Bermudavs.Honduras

A late equaliser enabled the Bermudans to earn a 1-1 draw with Antigua and Barbuda in their opening qualifier, while La H defeated Cuba 3-1.

Match preview

Bermuda's persistence paid off on matchday one of qualifying, as they found an equaliser in the 90th minute to claim a single point.

It was a well-deserved draw for the Gombey Warriors, who had 65% of the possession and eight efforts on target, claiming their first positive result away from home in 2024.

Despite having a relatively young squad, Michael Findlay has been able to get some strong performances out of this group, who had a chance to get promoted out of League B in the most recent CONCACAF Nations League tournament but were beaten 3-0 by French Guiana on their final matchday.

Heading into this contest, the Bermudans are on a four-match unbeaten run at home in all competitions, though they have not played a game at their national stadium since November 2023 (3-1 victory over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines).

Their only four points in the opening stage of the previous World Cup qualifying campaign were all at the Bermuda National Stadium, while they have not lost a World Cup qualification fixture in Devonshire Parish since June 2015 (1-0 versus Guatemala).

The Bermudans have scored first in six of their previous eight matches in all competitions, losing only once over that stretch when doing so (5-1 versus Guinea).

Conceding the opener to Cuba seemed to do the Hondurans some good on matchday one, as they came to life with three unanswered goals, ending a four-match winless run across all competitions.

That was the second successive time in all competitions that this side came from behind to claim a positive result after earning a 1-1 draw with El Salvador in March.

As a result, Reinaldo Rueda's men are on top of the Group A standings with three points and have a chance to win consecutive World Cup qualifying fixtures for the first time since 2016.

Meanwhile, they also ended a 17-match winless run in World Cup qualification encounters, claiming their first victory in this competition since September 2016 (2-1 over Canada).

You have to go even further back to find the last time the Central Americans won a World Cup qualifier away from home, when they defeated Cuba 3-0 in a September 2012 encounter played in Havana.

Los Catrachos have not drawn first blood in a match since winning the opening leg of their quarter-final tie with Mexico at the CONCACAF Nations League last November (2-0).

Bermuda World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:

D

Bermuda form (all competitions):

D

W

L

W

L

D

Honduras World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:

W

Honduras form (all competitions):

W

L

L

L

D

W

Team News

On Wednesday, Bermuda were without Lejaun Simmons and Justin Donawa due to injuries, while Reggie Lambe made himself unavailable for their first two qualifying fixtures.

We saw several newcomers in their starting 11 who did not begin their friendly versus Guinea, including J'Nai Butterfield-Steede, Ne-Jai Tucker, Keziah Martin, Remy Coddington and Djair Parfitt-Williams.

A 90th-minute strike courtesy of Sachiel Ming enabled them to claim a single point on matchday one, his first for the Gombey Warriors.

Anthony Lozano was the only Honduran player in the opening lineup against El Salvador in March that maintained his place in the starting 11 for their opening qualifying fixture, collecting his 50th cap in the victory.

Andy Najar can reach that milestone for Los Catrachos this weekend, Javier Arriaga made his first international appearance on Thursday, leaving Francisco Martinez as the only player selected for this international window without a senior cap.

Lozano scored the equaliser against Cuba just four minutes after La H fell behind, and the other strikes came from Edwin Rodriguez and Rubilio Castillo.

Bermuda possible starting lineup:

Eve; Butterfield-Steede, Leverock, Twite, Robinson; Tucker, Lee; Evans, Crichlow, Parfitt-Williams; Hall

Honduras possible starting lineup:

Menjivar; Najar, Melendez, Vega, J. Arriaga; Rodriguez, Flores, K. Arriaga, Palma; Rochez, Lozano

We say: Bermuda 0-3 Honduras

The Bermudans may be able to keep Honduras at bay for a while, but given the superior quality of the visitors, we believe the floodgates will open if Los Catrachos can score one.

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