By Gary Anderson

The CONCACAF Women's Championship is set to take place in the United States later this year ©Getty Images The United States will play host to this year's Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Women's Championship it has been announced, with the tournament scheduled to take place this autumn.

Exact dates and venues for the tournament have yet to be finalised, with the preliminary qualifying process set to take place, which will see five teams emerge with a place at the Championships.

Hosts United States, Canada and Mexico have been granted automatic places.

CONCACAF claimed a record 31 nations have indicated they are interested in taking part in qualification for the tournament, which will see teams from the Caribbean and Central America regions taking part in qualifying over the next two months.

"The number of teams set to participate in our regional qualification process demonstrates the growth of the women's game across the Confederation - especially in the Caribbean and Central America," said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb.

"We know we have some of the strongest women's teams in the world right here in CONCACAF, in two-time world champion United States, along with Canada and Mexico.

"We are looking forward to seeing some of our other member associations join those illustrious ranks very soon."

Two teams from the Central American Football Union will qualify for the CONCACAF finals, with matches set to take place later this month, while three teams will emerge from the inaugural Caribbean Football Union Women's Caribbean Cup, which is set to conclude with the finals in Trinidad and Tobago in August.

Guatemala and the Dominican Republic will be hoping to secure places at the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championships ©Getty Images Guatemala and the Dominican Republic will be hoping to secure places at the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championships ©Getty Images



This year's CONCACAF Women's Championship will see the top three teams qualify automatically for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, while a fourth team will take part in a play-off with a team from South America to secure a place at next year's showpiece event.

As hosts, Canada have automatically qualified, which could potentially see five CONCACF nations taking part in the Women's World Cup.

The tournament will see defending champions Japan look to retain the crown they won last time out in Germany in 2011 and will be the third time the event will be held in North America, following on from the 1999 and 2003 editions in the United States.

Canada is already set to host the FIFA Women's Under-20 World Cup from August 5 to 24 this year, while Costa Rica recently staged the 2014 FIFA Women's Under-17 World Cup, which was won by Japan.

"We at CONCACAF couldn't be more pleased to see our member association, Canada, set to host the largest edition ever of the FIFA Women's World Cup, as the tournament expands to 24 nations in 2015," added Webb.

"We know Canada is prepared to put on a great show, both later this year for the FIFA Women's Under-20 World Cup and next year for the World Cup.

"Taking into account also the successful FIFA Women's Under-17 World Cup recently completed in  Costa Rica, there's no doubt that CONCACAF has earned the title of 'Women's World Cup Central."

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