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Trinidad and Tobago will hope to benefit from the expansion of the Fifa Men’s Under-17 World Cup when the Concacaf qualifying series kicks off next February.
Fifa will stage the next five editions of its Men’s Under-17 World Cup in Qatar. And the major changes in the format are the competition will be annual and there will be 48 member nations.
Photo: TTFA Media
As a result of the increased number of teams—which is exactly double the participants at the Indonesia 2023 Fifa Men’s Under-17 World Cup—Concacaf now has eight qualification spots available.
Concacaf will hold its qualifying competition in a single round, which will be played in Costa Rica. The confederation’s 35 teams are split into eight groups, with each winner advancing automatically to the Qatar finals.
Trinidad and Tobago, who are led by head coach Shawn Cooper, are in Group B alongside hosts Costa Rica, Guyana, Sint Maarten and the British Virgin Islands.
Costa Rica traditionally have an excellent record against football teams from the Land of the Steelpan. However, Cooper and his troops can take some encouragement from the fact that his Trinidad and Tobago team beat “Los Ticos” 2-0 in the 2023 Concacaf Under-15 Championship.
(via TTFA Media)
Presumably, it is the core of both teams which will cross swords again next February, as the respective football nations gauge their progress over the last two years.
Thus far, Cooper has relied primarily on homegrown players with his captain and United States-based defender Sheridan McNish being a notable exception.
The coach was denied the chance to scout in the US last April, when new TTFA president Kieron Edwards scuttled their proposed trip to Florida—which was replaced by a trip to Jamaica.
Most of Cooper’s national under-17 pool compete in the SSFL Premier Division at present, which is an under-20 competition.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
The standouts have been: Adam Pierre (St Benedict’s College), Criston Gomez (Arima North Secondary), Nikosi Foncette (Presentation College, San Fernando), Jaydon Caprietta (Naparima College) and Caden Trestrail (Fatima College).
Concacaf U-17 Qualifying Series
(All group winners advance to the World Cup)
Group A: Canada, Bermuda, Curaçao, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands;
Group B: Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, British Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten;
Group C: Mexico, Nicaragua, Barbados, Belize, Dominica;
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868
Group D: Honduras, Puerto Rico, Bonaire, Saint Martin;
Group E: Haiti, Guatemala, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;
Group F: United States, Cuba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, US Virgin Islands;
Group G: Panama, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Grenada;
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Group H: Jamaica, El Salvador, Cayman Islands, Saint Lucia.
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Can someone tell me why everytime we have an Under 17 team it’s always Shawn Cooper coaching? Does Shawn Cooper have shares in the TTFA or do we have a shortage of coaches in T&T?