TORONTO (Barrio) – Anna Hauer and Amanda Allen scored two minutes apart early in the second half Sunday as Canada qualified for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Puerto Rico in the third-place game at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Rosa Maalouf padded the lead with a late goal on a hot afternoon at Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez.

“I think all of us are just completely overjoyed,” said Canada’s Clare Logan. “We worked so hard to get here. We put so many hours in on the field, off the field, together as a group and we’re just so happy to be able to secure that spot in the World Cup.”

Team Canada secured the last berth for North and Central America and the Caribbean at the U-17 World Cup in October in India.

Mexico, also runner-up to the Americans in 2016 and 2018, had scored 57 goals leading into the championship game compared to the Americans’ 56.

Canada also finished third at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship earlier this year in the Dominican Republic, qualifying for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in August in Costa Rica.

The Canadian women have now qualified for all seven editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in 2018 when they downed Germany 1-0 in the quarter-finals before falling 1-0 to Mexico in the semifinal. Canada then lost 2-1 to New Zealand in the third-place game.

Forward Jordyn Huitema, now with Paris Saint-Germain, captained that 2018 Canadian team with Rhian Wilkinson, now in charge of the NWSL Portland Thorns, as coach.

Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand and host India have also qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

Canada went 4-0-1 in reaching the semifinal with wins over the Dominican Republic (10-0) and Bermuda (5-0) before tying Jamaica 1-1 to finish atop Group F on goal difference over the Reggae Girlz. The Canadians then beat Honduras 4-1 and Costa Rica 3-0 in the knockout rounds.

Puerto Rico finished third in Group G with a 1-0-2 record, losing 13-0 to the U.S. and 4-1 to Costa Rica before blanking Grenada 4-0. It then beat Panama 2-0 in the round of 16 and El Salvador 2-0 in the quarter-final before running into Mexico.

The 2020 CONCACAF tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic. The U.S. beat Mexico 3-2 in the 2018 final.

Canada won the event in 2010, was runner-up in 2012 and 2013 and finished third in 2016 and 2018.

Source: CBC