Jamaica’s  young  Reggae  Boys are   among  35  teams  down  to  participate  in the  largest  ever   Concacaf  under  17  championships which  will  be  played    under  a  new  format  starting  next  month  at  the  IMG  Academy   in  Florida.

The  Reggae  Boys  will  know  their  opponents  next  Tuesday  when the  official draw to sort the participating teams into the groups for the qualifying stage and group stage of the final competition,  takes  place  at  the  Concacaf headquarters in Miami.

The World Cup qualifying competition, will  be  contested   in three rounds…… the first-round qualifiers will take place from  march 16  to  24 and April 1 to  9, while the final championship – group stage and knockout stage, will take place from May 1 to 16.

For the qualifiers starting on March 16, the lowest-ranked 19 teams, based on the Concacaf men’s under-17 ranking as of May 2017, will be divided into four groups.

After round-robin play, the top finisher in each group will advance to the knockout stage of the final competition.

The final championship will begin with a group stage, in which the top-ranked 16 participating teams, based on the Concacaf men’s under-17 ranking as of May 2017, will be divided into four groups.

After round-robin play, the top three finishers in each of the groups will join the winners of groups A, B, C and d from the qualifiers in the round of 16.

The knockout stage of the competition – round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final – will be played in its entirety in a single match elimination format, with the semi-finalists automatically qualifying for the 2019 FIFA under -17 World Cup in Peru.