Eyes on Tokyo: Costa Rican women to begin final round of Olympic qualifying

The Costa Rica women’s national soccer team will face Panama, Haiti and the United States during the group stage of the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Houston, Texas.

The tournament, which ends on Feb. 9, will determine CONCACAF’s representatives at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, and the semifinal winners will each receive a bid to the Olympics.

The groups for the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament are set! #CWOQ pic.twitter.com/QnhmKP34Cd

— Concacaf (@Concacaf) November 7, 2019

Group A matches will take place at BBVA Stadium in Houston. Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. will host the semifinals and final.

The United States are the favorites in the qualifying tournament — and likely in the Olympics, as well. The USWNT are back-to-back World Cup champions and beat Costa Rica, 6-0, when the teams last met in a late 2019 friendly.

Costa Rica is ranked 37th in the FIFA women’s rankings, behind fellow CONCACAF members the United States (1st), Canada (8th) and Mexico (26th).