Mexico edge T&T to final U-17 W/Cup spot; hosts finish below Barbados

Trinidad and Tobago’s dreams of qualifying for the Qatar 2026 Fifa Under-17 World Cup ended, predictably, against Mexico tonight, as the hosts lost 2-1 to “El Tricolor” in the final Group A fixture at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Only a 6-0 Trinidad and Tobago triumph would have denied Mexico a berth at the Qatar tournament, and that never looked on the cards.

In a 90-minute regulation contest, Trinidad and Tobago’s first recorded shot on target came in the 95^th minute—and it was a gifted penalty.

Forward Adasa Richardson put away the controversial spot kick with aplomb for a consolation item. That was as good as it got for the boys in red, white and black on the ball.

Coach Randolph Boyce’s troops worked hard and dug deep tonight, in front of just over 1,000 supporters. Mexico had to wait until the 82^nd minute for their first goal.

Boyce blamed fatigue for his team’s eventual capitulation.

“This game felt good in terms of the guys being disciplined and executing the game plan to a large part of the game,” said Boyce, after the contest. “Unfortunately, as we saw, a little fatigue stepped in towards the end, and we started to get a little uncomfortable with managing the game at that point in time.

“All in all, we’re thankful and grateful for them in terms of their development, and they have a bright future ahead of them.”

In truth, it was an uninspiring showing—across four matches—for the young Soca Warriors, who lost their opener to Barbados and needed a late penalty to edge Saint Martin.

There was some measure of relief that they were not disgraced against Mexico. But that alone cannot salvage Boyce’s forgettable debut tournament at international level.

Jamaica topped a group that included Canada, while Haiti and Cuba beat Guatemala and El Salvador respectively to join the eight Concacaf teams who will appear at the 2026 U-17 World Cup.

Trinidad and Tobago, with home advantage, could not even defeat Barbados—with all due respect to our neighbours, who played with spunk, personality and bravery, throughout their campaign.

Barbados, incidentally, whipped Saint Martin 6-0 this afternoon to join Mexico on nine points. Their goal difference of +10 was seven shy of the North American team’s, as the closing group encounter kicked off.

Barbados needed a win by 10 clear goals over Saint Martin as well as a 4-0 Trinidad and Tobago victory over Mexico, to allow the former nation to pinch a miraculous World Cup spot.

At this stage, it seems safe to say that Mexico were not especially bothered by any of their Caribbean opponents’ implausible calculations.

Coach Jurgen Castañeda made six changes to his starting team to face Trinidad and Tobago, and kept their leading scorer Adan Sanchez on the substitutes bench.

Mexico changed from a three-man defence to a back four as well—at least while defending.

Whatever the North American nation hoped to get from the contest, they were not particularly bothered about hitting the accelerator in the early stages.

At the other end, Boyce seemed to be employing his usual 4-3-3 shape on paper. In reality, attacker Kanye Glasgow played so deep that he was a makeshift full back at times, with Trinidad and Tobago sitting deep in something resembling a 5-3-2.

By the interval, there was no change to the score summary, although that owed much to an extraordinary miss by Mexico attacker Alberto Cisneros, who somehow hit overbar from inside the six-yard box—after Warriors goalkeeper Levi Williams parried a fierce shot from Carlos Cavillo into the former player’s path.

At halftime, Mexico had 74% ball possession, with five shots on target to none from the hosts.

Richardson and fellow attacker J’meke Watkins troubled the Mexican defence at times, and Trinidad and Tobago did win two corners. But Boyce’s boys seemed far more interested in containing the group leaders than upsetting them.

Perhaps, the Warriors just could not get the ball off their visitors with enough regularity to show whatever tactical plans their coach had to actually get a result.

But the fact that Trinidad and Tobago’s most penetrative attacker, Jeremai Nanton, did not enter the field until the 75^th minute and playmaker Finn De Freitas was not summoned until Mexico were ahead, suggests that Boyce also opted for a pragmatic approach.

So, instead of a cracking finale, fans got one team happy to keep the ball—and the other content to allow them, as Trinidad and Tobago dropped off into a low block, rather than employing an aggressive high press to force Mexican mistakes.

At the interval, Castañeda introduced Sanchez and first choice flanker Gerson Gutierrez. Seven minutes later, he introduced another attacker, Jesus Orduño. And the trio eventually swung the game Mexico’s way.

In the 82^nd minute, Sanchez deftly flicked a pass from midfielder Jonathan De La Fuente into Orduño’s path. And Orduño coolly steered his shot past Williams for the opening goal.

Four minutes later, Gutierrez crossed for Sanchez to flick a header past Williams and into the far corner for their second.

Mexico were surely going to maintain their 100% record in the group.

Five minutes into stoppage time, though, Richardson pounced on a loose ball by a Mexican defender and found himself one-on-one with opposing captain Andre Godinez.

Richardson twisted and turned his way into the opposing penalty area, only to be dispossessed by a sliding challenge from Godinez.

Cayman Islands referee Michael Akangou, who was not close to the action, pointed to the penalty spot. Replays showed that Godinez’s challenge was clean, but there was no VAR. And Richardson made no mistake from the spot.

The Naparima College student had a tireless job tonight, as he and schoolmate Donovan Drayton or, occasionally, Signal Hill Secondary’s Watkins tried to pressure four Mexican defenders.

It was a largely futile task.

By the final whistle, Mexico tallied 543 completed passes to 170 from Trinidad and Tobago, with 11 shots to target to one.

Boyce hinted that local football fans need to be more realistic.

“When it comes to our country, I think our country doesn’t do too much research,” Boyce said. “We love football, but sometimes our population talks openly. When you look at Mexico, they have a population of 131-132 million people. That would tell you the mass.

“And when it comes to the development of football, they are way ahead in terms of facilities, sponsorship, and those sorts of things.”

The young Warriors worked hard, and one can argue they made their own luck tonight.

But this was not a campaign that will live long in the memory of the supporters who turned out—not for the right reasons anyway.

(Teams)

Trinidad and Tobago (4-3-3): 21.Levi Williams (GK); 6.Jeremiah Daniel (captain), 13.Adriel Faure, 4.Antonio Hills, 5.Jaylon Roberts (3.Sebastian James 58); 8.Donovan Drayton Jr (10.Finn De Freitas 84), 19.Antuan Louison (12.Daniel Lewis 75), 20.Akel Vesprey; 14.Kanye Glasgow (17.Jeremai Nanton 75), 11.Adasa Richardson, 9.J’meke Watkins (7.Jasai Theophilus 84).

Unused substitutes: 1.Mikhail Clement (GK), 18.Necose Moore (GK), 2.Reagan Rowe, 15.Christian Pitt, 16.Kenai Richardson.

Coach: Randolph Boyce.

Mexico (3-2-2-3): 1.Johan Cuenca (GK); 15.Eliud Sanchez (9.Adan Sanchez 46), 4.Andre Godinez (captain), 3.Gael Solorio; 6.Jonathan De La Fuente, 18.Angel Reyes; 16.Luis Trujillo (17.Gerson Gutierrez 46), 10.Alberto Cisneros; 19.Edy Luego (7.Noe Mota 53), 14.Carlos Calvillo (13.Jesus Orduño 61), 2.Alan Hernandez.

Unused substitutes: 12.Marcelo Avalos (GK), 21.Jose Corona (GK), 5.Adonai Valdez, 8.Ricardo Gonzalez, 11.Edgar Vargas, 20.Dyan Martinez.

Coach: Jurgen Castañeda.

Referee: Michael Akangou (Cayman Islands).

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Lasana Liburd

Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.