The Road To Paris 2019 - US Women ready to start qualifying Thursday

The US women’s national team gets its road to France and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup started Thursday night with the beginning of qualifying for the CONCACAF region.

Here’s what you need to know for the next two weeks:

The Americans, three-time world champions, are in Group A

The United States are paired up with Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, and Panama. As usual, the top two teams advance to the knock-out stage of the competition.

The US’ three Group A matches (all of which in Cary, NC) will be played Thursday night against Mexico (7:30 p.m., FS2) , Sunday, Oct. 7 against Panama (5 p.m., FS1), and Wednesday, Oct. 10 against Trinidad & Tobago (7:30 p.m., FS2).

Group B is as follows: Canada, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Cuba. The four teams will play each other on Friday, Oct. 5, Monday, Oct. 8, and Thursday, Oct. 11, with all three games played in Edinburg, Texas.

The semifinal round will put the Group A winner against the Group B runner-up, and the Group A runner-up against the Group B winner in Frisco, Texas on Sunday, Oct. 14, with the two winners assured of spots in the World Cup next year. Both matches will be on FS1.

The winner of the third-place match (FS2, 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 17) will also advance to the World Cup, with the fourth-place team facing Argentina in the two-legged interconfederational playoff on Nov. 5 and Nov. 13. The winner of that playoff will also advance to the World Cup, set for June 7-July 7, 2019.

The CONCACAF Final is set for Wednesday, Oct. 17 (8 p.m., FS1).

The US squad is as follows, with their positions and NWSL club (* indicates a prior Boston connection):

*Alyssa Naeher, GK, Chicago Red Stars (two-time Boston Breaker, from Bridgeport, Conn.)
Ashlyn Harris, GK, Orlando Pride
Abby Dahlkemper, D, North Carolina Courage
*Becky Sauerbrunn, D, Utah Royals (Played for the old Boston Renegades in 2005)
*Casey Short, D, Chicago Red Stars (Drafted by Breakers in 2013, DNP injury)
Crystal Dunn, D, North Carolina Courage
Emily Sonnett, D, Portland Thorns
Hailie Mace, D, UCLA
*Kelley O’Hara, D, Utah Royals (2011 Breakers player in old WPS)
Lindsey Horan, M, Portland Thorns
Morgan Brian, M, Chicago Red Stars
*Rose Lavelle, M, Washington Spirit (formerly Boston Breakers)
*Samantha Mewis, M, North Carolina Courage (Grew up in Hanson, Mass.)
Julie Ertz, M, Chicago Red Stars
Mallory Pugh, F, Washington Spirit
Christen Press, F, Utah Royals
Megan Rapinoe, F, Seattle Reign
Carli Lloyd, F, Sky Blue
Alex Morgan, F, Orlando Pride
Tobin Heath, F, Portland Thorns

Manager: Jill Ellis

Next year’s Women’s World Cup Final, set for July 7, will not be the only football played on that date: the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final will be that day (at Chicago’s Soldier Field), as will the Copa America Final (Brazil).

Already qualified

The following nations have already qualified for the 2019 Women’s World Cup:

France (hosts), China, Thailand, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Chile, Spain, Italy, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Germany.

UEFA will be in the two-legged playoff semifinals on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12:

Netherlands v. Denmark
Belgium v. Switzerland

The winners of those two matchups will face off in a two-legged final on Nov. 5 and Nov. 13 to decide Europe’s eighth and final spot.

Oceania’s tournament to decide its one spot in the tournament (as well as its representative to the 2020 Olympics) in November.

Africa’s three representatives will be decided on Dec. 1 with the culmination of the 2018 African Women’s Cup of Nations.

BSJ Analysis

I’m not going to pretend that I have the first clue about women’s soccer, so I’m not going to say which national teams are awful in CONCACAF/the rest of the world. The only thing I know of, for sure, is that the US women are out to defend their title, and I would think they should qualify for France with ease.

I will, however, watch the US women’s matches with eager eyes.