The road to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup will run through four MLS stadiums.
CONCACAF announced on Thursday that its 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship will be played at Toyota Park just outside Chicago, Kansas City's Sporting Park, PPL Park near Philadelphia and RFK Stadium in Washington.
The tournament will take place from Oct. 15-26, featuring eight countries divided into two groups of four, with the top two finishers in each group after round-robin play advancing to the semifinals.
The CONCACAF Women’s Championship will qualify three teams directly to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with a fourth earning the right to face a South American country in a playoff.
“We are honored to serve as the local organizing committee for this tournament as we continue to support and grow women’s soccer in this region on a large scale,” US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said in a statement.
“With the tremendous success and popularity of the men’s World Cup here in the United States this summer, we are looking forward to carrying that momentum right through to the Women’s World Cup in Canada and beyond.”
The tournament begins at Sporting Park on Oct. 15, with the first two matches of Group A followed by the first two matches of Group B on October 16. All eight teams will then move to Toyota Park, where the Group A double-header matches will take place on October 17 and Group B matches on Oct. 18. The teams will finish first round play at RFK with the Group A double-header games taking place on Oct. 20 and Group B on Oct. 21.
PPL Park will host the semifinal matches on Oct. 24, along with the third-place match and final on Oct. 26. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place match will qualify directly for the Women’s World Cup in Canada. The fourth-place team will enter a play-off with the third-place side from South America for another berth.
As hosts of the Women’s World Cup, Canada have already secured their place in next year’s tournament. The 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship will feature the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the four semifinalists in the final round of the CFU Women's Caribbean Cup, which will take place Aug. 19-26 in Trinidad & Tobago.
All matches will be televised live across FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 or FOX Soccer Plus, and will also be available via FOX Sports GO, FOX Soccer 2GO and FOXSportsGO.com. The final tournament schedule and kickoff times will be set at the final draw on Sept. 5 in Miami.
