The 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fourteenth edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organized by CONCACAF to determine which men's under-23 national teams from the North, Central America and Caribbean region qualify for the Olympic football tournament. It was held in the United States, from 1 and 13 October 2015
Mexico successfully defended their title after a 2–0 win over Honduras in the final. It was their seventh Pre-Olympic title and second in a row, after previous wins in 1964, 1972, 1976, 1996, 2004 and 2012. As the top two teams, Mexico and Honduras both qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil as the CONCACAF representatives, just as the same sides had in the previous Olympics. Third-placed United States later lost to Colombia in the CONCACAF–CONMEBOL play-off and failed to qualify for the Olympics for the second consecutive time. Qualification
The eight berths were allocated to the three regional zones as follows: Three teams from the North American Zone (NAFU), i.e., Canada, Mexico and the hosts United States, who all qualified automatically due to them being the only teams in the region Three teams from the Central American Zone (UNCAF) Two teams from the Caribbean Zone (CFU)
Regional qualification tournaments were held to determine the five teams joining Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the final tournament.
Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the final tournament.
Zone Country Method of qualification Appearance Last appearance Previous best performancePrevious Olympic appearances(last) North America (hosts) Automatic 10th 2012 Winners (1988, 1992) 14 (2008) Automatic 8th 2012 Runners-up (1984, 1996) 3 (1984) (title holders) Automatic 11th 2012 Winners (1964, 1972, 1976, 1996, 2004, 2012) 10 (2012) Central America Group A winners 6th 2012 Fourth place (1964) 0 Group B winners 6th 2012 Winners (2000, 2008) 3 (2012) Play-offs winners 6th 2004 Winners (1980, 1984) 3 (2004) Caribbean Final round winners 2nd 2008 Group stage (2008) 0 Final round runners-up 5th 2012 Third place (1976, 1984) 2 (1980)
Venues Four cities served as the venues for tournament. Kansas City, KansasCarson, California(Los Angeles Area)Commerce City, Colorado(Denver Area)Sandy, Utah(Salt Lake City Area)Sporting ParkStubHub CenterDick's Sporting Goods ParkRio Tinto Stadium Capacity: 27,000Capacity: 21,000Capacity: 18,061 Capacity: 20,213
Draw
The draw for the tournament took place on 18 August 2015 at 09:00 PDT (UTC−7) at the Torrance Marriot Redondo Beach hotel in Torrance, California, United States. The draw was conducted by Eddie Lewis and Brad Friedel.
The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. Tournament host United States were seeded in Group A, while defending CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Mexico were seeded in Group B.
The draw took place before the UNCAF final qualifier (Costa Rica) had been confirmed.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Match officials
Referees Adrian Skeete Christopher Reid Mathieu Bourdeau Drew Fischer Hugo Cruz Juan Guerra Armando Castro Karl Tyrell Luis Enrique Santander Jafeth Perea Javier Santos Armando Villarreal
Assistant referees Ricardo Ake Joe Fletcher Carlos Fernandez Ronaldo De La Cruz Oscar Velazquez Israel Valenciano Ronald Bruna Jairo Morales Graeme Brown Ainsley Rochard Frank Anderson Corey Rockwell
Squads
Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team could register a maximum of 20 players (two of whom must be goalkeepers).
Group stage The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order: Goal difference in all group matches; Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches; Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned; Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned; Greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned; Drawing of lots.
The final round of fixtures in the group stage and the knockout stage fell within the FIFA International Match Calendar period of 5–13 October 2015. As a result, teams were able to call on their first choice under-23 players worldwide.
All times were local.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
Semi-finals The semi-final winners qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Third place play-off The winners advanced to the CONCACAF–CONMEBOL play-off.
Final
Statistics Goalscorers 4 goals
Alberth Elis Jerome Kiesewetter
3 goals
Michael Petrasso Erick Torres Jordan Morris
2 goals
Anthony Lozano Marco Bueno Raúl López Arichel Hernández Luis Gil
1 goal
Molham Babouli Ben Fisk Skylar Thomas Dylan Flores Maikel Reyes Daniel Luis Sáez Paulson Pierre Víctor Guzmán Hirving Lozano Édgar Joel Bárcenas Josiel Núñez Cameron Carter-Vickers Alonso Hernández Emerson Hyndman Matt Miazga Marc Pelosi
1 own goal
William Fernández (playing against Mexico) Bryan Acosta (playing against Mexico) Fidel Escobar (playing against USA)
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. Golden BallGolden BootGolden GloveFair Play Award Hirving Lozano Jerome Kiesewetter (4 goals, 2 assists) Gibrán Lajud
+ Best XIGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Gibrán Lajud Érick Aguirre Jhonatan Paz Jordan Silva Rodolfo Pizarro Alberth Elis Víctor Guzmán Óscar Salas Hirving Lozano Erick Torres Jerome Kiesewetter
Final ranking As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time were counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by a penalty shoot-out were counted as draws.
Qualified teams for 2016 Summer Olympics The following two teams from CONCACAF qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics Men's football tournament. Team Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1 (2000, 2008, 2012) (1928, 1948, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2012) 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
Broadcasters Television CountryBroadcasterRef.FreePay (Host) Telemundo Universo
Cuban defections
Four Cuban players were confirmed to have defected to the United States during the tournament: they were Emmanuel Labrada (CF Granma), Frank López García (FC Cienfuegos), Dairon Pérez (FC La Habana), and Yendry Torres (FC Cienfuegos).
References
External links Olympic Qualifying – Men, CONCACAF.com