Canada's U-20 Women's National Team will be attending their third straight World Championships thanks to a hard fought 2:1 win today over Jamaica's Reggae Girlz in the semi final of CONCACAF's Women's U-20 Qualifying Tournament in Veracruz, Mexico.

The Canadians now await the winners of the Mexico - USA clash, scheduled to take place at 4pm ET, to determine the CONCACAF Champion. 

“To be fair, we have never really been at our best here despite some of the lop-sided scores. We have had spells of solid team play but have yet to play to our full potential. Having said that, I am happy with the way we have defended and in the latter portions of the game that was a definite necessity.

“But we are in the World Championships this summer and I am extremely proud of what the players and the staff have accomplished.”

FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship Russia 2006

The winners and runners-up of each group will earn a place in the event's semifinals at Veracruz's Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on 25 January, with the winners of the semifinal games earning a place as CONCACAF representatives in FIFA's U-20 Women's World Championship in Russia this summer.

CONCACAF's third spot in the FIFA event will be determined by a third-place play-off game between the two losing semifinalists at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes on 27 January, before the two finalists meet for the CONCACAF Women's U-20 crown later in the day. 

This is the first time that CONCACAF has staged a qualifying event for the Women's U-20 World Championship. The other CONCACAF Women's Youth Tournaments were at the U-19 level in Trinidad & Tobago and Canada in 2002 and 2004, respectively.

Canada not only hosted the inaugural World Championships in 2002 but finished second to the USA, losing on a ‘golden goal' in front of a sold-out crowd at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. 

The Canadians also won the 2004 CONCACAF Qualifying tournament, turning the tables on the American's in this final after scoring the winner in extra time at Ottawa's Frank Clair Stadium. The team went on to the World Championships in Thailand later that year, eventually bowing out to China in the quarter-finals.