Twenty-one national teams have been named to compete in the inaugural tournament, with matches being played in Antigua, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands, Haiti and Puerto Rico, before the final round in Trinidad and Tobago, who automatically advance to the final stage as the host nation.

The top three teams from the Caribbean Cup will secure a place at October's Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Women's Championship in the Mexican cities of Cancún and Playa del Carmen, which is the qualifying event for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.

Damien Hughes, the CFU's general secretary, said CFU President Gordon Derrick has been the driving force behind the women's competition.

"It is the vision of the CFU's President Gordon Derrick to introduce this tournament, the CFU Women's Football Committee enthusiasm to develop the idea, and Member Associations' foresight and unrelenting pursuit of the development of Women's Football in the Caribbean region that have brought us to this historic moment," he said.

Competing in the tournament are Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, St Vincent and The Grenadines and the US Virgin Islands in group one; Puerto Rico, Barbados, Dominica and Martinique in group two; Turks and Caicos Islands, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and St Kitts-Nevis in group three; Haiti, Cuba, Guadeloupe and Suriname in group four; and Dominican Republic, Anguilla, Jamaica and St Lucia in group five.

The eight-team final round will feature each group winner, plus the two best overall second place teams from the groups, as well as Trinidad and Tobago.

Group matches are due to begin on May 21, with the final round in Trinidad and Tobago from August 17 to 27.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]