The Cuban soccer team had to play today its second match in the qualifying round of the Confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean with a view to the 2026 World Cup.
Their rival, the Cayman Islands, will not appear on the field at the Antonio Maceo stadium in Santiago de Cuba, because many of their players are students with visas from the United States and they fear losing them if they travel to the country, international media report.
In this way, the team led by Yunielys Castillo will add its first three points in the tie, vital in its aspiration to continue on its way to the event that will be hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico.
With these units in its locker, Cuba will rise to second place in the table, tied with the Cayman Islands itself, although with a better goal difference. The Caribbean Lions will have a +1 in that section, while their rival -2.
The Cuban group is led by Honduras, a large favorite to remain in first position in the key. Antigua and Barbuda and Bermuda close the classification, both with one point each. Cuba will face these teams in the resumption of the qualifiers, for which we must wait until June 2025.
That year should serve to continue perfecting the team’s performance on the field, which was deficient in its debut against the Honduran team on June 6. Only one shot on goal was managed by Cuba, which ended in Maykel Reyes scoring after a good counterattack.
But the goal defended by Rayko Arozarena was bombarded by the locals, who finished up to 24 times, eight on target, and scored three. Castillo’s team made defensive errors as a result of lack of concentration.
Some simple passes were missed and ideas were lacking in attack. Although the team looked more solid than on previous occasions, supported by a 4-4-2, there was a lack of better understanding between the players and a little calm when handling the ball.
The full-backs Orlando Calvo and Karel Pérez along with Luis Javier Paradela were the highlights for Cuba in the match, which must work hard on the field and make calls that include its main players abroad.
Replacing the match against the Cayman Islands, the team remained in Honduras to play a friendly match against Meluca FC, from the country’s second division. The score was in favor of Cuba 2-1.
How are the other groups doing?
Costa Rica, one of the main teams in the region, comfortably leads group B. The Ticos have not allowed a score and have scored seven goals. Its most immediate pursuer is Trinidad and Tobago.
Curacao and Haiti have not left anything to their rivals, and occupy first place in key C. While Saint Lucia, Aruba and Barbados have not been able to score points.
A similar situation exists in groups D and E, where Nicaragua and Panama, and Guatemala and Jamaica, respectively, lead with six points each, who must win the contested tickets in both brackets.
In the last group, Suriname leads with full victories and El Salvador is two points behind. Puerto Rico managed to score a draw while Anguilla and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines still have no points.
