Golden Jaguars resume training with an eye on Gold Cup qualification 

Golden Jaguars are back in training at the Guyana Football Federation National Training Facility, Providence, for the restart of the Concacaf Nations League in March.

The Golden Jaguars, who are seeking to direct qualification to this year’s Gold Cup, are currently second in Group B of League B and need to win their remaining matches against Bermuda and Montserrat but also hope that powerhouses Haiti, who leads the group, do not win their fixtures.

Haiti has 10 points from their three wins and a draw from their four matches while Guyana is on six points – two wins, and two losses against Haiti.

Haiti will play away to Montserrat and then host Bermuda in their final two matches while Guyana will visit Bermuda and then host Montserrat, two oppositions, they defeated in the earlier round of matches.

What can be secured with the second-place spot is a spot in the Gold Cup Preliminary Round, as the country is hopeful to return after making its first appearance in the 2019 edition.

Guatemala defeated Guyana 4-0 in the Gold Cup preliminaries in 2021.

Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz is overlooking the training sessions in which the majority of the players recently participated in the inaugural One Guyana President’s Cup.

At the launching of the tournament, President Irfaan Ali revealed the tournament is geared to create a pathway to Guyana’s qualification for the next World Cup in 2026.

The Head-of-State announced that 75 of the best players from the competition will be selected and filtered into an academy.

These players will be subjected to constant training and fine-tuning of their skills, while also being able to earn through part-time jobs.

The national pool of players will also be involved in community-related projects.

The next World Cup will be hosted by the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) region and will be the largest-ever, featuring 48 nations and 80 matches over a 34-day period.

By virtue of being the host countries, USA, Canada and Mexico will gain an automatic qualification, leaving the door ajar for three other nations from the Confederation.

This is the largest number of qualifying spots ever available to the Confederation.

Previously, CONCACAF had three and a half qualifying spots- the half being for a continental play-off.