The road to Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics is down to four CONCACAF teams, and they will determine the confederation's two automatic berths on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
Saturday's semifinals of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship, open to players born in 1993 or later, are as follows:
- 3pm ET: United States vs. Honduras (Telemundo)
- 6pm ET: Mexico vs. Canada (Telemundo)
Each match would go to extratime and penalty kicks if necessary to determine who advances.
The two winners qualify automatically for next year's Olympics and will square off on Tuesday for the regional title. The two losers play on Tuesday for third place and the chance to compete in a playoff against Colombia in March 2016 for the final spot in the 16-team Olympic tournament.
- How they got there: Olympic Qualifying Championship results
Mexico are the defending CONCACAF and Olympic champions from 2012, while Honduras also qualified in the last cycle and reached the Olympic quarterfinals. The teams have combined to win the last five CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournaments.
The US last reached the Olympics in 2008, while Canada have not qualified since 1984. Canada finished fourth in the last qualifying tournament, losing to Mexico – Saturday's opponent – in the CONCACAF semifinals. They also lost in the CONCACAF semifinals in 2008, falling to the US.
Canada's Michael Petrasso (Queens Park Rangers) and the US duo of Jerome Kiesewetter (Stuttgart) and Jordan Morris (Stanford, Seattle Sounders Academy) currently lead the tournament with three goals each. Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil and Houston Dynamo forward Erick 'Cubo' Torres have each scored twice for the US and Mexico, respectively, while Honduras' leading scorers with two goals apiece are Anthony Lozano (Tenerife), who competed in the last Olympics, and Alberth Elis (Olimpia).
