– nine locals make final cut
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF), following a two-week training camp in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has selected its 24-member squad for the impending 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Panama on Thursday, with nine locally based players making the final roster.
This was disclosed in a release from the federation. According to the correspondence, the locally based players selected are: goalkeeper: Akel Clarke (Slingerz FC); defenders: Curtez Kellman (Slingerz FC), Colin Nelson (GDF), Quincy Adams (Slingerz FC), and Leo Lovell (Slingerz FC); midfielders: Daniel Wilson (Western Tigers), Ryan Hackett (GDF), and Darron Niles (Slingerz FC); and forward: Kelsey Benjamin (GDF).
The foreign-based members of the team are: goalkeepers: Quillan Roberts and Kai McKenzie Lyle; defenders: Jalen Jones, Terrence Vancooten, Quincy, Liam Gordon, Terique Mohammed, and Miquel Scarlett; midfielders: Nathan Ferguson, Elliot Bonds, Nathan Moriah Welch, Stephen Duke McKenna, and Kadel Daniel; forwards: Omari Glasgow, Deon Moore, and Osaze De Rosario.
Head coach Jamaal Shabazz said, “The matches in Brazil provided a good dress rehearsal for us. Our tactical patterns are ambitious but clearly understood by the players. We have a couple more days to complete our work.”
Meanwhile, GFF President Wayne Forde wished the team a good start in their campaign, adding, “They have the full backing of the Federation and the support of the Guyanese people. We are confident that the players will represent the country with pride.”
The Golden Jaguars have been drawn in group D in the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The Guyanese have been paired with Panama, Nicaragua, Montserrat, and Belize. They will open their campaign away to Panama on Thursday before playing their home match in Barbados against Belize on June 11th.
In their previous 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, Guyana ended with a record of one win and three losses to finish in fourth place on three points. Guyana defeated The Bahamas 4-0 but suffered defeats against Trinidad and Tobago [0-3], St. Kitts and Nevis [0-3], and Puerto Rico [0-2].
Meanwhile, group A comprises Honduras, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands, while group B contains Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and The Bahamas.
Group C encompasses Haiti, Curacao, St. Lucia, Barbados, and Aruba, while Group E comprises Jamaica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Dominica, and the winner of the British Virgin Islands/US Virgin Islands encounter. Finally, group F is made up of El Salvador, Suriname, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the winner of the Turks and Caicos Islands/Anguilla fixture.
The first round of the qualifiers will feature teams ranked from 29–32 [US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, and Turks and Caicos] and will be contested on a home and away series basis. The two winners from this section will advance to the second round.
Similarly, the second round of the qualifiers will feature two winners from the first round and teams ranked from 1–28 based on the November 2023 FIFA rankings. The teams will be drawn into six groups of five and will play two home and two away fixtures. The resulting group winner and runner-up will advance to the third section.
The third round, which runs from September to November, will feature 12 teams divided into three groups of four. Following home and away group fixtures, the eventual winners of each pool will qualify for the World Cup. The two best-ranked runners-up will advance to the inter-confederation playoff. Following the competition’s expansion, CONCACAF has been awarded eight berths, three of which will be allocated to the host nations of Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America.
Three direct slots and two inter-confederation playoffs will be available for the remaining participants.
