Confirmed: Sporting Park will host Women's World Cup qualifiers

As The Blue Testament reported yesterday, the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship will have matches at Sporting Park. The matches will take place Oct. 15-26 in Kansas City, Chicago, Washington DC with the finals in Philadelphia.

The tournament's eight countries will be in two groups of four with the top two finishers in each group advancing on to the semifinals. All the countries will play a game in each of the three first-round venues. Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, and RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. will each host two doubleheaders.

All of the group stages are taking place in NWSL cities so many of the leuges best players will get a chance to play in front of their home fans. Sporting Park will host the opening matches on Oct 15^th and 16^th so local fans may get to see FC Kansas City stars and U.S. regulars like Lauren Holiday, Becky Sauerbrunn, Amy Rodriguez and Nicole Barnhart.

Chicago (home of the Red Stars) will host on Oct. 17^th and 18^th while Washington DC (home of the Spirit) will have matches on Oct 20^th and 21^st.

PPL Park in Philadelphia will host the semifinal matches on Oct. 24, along with the third-place match and championship games on Oct. 26. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place match will qualify directly for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. The fourth-place team will enter a playoff with a South American country for a final berth.

"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," said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati via press release. "The second season of the NWSL has been exciting to follow, and this tournament provides fans with another opportunity to see some of the best women's soccer players in the world compete on the international level. 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."

All matches will be televised live across FOX Sports channels.

As host of the Women's World Cup, Canada has already secured its berth, so the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship will feature the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica (the Group II winner in the Central American qualifying tournament), Guatemala (the Group I winner in the Central American qualifying tournament) 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.

The final tournament schedule and kickoff times will be set at the Final Draw on Sept. 5 in Miami. Ticket information will be made available in the near future.