Sunday 06 June 2021, 00:17

Big wins set up tense finale, T&T suffer shock exit

  • Qatar 2022 qualifying continued in North, Central America and Caribbean zone

  • Four former World Cup participants won big

  • Trinidad and Tobago held by Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis won group

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ qualifying in the North, Central America and Caribbean (Concacaf) region continued on Saturday with some crucial big wins ahead of the Round 1 finale over the coming week.

Former World Cup finals participants Canada, El Salvador, Haiti and Panama all scored goal-laden victories, but there was disaster for Germany 2006 finalists Trinidad and Tobago.

FIFA.com wraps up all the action.

Concacaf results

  • Turks and Caicos Islands 0-10 Haiti

  • British Virgin Islands 0-8 Curaçao

  • Bahamas 0-0 Trinidad and Tobago

  • US Virgin Islands 0-7 El Salvador

  • Aruba 0-7 Canada

  • Anguilla 0-13 Panama

Regular Hexagonal participants Trinidad and Tobago suffered an unusually early exit after a shock scoreless draw against Bahamas in Nassau. Group F bottom side Bahamas, without a World Cup win for a decade, managed their first point of the campaign.

With two draws and a single win, T&T can no longer catch St. Kitts and Nevis who will progress to Round 2 regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's match between the pair.

There was no such pain for four other former World Cup nations, with Russia 2018 participants Panama leading the way. Los Canaleros collected a national record 13-0 win over an outclassed Anguilla. Nine second-half goals were racked up in Panama City, leaving the rampant victors needing only to avoid defeat against Dominican Republic on Tuesday to progress.

Haiti crashed ten unanswered goals past Turks and Caicos Islands with forward Duckens Nazon scoring four times before the hour mark, while Frantzdy Pierrot bagged a 17-minute second-half hat-trick. The scoreline pushes Haiti clear of Nicaragua on goal difference ahead of a winner-takes-all meeting between the pair on Tuesday.

Curaçao are in a similar position ahead of a crucial match-up against Guatemala. Curaçao routed British Virgin Islands 8-0 to move narrowly ahead of their group rivals on goals scored.

Canada remained ahead of Suriname on goal difference with a 7-0 win over Aruba built around a Lucas Cavallini brace. The pair will now match-up in what promises to be an epic finale to Group B.

A flurry of late goals saw El Salvador crush US Virgin Islands 7-0. El Salvador sit ahead of Antigua and Barbuda on goal difference with Montserrat still in the reckoning.