Kyle Lightbourne has returned from the Concacaf Under-20 Championship draw feeling confident about his team’s chances in Costa Rica.

The Bermuda Under-20 coach is encouraged after they were seeded in group C along with the host nation, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador at last week’s draw, which he attended at the National Stadium in San José, the Costa Rican capital.

Bermuda begin their campaign on February 19 against Trinidad, who they beat 2-1 in a third-place play-off match at the Caribbean Football Union Under-20 finals in Curaçao in October.

“I’m so happy to be drawn with a team we played against in the previous tournament in Trinidad because we beat them last time,” Lightbourne said.

“I expect to see a couple of different faces from Trinidad, talking to their coach while in Costa Rica. They had a couple of players [missing from the previous round] who were unable to make it because of university or college commitments, which was the same for us.

“We have to expect they are going to look to do things a little bit differently against us.”

Bermuda face El Salvador in their second match on February 22 before taking on Costa Rica in their remaining group match on February 25.

“We have to do some homework on El Salvador and Costa Rica, who we will get a chance to see,” Lightbourne added. “We already know about Trinidad.”

Mexico, the defending champions, Antigua and Barbuda, Honduras and Canada are in group A, while the group B teams are the United States, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Haiti. All matches will be held at the National Stadium and Estadio Ricardo Saprissa.

“The venues are excellent places to play football,” Lightbourne said. “I’m very happy with the stadiums and everything they showed us while in Costa Rica.”

The tournament will be played in a new format consisting of a group stage, a classification phase and the final.

Designed to increase the number of meaningful, competitive matches, the top-two teams from groups A, B, and C will advance to the classification stage.

The four World Cup places will then be determined in round-robin play among two groups of three teams. The top two of each group will qualify for next year’s Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.

“This is an exciting tournament and Bermuda has to realise this is a fantastic opportunity for the young boys,” Lightbourne said.

Bermuda qualified for the Concacaf Under-20 Championship after finishing runners-up in their group at the CFU Under-20 finals. They reached the semi-final where they lost 3-0 to Haiti before beating Trinidad in the third-place play-off.