🏆 Nicaragua ghosted, Piojo GOATed? and more from March's matches in the Concacaf region
A look at Gold Cup qualification & other March matches in the Concacaf window
Mexico is the Concacaf Nations League champion, the Gold Cup field is set and it’s now club soccer’s time to take the stage before the international game returns this summer.
Before thinking about the Liga MX weekend, next week’s Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals and all the other action, let’s look back at a few big stories that emerged from the March window.
We’re going to start out a bit negative:
🇳🇮 Fans out on Fantasma as Nicaragua falls short of Gold Cup again
The headlines in Nicaragua before the men’s national team faced Guadeloupe in a pair of Gold Cup qualification matches were about investment. The Nicaraguan federation was putting money into the national team with the goal of reaching the Gold Cup, having been booted from the 2023 competition for fielding a number of ineligible players over the course of many matches.
The return on that investment was not what Nicaragua hoped. Guadeloupe won each match 1-0, qualifying for the Gold Cup and leaving the 2026 World Cup as the only tournament Nicaragua can reach in this cycle.
Unsurprisingly, fans were not pleased with manager Marco Antonio “Fantasma” Figueroa, with many chanting for his firing after the defeat.
Figueroa started his post-match news conference with an apology to the fans in the stadium. But he became increasingly defiant as local reporters asked questions that bothered him, saying that he’d rather Nicaragua be in League A and not make the Gold Cup than play against weaker competition but win a League B group and get into the continental championship.
He also brushed off a question about the Nicaraguan federation’s investment, putting the team on a charter each way to Guadeloupe, and also said he wasn’t bothered by fans turning on him.
“They have a right to pay for a ticket and say what they want,” Figueroa said. “Sometimes you can (achieve a goal), sometimes you can’t. Today we couldn’t.
“Those who today want me to step aside, look, I’ve been managing 25 years and been champion in several clubs. I didn’t come here with the hope - well, yes, I did come with the hope to make the Gold Cup - but the first goal is to take this country to the World Cup. If it gets there, damn, congrats. If not, I’m going to continue and I’ll leave from the same place, the same airport, not hiding from anyone and leave here with great friendships. Nobody will take that from me.”
Those same economic realities that made a pair of charter flights a big story in Managua may be the same ones that keep the Chilean boss leading the team. The hope is World Cup qualification, and after wins against Montserrat and Belize, the Azul y Blanco sits in a great spot to move into the next round.
Joining Belize as the only two Central American countries not to make the Gold Cup, however, will have fans continuing to ask if Figueroa is the right person to lead the team forward - and if the federation is making the right investments in the right places.
For Guadeloupe, it’s a third consecutive Gold Cup, a big achievement that was reflected in the team’s jubilant celebrations after.
🇬🇹 Guatemala escapes Guyana with second-leg push
Was anybody ready for the Isaiah Jones show?
I certainly wasn’t. The newly signed Luton Town forward had represented Guyana on six occasions before the March window, registering an impressive double in a September 2024 game against Martinique but overall returning a good three goals in six games.
It didn’t hint at the hat trick he’d score in the first leg of the Gold Cup qualification series against Guatemala, a trio of goals that put the World Cup hopefuls on the back foot wondering if they’d even make the Gold Cup, much less earn a place on the biggest stage.
Yet, a late penalty converted by Jose Carlos Pinto meant that Guatemala went into the home leg - hosted at the Estadio Cementos Progreso since the national stadium is undergoing renovations - needing only a one-goal win to flip things around and make the continental championship. Remember, Guatemala’s performance two years ago at the Gold Cup was a huge reason for optimism about 2026, as the Chapines advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in more than a decade.
They did better than that, controlling the match, silencing Jones and scoring a goal in each half - the second of which came thanks to a successful press by Pedro Altán and a quick move forward that hinted at the attacking potential Guatemala actually has.
The jaunty marimba is back!
Mexican manager Luis Fernando Tena, who arrived speaking of pushing Guatemala to a first-ever World Cup, said that while his team is improving and the player pool is getting deeper, it’s important not to undercut the growth teams in the Caribbean are also experiencing.
“I think Guatemala has gotten a bit better, but there are some Caribbean islands that have gotten much, much better - Guadeloupe for example. We played a tough game against them two years ago at the Gold Cup and they eliminated Nicaragua out,” Tena said in his post-match news conference. “These tests against Caribbean teams are going to get tougher and tougher. We’ve gotten better bit by bit too, but they’ve gotten much better.”
While some teams are talking about turning the page for matches that, truthfully, don’t seem too demanding, Guatemala’s June window will determine everything. Tena called them the most important matches of the year, and he’s right (unless Guatemala advances and earns more important matches.
First, Tena’s team hosts the Dominican Republic before closing out against Jamaica. One of those three teams’ World Cup dreams will end June 10.
If Guatemala plays in the same way it did over this two-legged series, it will be their dream that dies.
🇨🇦 Davies ACL injury is a shame … what does finger-pointing solve?
It is a huge bummer to see Alphonso Davies’ injury suffered with Canada in the third-place game against the United States was confirmed Wednesday as an ACL tear that will require surgery and months of recuperation. It also is a bummer to see the aftermath become a blame game.
I get it. Everyone is doing their job.
As Davies’ agent, Nedal Huoseh’s job is to look out for the player’s interest - and notably to make sure the player makes as much money as he can. While Davies signed a new deal that keeps him with Bayern Munich, any serious injury hampers that player’s future earning potential.
Davies’ job is to play soccer. He has shown that he likes to do that job, not only for Bayern Munich but also for Canada. He was a constant for Canada during their World Cup qualification run in 2022 and memorably stayed up late and live streamed himself watching matches in which he was not able to take part because of injuries.
Jesse Marsch’s job is to win soccer matches, something that he is most likely to do when he has his best players on the field able to give their best.
And the Canada Soccer trainers’ job is to put players in the best possible physical condition to represent Canada and to get back to their clubs in good condition as well.
But injuries happen in sports.
It is no fun, and I certainly hope Davies recovers well and is again starring for both Bayern Munich and Canada in time for big UEFA Champions League and World Cup matches in 2026 - just like I hope, say, Kyrie Irving recovers and leads my Dallas Mavericks to an unlikely NBA title, like I hope Chelsea and USWNT forward Mia Fishel finds her form again as she returns from an ACL tear.
You root against injuries happening and root for those who have suffered them to come back stronger. Is it anyone’s fault? Or was everyone playing their part in the best way they knew how, only for something disappointing to happen? My suspicion is that it’s the latter and that comments made in the frustration of the moment won’t be helpful in the long-term.
🇹🇹 Yorke winning old friends over in Trinidad and Tobago with his new role
Dwight Yorke’s mere presence leading the Trinidad and Tobago national team inspires, but the former Soca Warriors player knows he has to do more than simply show up to have success with the national team.
While he invokes memories of the trip to the World Cup in 2006, Yorke wants to get fans in the double-island nation believing in their team again. A tidy showing against Cuba, winning the first leg 2-1 and rolling the Leones 4-0 in the second leg - aided by a third-minute red card - means a fourth consecutive place in the Gold Cup group stage.
But it also was a blowout win in front of home fans, something that might encourage folks to turn up for a World Cup qualification match in June and future important dates the team hopes to have.
“I haven’t really been involved in Trinidad and Tobago football for a long time. I haven’t actually been to a game of this nature. Football is the number one sport in the world, and we want Trinidad and Tobago football to be the number one sports (team) in this country. That is part of my job, to try and get the crowd back into the stadium. The way we played today, I think the nation should be proud of the players,” Yorke said Tuesday. “Hopefully, that will entice them to come back out and support the players.
“It’s a new generation. They need support. They need the crowd. They need the people. We’re a small nation. We need everyone to be backing this team to get there. We can’t do it on our own.”
Yorke also spoke about the potential increase in financial support from both the government and from the private sector, something that would be “a welcome boost to the camp because there’s a high expectation.”
They also can’t hang with some of the best teams without Levi Garcia. The T&T star again was called into a roster and again missed out with a knock. The Spartak Moscow winger needs to be fit and ready for the summer if Yorke is going to win the country back over with the best possible results.
🇨🇷 - Piojo power? Ticos still have plenty to prove despite thumping Belize
I saw a headline that read “Miguel Herrera sends a message” with Costa Rica’s 6-1 victory over Belize on Tuesday that closed out a 13-1 aggregate series victory and easily secured the Ticos’ place in the Gold Cup.
The message Herrera needs to be sending is: “Hey, it was just Belize. It gets harder from here.” Because…it will. Costa Rica will face stiffer competition in World Cup qualification, closing out this round heading to the Bahamas and hosting Trinidad and Tobago in June. It will definitely face stiffer competition at the Gold Cup.
The good news for Costa Rica is that it looks like that’s exactly what the Mexican coach is looking to communicate.
“We’re going to have more time to work before those matches, and we’re aiming high. You have to think about the title,” Herrera said Tuesday night. “The best teams are going to be there. This is a strong national team, and you have to fight to get to the final and give everything.”
While Costa Rica’s consistency qualifying for World Cups has made them a top four men’s national team in the region for some time, it’s worth mentioning that getting to the final would be a significant improvement on anything the Ticos have done at the continental championship recently.
Their only appearance in the final came in 2002, and they have missed the semifinals in the last three tournaments.
Herrera should try to win trophies with Costa Rica. There is promise in the team. But it’s also good that he is mentioning how much work there is to do despite securing a 13-1 aggregate victory in March’s matches.
🤝 Where we’re going we don’t need stakes
With most top Concacaf teams playing official matches and most countries around the world in World Cup qualification, teams already qualified for
I did a video on Haiti traveling to, and beating, Azerbaijan.
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There also was El Salvador turning to club teams in order to get some rhythm with new manager Hernan “Bolillo” Gomez, traveling to Houston to face the Dynamo and hosting Pachuca. The Dynamo won 2-1 and the Pachuca game was a 1-1 draw, but Gomez understandably is far more focused on the system than the results after arriving earlier this month.
Curacao had a disappointing window, falling to Kazakhstan and seeing a friendly with Antalyaspor canceled just a day before it was set to take place when the Turkish club said it didn’t have enough players fit to compete.
And wouldn’t you know it, Mariano scored in a friendly for the Dominican Republic, just 12 years after his first goal with the DR in a friendly against Haiti. The former Real Madrid forward preserved his eligibility for Spain but at age 31 and without a club since last spring, Mariano is back with the DR and back scoring, netting the opener in the second of a two-match series with Puerto Rico. Junior Firpo had the other goal from the spot in a 2-0 win after the teams drew 2-2 in Bayamon a few days before.
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I’ll be back in your inboxes later this week!
In Volar,
-JA
Nice "Back to the Future" reference.