Golden Jaguars lose 2-0 to T&T in second International Friendly

Guyana’s Golden Jaguars suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago in the second International Friendly on Wednesday evening at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

After a goalless first-half, the host nation scored twice in the second, first via midfielder Michel Poon-Angeron in the 53^rd minute, then 37-year-old forward Kevon Woodley in the 77^th minute.

Guyana did have a few close opportunities to score through Kelsey Benjamin and Darron Niles in the 25^th and 27^th minutes respectively and Simeon Moore in the 89^th.

Trinidad and Tobago also won the first game 2-1 at the same venue on Monday last. Ezekiel Kezar (28^th) and Woodley (39^th) were on target for the twin-islanders, while Benjamin (47^th) pulled one back for Guyana.

Both teams are preparing to compete in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in early June.

Guyana is set to take on Panama (June 6) and Belize (June 11), while Trinidad and Tobago will face Grenada (June 5) and The Bahamas (June 8).

Golden Jaguars squad for Trinidad and Tobago

Goalkeepers: Jamaine Cumberbatch, Amari Thompson and Simon Emmanuel

Defenders: Jeremy Garrett, Curtez Kellman, Quincy Adams, Colin Nelson, Kevin Layne and Cedric Osborn

Midfielders: Leo Lovell, Bevan Baker, Terique Mohammed, Amos Ramsay, Nicolai Andrews, Ryan Hackett, Simeon Moore, Daniel Wilson, Chris Macey, Darron Niles and Solomon Austin

Forwards: Kelsey Benjamin, Marcus Tudor, Anthony Smith and Stephen McDonald

The Golden Jaguars face a daunting path in the Concacaf Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Second Round from June 2024 to 2025 in Group D alongside Panama, Nicaragua, Montserrat and Belize.

Guyana will play four matches, evenly split between home and away fixtures in the second round, where the top two teams from each group advance.

In the third round, the 12 teams advancing from the second round will be drawn into three groups of four.

They will play double round-robin home-and-away matches, with the three group winners qualifying for the World Cup.

The two best-ranked runners-up will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.