T&T U-17s need big win against Mexico to advance

2026-02-12 - 00:21

T&T’s Under-17 footballers face a daunting task to overtake their Central American counterparts, Mexico, from 7 pm Thursday night if they are to have a chance of progressing out of Group A as the winner in the Concacaf Under-17 World Cup Qualifiers at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain. With only the top team moving on to an automatic qualification from the qualifiers, coach Randolph Boyce’s charges need more than just a victory, but rather a win by approximately a 10-0 margin to exceed the Mexicans on goal difference, as both would be on nine points. Regional rivals Barbados pose the only other challenge for the T&T team when they go up against Saint Martin in the opening game of the stadium’s doubleheader from 4pm. After victories over T&T 1-0 on the opening day and Sint Maarten 7-1, the Bajans, like T&T, will have to win big if they are to prevail as group winners. Following consecutive losses against Peru twice, 6-0 and 6-1, in international friendly matches, and then Barbados, the young T&T players seemed to have found the goal-scoring touch they were looking for against Sint Maarten with a confidence-boosting 8-0 thrashing on Monday. Still, Boyce has called for more effort, saying the margin of victory should have been much wider to assist their current situation. Boyce told the media at