Panama | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | Mexico | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 3 | |
| 4 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 14 | −13 | 0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 0–3 | Panama |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Mexico | 4–1 | Trinidad and Tobago |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
All times are local,CDT (UTC−5).[14]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | +16 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Jamaica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 6 | |
| 3 | Costa Rica | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 3 | |
| 4 | Cuba | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29 | −29 | 0 |
| Costa Rica | 8–0 | Cuba |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Jamaica | 1–0 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Cuba | 0–12 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Cuba | 0–9 | Jamaica |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Costa Rica | 1–3 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
In the semi-finals, if the match was level at the end of 90 minutes, noextra time would be played and the match would be decided by apenalty shoot-out. In the third place match and final, if the match was level at the end of 90 minutes,extra time would be played, and if still tied after extra time, the match would be decided by apenalty shoot-out (Regulations Article 12.14).[13]
All times are local,CDT (UTC−5).[14]
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| October 14 –Frisco, TX | ||||||
| Panama | 0 | |||||
| October 17 –Frisco, TX | ||||||
| Canada | 7 | |||||
| Canada | 0 | |||||
| October 14 –Frisco, TX | ||||||
| United States | 2 | |||||
| United States | 6 | |||||
| Jamaica | 0 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| October 17 –Frisco, TX | ||||||
| Panama | 2(2) | |||||
| Jamaica(p) | 2(4) | |||||
Canada and United States qualified for2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Panama and Jamaica entered into the third place play-off.
Jamaica qualified for2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Panama enteredCONCACAF–CONMEBOL play-off vs.Argentina.
| 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship winners |
|---|
 United States 8th title |
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[15]
| Award | Player |
|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Julie Ertz |
| Golden Boot | Alex Morgan (7 goals) |
| Golden Glove | Yenith Bailey |
| Young Player | Jody Brown |
| Fair Play | United States |
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yenith Bailey |
There were 83 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 5.19 goals per match.
7 goals
6 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
The following three teams from CONCACAF qualified for the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.Panama failed to qualify losing out theplay-off to2018 Copa América Femenina third-placed team, Argentina.
| Team | Qualified on | Previousappearances inFIFA Women's World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 14 October 2018[16] | 6 (1995,1999,2003,2007,2011,2015) |
| United States | 14 October 2018[16] | 7 (1991,1995,1999,2003,2007,2011,2015) |
| Jamaica | 17 October 2018[17] | 0 (debut) |
The tournament was used to determine the four teams from CONCACAF which would qualify for the2019 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.[4] However, bothUnited States andCanada declined to participate to focus on the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, so Mexico qualified for the North American berth.[18]
| Team | Zone | Qualified on | Previous appearances inPan American Games2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | CFU | 11 October 2018 | 1 (2007) |
| Panama | UNCAF | 11 October 2018 | 1 (2007) |
| Mexico[18] | NAFU | 2019 (confirmed by CONCACAF) | 5 (1999,2003,2007,2011,2015) |
| Costa Rica[18] | UNCAF | 2019 (confirmed by CONCACAF) | 4 (1999,2003,2011,2015) |
In the 89th minute of the final match, Alex Morgan wasoffside when she scored the second goal for the USA, but the referee did not invalidate the goal.[19]Video assistant referee was not used in this tournament.
The goals were not without controversy, however, as Morgan's goal was clearly offside..
