2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
The Golden Jaguars got their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign off to a poor start, losing controversially to powerhouse Panama 0-2 last evening at the Romel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City.
The controversial moment occurred in the 62nd minute, as Cristian Martinez broke the deadlock. Martinez, upon receiving a right-sided cross inside the centre of the penalty area, was marginally offside before striking the ball into the roof of the goal.
The aforesaid conversion clearly affected the protesting Guyanese, who conceded legally three minutes later, as Jose Rodriguez rifled his effort down the centre of the net after receiving a pass from the left side of the penalty area.
It was a spirited performance from the Guyanese, whose starting XI, which seemed devoid of any natural centre-forward, comprised Quillan Roberts, Liam Gordon, Jalen Jones, Curtez Kellman, Terrence Vancooten, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, Stephen Duke-McKenna, Nathan Ferguson, Omari Glasgow, Leo Lovell, and Elliot Bonds.
In reality, Guyana’s battling performance was shouldered heavily by the heroics of custodian Roberts and the poor finishing by the Panamanian forwards, who were guilty of spurning several cleat-cut opportunities in what was the second meeting of the nations.
In the space of three minutes, Roberts thwarted two opportunities for the hosts, with the most glaring miss occurring in the 10th minute as Eric Davis fired wide of the left corner following a two-on-one situation with the advancing goalkeeper.
Guyana’s best chance of the first period fell to Lovell, who was denied by the onrushing goalkeeper after racing onto a clever through pass from Duke-McKenna.
On the other end, Roberts denied Edgar Barcenas from inside the left of the penalty area during another one-on-one situation in the 27th minute. Moriah-Welsh then forced a smart save from the Panamanian goalkeeper in the 41st minute, after his shot took a deflection off the defender and was parried to safety by the custodian. The woodwork then came to the rescue of Guyana in the 43rd minute, as Adalberto Carrasquilla uncorked a right-footed shot from 28 yards out in the centre of the field, which struck the crossbar. The aforesaid was the final noteworthy moment of the period.
Upon the resumption, José Fajardo was then thwarted by Roberts in the 55th minute from inside the right of the penalty area after racing onto a through pass. Consecutive one-on-one situations in the 60th and 61st minutes were denied by Roberts, with Fajardo the unlucky forward on both occasions.
Guyana will now contest their home match in Barbados against Belize on the 11th. They will also face off against Nicaragua and Montserrat in 2025 to conclude the group stage segment.
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 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.
