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The North American men's football qualifiers are set with the CONCACAF Under 20 Championship now complete. The semifinals took place in Estadio Morazán in San Pedro Sula, with the winners of each knowing they would qualify to Paris 2024 as the two representatives of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic took on Guatemala in the first game with Guatemala racing into an early lead. First Arquimides Ordoñez headed home a cross before Sebastián Mañón poked a teasing ball into his own goal. But the Dominican Republic fought back with two goals in quick succession in the second half: first Guillermo de Peña took advantage of a loose ball before Edison Azcona's low long shot found its way in. No more goals would come in regulation time, and extra time was mostly uneventful, apart from a Dominican penalty being overturned by the video assistant referee (VAR). So the Olympic spot and a place in the final would be decided on penalties. First Thomas Jungbauer stepped up for the Dominican Republic and sent the goalie the wrong way. And they had a clear advantage when Mathius Gaitán hit the post. But when Ángel Montes De Oca skied it and Daniel Cardoza dispatched his spot-kick the scores were level again. Azcona and Johnathan Franco both looked as cool as a cucumber, so it was 2-2 with two penalties each left. De Peña put his home, but Ordoñez saw his shot saved to give Adhonys María the chance to send the Dominican Republic through to the final, and that was exactly what he did. The other semifinal was at the same stadium as part of a double-header, and the US took on Honduras. And the Stars and Stripes did not delay as Paxton Aaronson poked home a freekick to put them ahead just two minutes in. Alejandro Alvarado Jr. then doubled the lead when his shot squirmed past the goalkeeper, and a large crowd were even more disappointed when Quinn Sullivan put in an open goal. A massacre was avoided as there were no goals in the semifinal, but things did get worse for the hosts when Jefryn Macías earned a late red card for a horror tackle on Nikolas Tsakiris. The final took place at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, although both teams knew they would be in the Olympic Games no matter what. It was the US who drew first blood, with Tyler Wolff heading home a cross. Aaronson, certainly the star of the tournament doubled the lead with a smart short-range finish, before Noah Allen's deflected effort pretty much wrapped up the game before half time. There was still time for more though: Jack Mc Glynn fired in at long range with a low effort, before the Dominicans failed to mark Aaronson from a free-kick as the Philadelphia Union player got his seventh goal of the tournament. The final goal would be scored by Tsakiris as the Dominican Republic failed to clear their lines, to wrap up a hugely impressive 6-0 victory and take home the trophy. In men's football, the US have only ever won two medals, with the bizarre tournament at St. Louis 1904 containing one Canadian team and two American teams: Christian Brothers College won silver and St. Rose Parish won silver. But in the modern era they have won nothing. Since men's football became an underage competition in Barcelona 1992, the best they have done is a fourth placed finish in Sydney 2000. But they have missed the last three tournaments: a last minute goal conceded to El Salvador in Nashville cost them in 2012, a loss to Colombia scuppered their chances in 2016, and in 2020 it was Honduras that beat them. For a country that is becoming more and more of a 'soccer' nation, this triple failure was unacceptable for a country that looks to fight to be the best in the continent. But it seems they benefited from the change in format with the Under-20 Championship doubling as a qualifier (rather than a separate Under-23 championship). Throughout they were dominant, with a mature performance against a partisan crowd in the semifinal, fully justifying their top-seeded position and they deserve their place in Paris. The Dominican Republic's story is remarkable. It is the first time a Dominican football team of either gender has qualified for the Olympics, and 2020 was the first time they had even qualified for the qualification event, coming last and losing every game in their group. They were ranked so low that they had to enter a qualifying round, where they were 2-0 down to Saint Lucia and heading out with two minutes to go, before two late goals got them the goal they needed. Beating an impressive El Salvador side who topped their group 5-4 was one thing, before they showed perseverance against Jamaica and resilience to come back from 2-0 down against Guatemala. The 6-0 loss in the final aside, they may have gotten some luck but they also deserve their place in the final. North American men's football qualification for the Olympics is thus decided: the champions, the US and the runners-up Honduras will go to Paris. They will also enter the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, where they will be joined by losing semi-finalists Honduras and Guatemala. The other country in the Olympics is hosts France, with all other qualifying events listed currently as "to be determined". However, for football fans, the women's North American event, the CONCACAF W Championship, starts soon. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News

With the US and the Dominican Republic qualifying for the men's football event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it is now the turn of North America's women's footballers to do the same. While the men's football is an underage event and had the stars of tomorrow, established names at the very top of world football are entering the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship. Eight teams enter the event. The top two teams; the US and Canada automatically qualified, while the other CONCACAF nations that entered (nine nations declined to do so) were in qualifying: with six groups of five teams, only the winner would progress. Mexico came through a group containing Puerto Rico, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda, and Anguilla; Costa Rica overcame Saint Kitts and Nevis, Guatemala, Curaçao, and the US Virgin Islands; Jamaica got past the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Grenada; Panama won a group also containing El Salvador, Belize, Barbados, and Aruba; Haiti got past Cuba, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the British Virgin Islands; and Trinidad and Tobago won a group featuring Guyana, Nicaragua, Dominica, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The qualifying process was littered with huge scorelines, but the final eight are now set. The event will take place in Mexico, with Guadalupe's Estadio BBVA, home of five-time North American men's champions CF Monterrey, as well as San Nicolás de los Garza's Estadio Universitario, home of seven-time men's Mexican champions Tigres UNAL providing impressive venues: both nearby in the Monterrey metropolitan area. Group A consists of the US, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti; Group B contains Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago. In the past, this was the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)'s sole women's football competition: the winners could call themselves queens of North America; in effect making it the equivalent of the Gold Cup for men. Indeed, it carried the name "CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup" from 2000 to 2006. However, now CONCACAF have introduce a separate competition called the "CONCACAF W Gold Cup", meaning this event, renamed the "CONCACAF W Championship", is secondary and is more notable as a way in to other competitions: it qualifies places not just for the Olympics, but also the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as well as the first edition of the W Gold Cup in 2024. In terms of the competition itself, the top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals, and there will be a final, as well as a third-placed play-off. The winner automatically qualifies for the W Gold Cup in 2024, as well as the Olympics. The second Olympic spot will be decided in an "Olympic play-in" between the losing finalist and the winner of the third-placed play-off, which will take place in September 2023. This seems to be to avoid a situation where if the world champion Americans and Olympic champion Canadians faced each other in a semifinal then one of them would have to be eliminated, meaning CONCACAF will have weaker representation. In terms of the FIFA World Cup, all four semifinalists will qualify, while the third-placed team in each group qualifies for the intercontinental play-offs, in which ten teams from six confederations will fight for the final three spots at the World Cup. There is plenty of talent on display, but the short version of the tournament is: one team will secure an Olympic place, two teams will have to wait for a play-off next year, and the remaining five will see their Olympic dream die. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News

The all-important semi-finals for the 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship are set, determining who will qualify for men's football at Paris 2024. With this the only North American qualifier in men's football, and two countries qualifying, the equation is simple: the winners will play in the Olympics, and the losers won't. All four winners of the quarter-finals have qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia. The United States took on Costa Rica in the first game of a double-header at the Estadio Morazán in San Pedro Sula. Early in the first half, Paxton Aaronsen finished off a break to give the Americans the lead, and the same player smashed home a cross early in the second half to get the second and final goal of the game. The Americans safely through to the semifinals. In the later game, Panama took on Honduras. A brilliant effort from outside the box from Ricardo Gorday gave the visitors the lead, but Honduras turned around the game with a tale of two penalties. The first one was saved on the stroke of half time before Marco Aceituno tucked home the rebound to make it 1-1. And when Aceituno was bought down by Omar Alba in a challenge that can only be described as 'tired', Aceituno stepped up and smashed Honduras into the semi-final against the US. On the second day it was another double-header, this time at the Estadio Olímpico in the same city. The Dominican Republic faced Jamaica and it was a game decided by an early goal, with a great bit of skill from Ángel Montes De Oca well worth a win for the Dominicans. In the final game, Guatemala took on Mexico. And it was Guatemala that drew first blood, with a cross headed in by Arquimedes Ordoñez. But when a freekick was forced in by Esteban Lozano who knew little about it it seemed the game was destined for extra-time, until El Tri got a late late penalty. But an 88th minute save did send the game to extra time. And that proved indecisive too, so there would be a penalty shoot-out. Jesús Hernández stepped up first for Mexico, but saw his penalty saved, while Mathius Gaitán scored to give Guatemala the lead. Things turned desperate for Mexico when Isaías Violante saw his shot saved too, and Daniel Cardoza scored to double the Guatemalans' lead. Antonio Leone then hit the woodwork for Mexico, meaning Carlos Santos had the chance to win it for Guatemala, but his effort was saved. Jesús Alcantar still had to score, and did just that to keep it alive, but now Jefry Bantes could score to win it for Guatemala... but it was saved again! A miracle comeback may have been on the cards for Mexico, but Bryan González still had to score, and the keeper guessed correctly and Guatemala were through to face the Dominican Republic. So the semifinals will take place on 1 July at Estadio Morazán in San Pedro Sula: the US vs Honduras at 1700 local time (UTC -6) and the Dominican Republic vs Guatemala three hours later. Then, the final will take place on 3 July at 1700 local time at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano. Check here for broadcasting information. The US vs Honduras is an intriguing encounter, arguably between the two strongest teams in the tournament. The US were number one seed and started their group with a 10-0 win over St. Kitts and Nevis, before a 2-2 draw against Canada representing a minor hiccup and then an impressive 3-0 win over a very respectable Cuba side to top the group. In the Round of 16, a 5-0 win over Nicaragua was then followed by a very reasonable 2-0 win over a Costa Rica side who had impressed up to that point. Honduras are the number four seed but have home advantage and their crowds have grown as they advanced in the tournament. The only team to have a 100% record in the group, they did so without conceding, winning 3-0 over Antigua and Barbuda, 5-0 over Jamaica and 1-0 over Costa Rica. A 4-1 win over Curaçao was followed by a battling 2-1 win over Panama, but the US is a new level for them and it will be an exciting match. On the other side, the Dominican Republic had to pre-qualify for the competition as they were not ranked in the top 16 (the highest team to miss out), with a 6-0 win over Anguilla, 2-0 wins over Saint Martin and Belize and then a 2-2 draw with Saint Lucia enough to qualify with all games on home soil. They were 2-0 down with two minutes to go in that final game and would not have qualified for the tournament if they hadn't found two late goals: now they are one game away from the Olympics. Having pre-qualified they got a bye to the Round of 16 where they shocked El Salvador 5-4 and then despatched Jamaica 1-0, and are one game away from a fairytale. But Guatemala, who were the eleventh seed have battled through: despite starting off with a 5-1 loss to El Salvador, they picked themselves up and beat Panama, the number one seed in their group 3-1, and then managed to snatch a 2-1 win over Aruba. They then battled to a 1-1 draw against Canada and won on penalties, and did the same against Mexico, having a bit of luck seeing as El Tri missed an 88th minute penalty. Both teams have what it takes to win this match, but only one can come out on top. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News

The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is in full swing now and the Round of 16 is over. With the two finalists qualifying for the Olympics, this is the sole Paris 2024 qualifying competition in men's football for North Americans. Costa Rica faced Trinidad and Tobago at Estadio Yankel Rosenthal. A handball by Jahiem Joseph in the box gave Costa Rica the chance to make the perfect start and Josimar Alcócer stepped up to do exactly that. Costa Rica were the dominant side and added to their lead in the second half with a tap-in from Shawn Johnson. A rebound from Dorian Rodríguez made it three, before the same player latched onto a through ball for 4-0. Trinidad and Tobago were heading out but had time for one positive moment, with Molik Khan putting in the consolation. Still, an impressive performance by Costa Rica and they are through to the quarter-finals. Cuba met Panama at the Estadio Nacional. Both teams had chances in the first half but it remained a somewhat tetchy affair. And the only goal fit the contest: a scrappy goal forced in by Carlos Rivera to give Panama the win. It was a disappointment for Cuba who had been impressive in the tournament up to this point but will play no further part. Later at the Yankel Rosenthal, hosts Honduras took on Curaçao. And it didn't take long for the home side to take the lead, with Marco Aceituno latching onto a sloppy backpass. But Curaçao fought back, with Rayvian Job latching onto a "route one" ball over the top and equalising in prolific fashion. That was as good as it got for the qualifiers though, with Honduras' Geremy Rodas heading home a corner in first-half injury time and Odin Ramos heading home a cross after the break. There was time for one more Honduras goal when Nigel Marengo fouled Jefryn Macías in the box and Miguel Carrasco fired it into the top corner for a 4-1 victory. Honduras have looked impressive all tournament and will be relishing a quarterfinal against Panama. The final game of the day took place at the Estadio Nacional with the US taking on Nicaragua. The Stars and Stripes were dominant the whole game but Nicaragua's dominance was providing a large amount of frustration. It took until first half injury time for Quinn Sullivan to head them in front, but then it became much simpler. Kurt Thomas dragged Sullivan down in the box and Diego Luna scored the penalty before Sullivan tucked in a low cross for his second and the USA's third. A cross was deflected by Dylan Pineda into his own goal before Jalen Neal tucked in a rebound to give the US a 5-0 win. The Americans have looked brilliant this tournament but Costa Rica will be a tough challenge in the quarters. On the second day of competition Guatemala faced Canada in the first game at the Estadio Nacional. But nothing could separate the two sides after ninety minutes, with both teams missing a penalty in the first half but having precious little in terms of other chances. In extra-time, Canada did draw first blood, with Jeshua Urizar handling it in the box and Kamron Habibullah firing it into the bottom corner. In the 119th minute, Figo Montaro headed home, and although it was initially disallowed, VAR showed that it was onside and the game headed to penalties. With the first set of penalties converted by Gabriel Pellegrino and Carlos Santos, Kwasi Poku skied his penalty to give Guatemala the initiative, and Urizar did just that. Keesean Ferdinand levelled for Canada but Johnathan Franco put Guatemala back in front. Justin Smith's panenka then hit the bar to give Jefrey Bantes the chance to put Guatemala through, but he rolled it wide. Habibullah had to score to keep Canada in it, and did just that, so it was down to Omar Villagrán to avoid a sudden death. And he smashed it in to send Guatemala through to the quarterfinals. At the Estadio Olímpico, Haiti took on Jamaica in a bizarre game. Jahmari Clarke gave Jamaica the lead early on taking advantage of some eccentric goalkeeping and things got worse for Haiti when Fernando Ciceron's bizarre high-footed challenge on Chad James earned him a red card. A header from Steevenson Jeudy gave Haiti an equaliser and a lifeline, but when Duckens Pierre fouled Tyler Roberts that was enough for his second yellow card and Haiti were down to nine men. It was only a matter of time before Jamaica got the winner at that point and more unconvincing goalkeeping was to blame with Tarick Ximines poking home an open goal from a corner to secure a 2-1 win for the young Reggae Boyz. A fascinating encounter between El Salvador and the Dominican Republic took place at the Estadio Nacional. The qualifiers took an early lead when Israel Boatwrighit's cross went over the goalkeeper and found its way in, but El Salvador soon equalised when Mayer Gil converted a cross. However, Anyelo Gomez soon scored a rebound to put the Dominicans ahead again. El Salvador were struggling to get back into the game but when Keffler Martes brought down Jonathan Esquivel in the box Gil converted the VAR-awarded penalty to equalise, before Ronald Arévalo tapped home just before half-time to give El Salvador the lead for the first time. But just after half time, Ángel Montes De Oca managed to squeeze home a goal and it was 3-3. Boatwrighit went from hero to zero by handling a cross in the box and Esquivel converted the penalty to put El Salvador back in front, but Montes De Oca soon came forward and fired in an equaliser. And the nerves began to show when El Salvador's Alexander Romero brought down the rushing Edison Azcona in the box and Azcona got up and fired in the winner, and despite their best efforts and a disallowed goal, El Salvador had no response. The remarkable result: El Salvador 4-5 Dominican Republic, and the winners play Jamaica in the quarterfinal. In the final game at the Olímpico Mexico took on Puerto Rico in a one-sided affair. A lovely solo run from Fidel Ambriz gave El Tri a lead they would never relinquish, and Christian Torres fired off the post for two. Esteban Lozano made it three after half-time with a header, before another header from Salvador Mariscal made it four. The ball then broke kindly for Isaías Violante in the box and he took full advantage, before Jesús Hernández rounded out a 6-0 win with another headed effort. They play Guatemala in the quarters. The quarterfinals will take place on Tuesday at Estadio Morazán with the US against Costa Rica and Panama playing Honduras, and on Wednesday at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano with the Dominican Republic taking on Jamaica and Guatemala facing Mexico. The winners will qualify for next years FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, and will be one game away from the Olympics, with the losers having no recourse for the Paris Games. Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News

Image: World Triathlon A stunning performance from Georgia Taylor-Brown in the 2022 World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships has yielded Great Britain the first non-host quota of the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle. The winner of the event were to win two quota spots for each gender, automatically entering the winner into the Mixed Relay event in Paris. France, the hosts of the Games, already had these quotas, so if they were to win the race the places would instead go to the runner-up. With at most three athletes per gender qualifying for the individual events per NOC, all NOCs with at least two per gender will automatically enter the mixed relay. There are also eleven specific mixed relay spots, that will automatically qualify two men and two women for the Olympics, and the second of these (after the host spot) was up for grabs in Montreal, Canada on Sunday. With Belgium non-starters, sixteen teams entered the race. In the first leg, the whole field was together after the cycling portion but New Zealand's Hayden Wilde and Great Britain's Alex Yee left the field behind them during the run, just like the individual race, and were ahead going into the second leg. During the swim, Brazil, France and Australia caught up to make it a five-woman race, putting them twenty-five seconds ahead of the US in sixth. But the charge from the chasing pack was enough to slowly claw away at the leading five, and going into the final race there was a big pack. But they slowly broke away with France's Emma Lombardi being subject of a surprise challenge from Denmark's Alberte Kjaer Pedersen. But France were happy to cooperate, as they had Vincent Luis on the penultimate leg and as Denmark fell away Luis pulled twenty seconds clear at the end of his swim. With New Zealand's Tayler Reid and the American Kevin McDowell cooperating while fighting for second, Luis was still nineteen seconds clear after the cycle despite riding solo. There was a second pack of chasers: GB, Canada, Switzerland, and Denmark, but they were a further sixteen seconds back and couldn't make any inroads despite GB's newcomer Samuel Dickinson attempting a charge. Furthermore, Dickinson had a missed box ten-second penalty. Going into the final leg France were miles in front and all Cassandre Beaugrand had to do was take it home, and in fact all she did was extend her lead. But while there was no doubt who the winner would be, it was looking a tight battle for second. Summer Rappaport of the US was now eight seconds ahead of the Kiwis' Nicole Van Der Kaay, with Taylor-Brown nearly half a minute off that silver place. But a brilliant cycle let her catch them two up somehow, but that wasn't enough: she would have to find more than seconds to contend with the penalty. Van Der Kaay tried to stay with her but ran out of steam and Taylor-Brown took a clear lead. But Rappaport, who had stayed back, was a problem. It was unclear whether Taylor-Brown was clearly ahead: she had to slow down and speed up again while serving the penalty, so the penalty is in actuality more than ten seconds. But as Beaugrand crossed the line for gold, Taylor-Brown emerged just ahead of Rappaport and powered over the line for silver while the Americans got a bronze. It means that two British men and two British women will compete at the Olympics in Paris in the triathlon, which makes a mixed relay team. The British team were delighted with the performance despite being pre-race favourites. Alex Yee said he was "absolutely over the moon", while Sophie Coldwell says she was "really proud of everyone". Samuel Dickinson whose penalty nearly cost the team said that he would "buy [Taylor-Brown] some sunglasses or something" to make up for it, while Taylor-Brown joked: But Olympic qualification aside today was France's day, and they are worthy world champions. Pierre Le Corre, Emma Lombardi, Vincent Luis and Cassandre Beaugrand are a very good team and they will be relishing an Olympics in front of their home fans. The next chance for teams to qualify will be at the 2023 World event in Hamburg, Germany. The winner of that event (or more precisely, the highest-ranked finisher except for France and Great Britain) will qualify two men and two women, similar to this event. Top five times: 1. France 1:27.14 2. Great Britain 1:27.34 3. United States 1:27.44 4. New Zealand 1:27.53 5. Canada 1:29.06 Patrick Green Writer, Totallympics News