Check out my mini round up the latest U-20 World Cup qualifiers as five Caribbean nations have advanced to next year’s CONCACAF U-20 Championship…
Note: [Q] means qualified and () indicates the number of points that country has accumulated.
Group A
**All Group A matches were played at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad**
- Antigua & Barbuda [Q] (7) 2. Bermuda [Q] (4) 3. St Kitts & Nevis [Q] (4) 4. Curacao (1)
21/10/16: Bermuda 3-1 St Kitts & Nevis, Curacao 0-1 Antigua & Barbuda.
23/10/16: St Kitts & Nevis 2-2 Antigua & Barbuda, Curacao 1-1 Bermuda.
25/10/16: Antigua & Barbuda 3-2 Bermuda, Curacao 1-3 St Kitts & Nevis.
Group B
**All Group B matches were played at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad**
- Haiti [Q] (7) 2. Trinidad & Tobago [Q] (5) 3. Cuba (2) 4. St Lucia (1)
22/10/16: Haiti 5-1 St Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago 0-0 Cuba.
24/10/16: St Lucia 0-4 Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti 2-1 Cuba.
26/10/16: Cuba 1-1 St Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago 0-0 Haiti.
Finals
Semi-finals (28/10/16): Antigua & Barbuda 0-0 Trinidad & Tobago AET (5-4 PK), Haiti 3-0 Bermuda.
Third-place playoff (30/10/16): Trinidad & Tobago 1-2 Bermuda.
Final (30/10/16): Antigua & Barbuda 0-4 Haiti.
Video credit: Smooth Keke
You can hear me go into more detail on the latest Caribbean Football Weekly episode here as Reggae Boyz Commentary’s Simon Preston and I recap the final round action.
Caribbean representatives at next year’s CONCACAF U-20 Championship to be staged in Costa Rica: Haiti, Antigua & Barbuda, Bermuda, Trinidad & Tobago, St Kitts & Nevis.
By Nathan Carr
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Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave any constructive feedback in the comments box below. You can get in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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What do you think has allowed Haiti to dominate the youth levels recently?? Is it mostly raw talent? Is it raw talent + a sizeable population? Is it more investment at a youth level?
Hello there! I think there are several contributing factors behind their success at U-17 and U-20 level. Raw talent is a big reason – a lot of young Haitian kids grow up playing with the ball at their feet, in streets and villages. Often teenage players are very gifted with the ball but are not as polished as their counterparts in the USA or Mexico for example. The 10 million or so population helps increase the player pool but size is not everything as nations such as Iceland and even Guam in AFC have demonstrated. I read that France have pumped money into Haitian youth football following the natural disasters/tragedies that have hit the country in the past. There is the Real Hope Football Academy in Haiti – two U-20 stars called Ronaldo Damus and Roberto Louima attend this. Steeve Saint-Duc, Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner at the U-17 qualifiers, goes to a top-tier academy on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince (http://academiaperolasnegras.org/en/portfolio/saint-duc-steeve-selso/). So investment has definitely helped as well.
I agree with your analysis. They definitely have lots of raw talent.
What also is an interesting observation is the sports culture of the different nations based somewhat on their colonial/cultural past. I find that the Anglophone nations do enjoy football BUT they also have strong passion for track & field as well as cricket. So the interest is sort of spread out a little. The Spanish speaking islands tend to prefer baseball despite the growing interest in football. However the Franco-phone nations tend to be all about football. There’s not really a strong interest in other sports. So when you look at Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana it seems that football is the most passionate sports by a country mile. It’s not even close with other sports. Every young kid is crazy for football.