The 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the 4th edition of the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the quadrennial international football tournament organized by CONCACAF to determine which women's national teams from the North, Central American and Caribbean region qualify for the Olympic football tournament. CONCACAF announced on 12 August 2015 that the United States would host the tournament between 10–21 February 2016 in Houston and Frisco, Texas. A total of eight teams played in the tournament.
The top two teams of the tournament qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics women's football tournament in Brazil as the CONCACAF representatives.
The United States won the tournament with a 2–0 final win over Canada. Both teams qualified for the Olympics, their sixth and third in a row respectively.
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 being the only teams in the zone Two teams from the Central American Zone (UNCAF) Three 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 eight teams qualified for the final tournament.
TeamQualificationAppearancePrevious best performancesPrevious women's Olympic appearancesNorth American Zone (NAFU) Automatic 4th Runner-up (2008, 2012) 2 Automatic 4th Runner-up (2004) 1 Automatic 4th Winner (2004, 2008, 2012) 5Central American Zone (UNCAF) qualified through Central American qualifying competition Group winner 4th Fourth place (2004, 2008)Semi-finals (2012) 0 Group runner-up 2nd Group stage (2012) 0Caribbean Zone (CFU) qualified through Caribbean qualifying competition Final round winner 3rd Group stage (2004, 2008) 0 Final round runner-up 1st N/A 0 Final round 3rd place 1st N/A 0
Venues The two venues were announced by CONCACAF on 12 August 2015. BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston Toyota Stadium, Frisco
Draw The draw for the tournament took place on 23 November 2015 at 10:00 EST (UTC−5) at the InterContinental Doral in Doral, Florida. The draw was conducted by Cat Whitehill and Tiffany Roberts.
The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. Tournament host, defending CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist United States were seeded in Group A.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3
Squads
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.
All times were local, CST (UTC−6).
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
Semi-finals Winners qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.
Final
Final ranking As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
Qualified teams for Olympics The following two teams from CONCACAF qualified for the Olympic football tournament.
Team Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1 (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) (2008, 2012) 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
Goalscorers 6 goals
Raquel Rodríguez Crystal Dunn
5 goals
Alex Morgan
4 goals
Maribel Domínguez Carli Lloyd
3 goals
Ashley Lawrence Nichelle Prince Quinn Deanne Rose Christine Sinclair Melissa Tancredi Karla Villalobos Kennya Cordner
2 goals
Janine Beckie Ana Martínez Tobin Heath Christen Press
1 goal
Kadeisha Buchanan Gabrielle Carle Jessie Fleming Diana Matheson Shirley Cruz Melissa Herrera Diana Sáenz Mariam El-Masri Alison Heydorn Bria Williams Alina Garciamendez Katlyn Johnson Nayeli Rangel Jenelle Cunningham Ahkeela Mollon Mariah Shade Tasha St. Louis Lindsey Horan Kelley O'Hara Sam Mewis
Own goal Ashley Rivera (playing against United States)
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
Best XI Goalkeeper: Hope Solo Right Defender: Kelley O'Hara Central Defender: Becky Sauerbrunn Central Defender: Kadeisha Buchanan Left Defender: Allysha Chapman Right Midfielder: Tobin Heath Central Midfielder: Lindsey Horan Central Midfielder: Morgan Brian Left Midfielder: Ashley Lawrence Forward: Alex Morgan Forward: Carli Lloyd
Golden Ball Morgan Brian
Golden Boot Crystal Dunn (6 goals)
Golden Glove Hope Solo
Fair Play Award
Notes
References
External links Olympic Qualifying – Women, CONCACAF.com