Trinidad and Tobago will be hosting the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-17 Championships Group 4 qualifying tournament next week.

This was announced at a Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation press conference at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain yesterday.

Brandon Creed will lead the national Under-17 at the tournament.

T&T will be hosting Guyana, the British Virgin Islands and Suriname in Group Four from July 24-28, with the top team going through to the next round of CFU qualifying for the 15th FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates from October 17 to November 8 next year.

The winners of Group Four will join Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica in the next round.

The final group of qualifiers, Group Five, involving Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and the US Virgin Islands will be played later this month.

The winners of the five qualifying groups and the best second placed team will move into the final round of qualifiers to be held from August 19-30 ,with the top five teams going into the CONCACAF finals scheduled for April 6-19 next year.

The final squad is yet to be named, with the players still doing their final preparations. Twenty-three players are in the training under head coach Shawn Cooper who said it will be a difficult task to cut the squad to 18.

T&T will play their first match in the qualifiers on July 24 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Head of marketing at the TTFF Anthony Harford said yesterday it would cost $500,000 to stage the group qualifying. He said despite the organisation being strapped for cash, it was important to bring international football to T&T.

He also noted that there were some international friendly matches in the making including one against a top African nation for next year.

He said that despite the challenges with money, the TTFF have kept the national teams active. He revealed that T&T senior side have an international friendly against Canada on August 15, as well as one against Puerto Rico in September but both matches will be played away from home.

He said they just could not afford to play any matches in T&T.

T&T Under-17 roster—Brendon Creed (captain), Kevin John, Stephon Seepersad, D'eandre Villaroel, Martieon Watson, Josiah Trimmingham, Leland Archer, Shaquille Moses, Maurice Ford, Stephan Spicer, Shannon Gomez, Jabari Mitchell, Jarred Dass, Andre Fortune, Mani Walcott, Matthew Woo Ling, Levi Garcia, Kishun Seecharan, David Maloney, Akeem Garcia, Aikim Andrews, Brent Sam, Weah Adams.

Technical Staff—Christopher Govia (manager), Shawn Cooper (head coach), Terrance Marcelle (assistant coach), Leonson Lewis (assistant coach), Ross Russell (goal-keeping coach), Michael Taylor (physio), Nathale Thomas (equipment manager).

CFU U-17 Qualifying

Tournament Group 4 fixtures

July 24—Hasely Crawford Stadium

Guyana vs Suriname, 5 p.m.

T&T vs British Virgin Islands, 7 p.m.

July 26—Ato Boldon Stadium

British Virgin Islands, 5 p.m.

T&T vs Suriname, 7 p.m.

July 28—Hasely Crawford Stadium

Suriname vs British Virgin Islands, 5 p.m.

T&T vs Guyana, 7 p.m.