ROSE HALL, St James — Hosts Jamaica will face Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago as well as Central American country Guatemala in the first round of the CONCACAF Under-17 finals to be played in western Jamaica in February next year.

The draw for places in the first round of the competition which will kick off on February 14 at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium was made at Hilton Hotel in Rose Hall yesterday — the first time the draw was being made outside of the CNCACAF New York offices.

Twelve countries, the most ever for this stage of the competition, are vying for four places in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in Mexico next year.

Costa Rica, El Salvador and Haiti were drawn in Group A; the USA, Panama and Cuba will play in Group B, while Honduras, Canada and Barbados will contest Group D.

CONCACAF’s deputy general secretary Ted Howard, who supervised yesterday’s ceremony, announced that Jamaica, who will start their campaign on February 15, will play all their games at the Montego Bay Sports Complex at Catherine Hall, while the other first-round games will be played at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium.

At the end of the first round, however, all matches in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place play-offs and final will be played at Catherine Hall, Howard disclosed.

The draw saw the names of all 12 teams being placed into three ‘pots’, with the seeded teams — Jamaica, USA, Costa Rica and Honduras — being placed in the first.

Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama were placed in the second, while Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Cuba were placed in the other.

There were also two other containers with the names of the groups that were also drawn to see in which groups the teams would be placed.

As destiny would have it, Jamaica were the first drawn by one of the two female assistants and placed in Group C, while the USA was the second name drawn and were placed in Group B.

The format for the quarter-finals will see the winners of Group A playing the runners-up in Group B, and the winners of Group B playing the runners-up in Group A.

On the other side of the draw, the winners of Group C will face the runners-up in Group D, and the winners of Group D playing the runners-up in Group C for places in the semi-finals of the tournament.

Minister of Sports Olivia Grange (2nd left) and JFF president Captain Horace Burrell (2nd right) unveil the logo for the CONCACAF Under-17 Finals to be staged in Jamaica in February, at the official draw held at Hilton Rose Hall Hotel yesterday. Looking on (from left) are Mayor of Montego Bay Charles Sinclair and CONCACAF’s deputy general secretary Ted Howard. (Photo: Paul Reid)