Photo: Belize Jaguars celebrate 4-3 aggregate victory and a spot in Gold Cup prelims
by William Ysaguirre
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Nov. 20, 2024
The Belize Jaguars senior men’s football team have won through to the Gold Cup USA 2025 preliminaries, by their 4-3 aggregate win over French Guiana in the CONCACAF Nations League play-in round, following their 2-2 draw with French Guiana at the Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname on Tuesday night, November 19.
Belize now ranks 14th among the 14 teams in the Gold Cup preliminaries, the only nation to make it out of League C up to League B and into the preliminaries, to challenge top-ranked team Costa Rica in a home-and-away series in March 2025. (League C teams that failed to advance were Barbados – lost 9-4 aggregate to Guyana; St. Kitts & Nevis – lost aggregate 5-2 to Cuba; and Cayman Islands – lost aggregate 7-0 to Guadeloupe.)
Krisean Lopez’s (40’) shot chipped off the left upright into the net, finishing a pass from Horace Avila on the right wing.
French Guiana’s Yvelin Nozile (48’) equalized, 1-1, finishing a pass from Jules Haabo.
Belize’s Carlos Bernardez (52’) escaped the defense on a solo fast break, outfoxing the Guiana goalkeeper to regain the lead, 2-1.
The Jaguars defense conceded a penalty (73’), but Man of the Match, goalkeeper Charles Tillett came up with a magnificent stop to preserve the lead. The hosts had 61 percent possession and made 28 shots at goal, of which 9 were on target, but only 2 got past Tillett. The Jaguars gave up another penalty (89’) and Jules Haabo equalized, 2-2 final.
The Jaguars enjoyed a 2-1 victory over French Guiana in the first leg at the Football Federation of Belize Stadium in Belmopan last Thursday night, November 14. They got off to a rocky start, with Bernardez missing several scoring opportunities, as Jordi Polanco’s shot hit the woodwork in a scoreless first half. Carlos Bernardez’s (67’) penalty and Darrel Myvett’s header (75’) to finish a pass from Polanco gave the Jaguars a 2-0 lead in regulation, until Thomas Thorvic’s header (90+3’) found the back of the net: 2-1 final.
The seven matchups (by rank) in the Gold Cup preliminaries are:
(#1) Costa Rica vs Belize (#14)
(#2) Jamaica vs Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (#13)
(#3) Honduras vs Bermuda (#12)
(#4) Guatemala vs Guyana (#11)
(#5) Trinidad and Tobago vs Cuba (#10)
(#6) Martinique vs Suriname (#9)
(#7) Nicaragua vs Guadeloupe (#8)
After home-and-away play in March, the winner in each matchup will qualify for the Group Stage of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.