T&T Soca Warriors captain Joevin Jones and his teammates will be going all out in their must-win match against Nicaragua tonight when both teams meet in their final CONCACAF Nations League B Group C match at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet in Tobago from 8 pm.
For the Angus Eve-coached Soca Warriors, the math is simple in what is expected to be a full capacity crowd of 8,000 spectators, as a win against group-leading Central Americans will see them top the four-team round-robin group and gain promotion to League A as well as qualify for the Concacaf Gold Cup later this year from which the top six CONCACAF nations will qualify for the 2024 Copa America.
The winners and second-place finishers from the Concacaf Nations League A Groups and the winners of each group in League B will directly qualify for the Gold Cup, while the second-place teams from the League B groups and the third-place teams from League A will join the winners of each League C group in the Gold Cup preliminary playoffs.
This means, should Nicaragua win or avoid defeat then they will qualify automatically for the Gold Cup and gain promotion to League A while T&T will be left to contest a preliminary round of Gold Cup qualifiers.
On Friday last, the Soca Warriors used a first-half blitz to down Bahamas 3-0 at Thomas A Robinson Stadium in Nassau, with a goal each from Kareem Moses, captain Jones, and Ryan Telfer for their fourth win in five matches to move to 12 points, one adrift of the Nicaraguans who whipped St Vincent and The Grenadines 4-1 in Managua also on Friday night ahead of their showdown with the Soca Warriors.
When both teams met back on match day one on June 3, Nicaragua edged a 2-1 victory in Managua with Byron Bonilla scoring a 78th-minute winner in a contest that was delayed midway in the second half due to a power outage with the Soca Warriors in the ascendency/
Earlier on Josue Quijano put Nicaragua ahead in the 45th minute, with a left-footed shot that took a slight deflection off Ecuador-based T&T defender Aubrey David which his team held onto, until a minute into the second half when USA-based Shannon Gomez deflected off of Nicaragua defender Christian Reyes and into the back of the net.
For Eve, defender Keston Julien, 24, of Moldova champions Sheriff FC will be available to join the squad after missing the Bahamas encounter due to visa issues while the Nicaragua squad is expected to be unchanged from their win at home on Friday last.
In the other match in the group, St Vincent and The Grenadines will host the Bahamas at the Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown with the host only needing a draw to avoid demotion to League C.
MIAMI, Florida, USA—Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras all qualified for the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup following the results of their matches on Saturday in the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League.
Haiti defeated Montserrat 4-0 to claim the top spot in Group B of League B to clinch their Gold Cup place.
Canada topped Curacao 2-0 to secure at least a second-place finish in Group C of League A, thus qualifying them for the Gold Cup. Even though they were not in action, the Canada win also assured Honduras a berth in this summer’s Gold Cup as well.
Costa Rica will also play in the Gold Cup again after rallying late from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 2-1 win in Martinique in Group B of League A.
Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras join the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Panama and Jamaica as teams that have punched their ticket to this summer’s tournament.
The winners and second-place finishers from the League A groups and the winners of each group in League B group will directly for the Gold Cup.
The second-place teams from the League B groups and the third-place teams from League A will join the winners of each League C group in the Gold Cup Prelims.