The North and Central American (CONCACAF) qualifying tournament finished in Jamaica on Sunday with Mexico, Panama, Honduras and the United States sealing their positions, bringing the total number of countries who have qualified to 16.
Mexico and Panama qualified in impressive style after finishing unbeaten at the top of their groups and securing an automatic ticket to New Zealand. Mexico established an unassailable lead in their group with a match to spare while Panama won all five of their group matches as well without conceding a goal.
Panama’s Ismail Diaz will be one to watch in New Zealand having scored five goals in qualifying.
The other two qualifiers, Honduras and USA secured their spots after overcoming tricky play off matches against Guatemala and El Salvador. Honduras booked their place with a narrow 2-1 win whilst the USA triumphed 2-0 when El Salvador were reduced to 10 men.
Eight spots remain up for grabs for New Zealand 2015, with the four South American qualifiers due to be known in early February while the African qualifiers will be known in March.
The countries to confirm qualification are: New Zealand, Fiji, Myanmar, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary, Mexico, Panama, Honduras and the USA.
The official draw for the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 will take place at Sky City in Auckland on February 10. The FIFA U-20 World Cup takes place across seven New Zealand cities between May 30 and June 20.
Story courtesy FIFA U-20 World Cup LOC