Related items

• Soca Warriors whip Cuba 3-1 to preserve League A status in Concacaf Nations League

  Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors gifted interim Head coach Derek King his first win in charge as they defeated Cuba 3-1 in a crucial Concacaf Nations League encounter at Dwight Yorke Stadium in Scarborough on Monday night.

  The Soca Warriors, who entered their final Group B contest in danger of being relegated, literally saved their best for last with a dominant performance that saw them preserve their League A status. They

  Trinidad and Tobago’s fourth place finish on five points, also secured them a spot in the preliminaries of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. Jamaica (eight points) and Honduras (seven points) took the quarterfinal spots as well as automatic berths into the Gold Cup, while Nicaragua placed third on seven points by virtue of an inferior goal difference.

  Cuba (three points) and French Guiana (one point) have been relegated to League B for the next edition of the tournament.

  Knowing what is at stake, Trinidad and Tobago, who let a two-goal lead slip away to Cuba on last, wasted little time to declare their intentions. They broke the deadlock in the 13th minute thanks to Dantaye Gilbert, who fired home from close range.

  Joevin Jones repaid King’s confidence in him on return to the programme, as he doubled the Soca Warriors lead with a tidy right-footed finish in the 38th minute. Interestingly, that goal took his tally to five to extend his lead as the Twin Island Republic’s all-time top scorer in the Nations League.

  Andre Rampersad and Nathaniel James had grand opportunities to push Trinidad and Tobago further ahead, but both were denied by Cuba’s custodian Raiko Arozarena two minutes apart in the 41st and 43rd minutes, respectively.

  Cuba threatened to make things interesting after the interval as Yasnier Matos pulled one back in the 62nd minute.

  However, Real Gil ensured nothing of the sort transpired when he restored the Soca Warriors’ two-goal cushion with a decent solo effort in the 65th.

  Cuba’s problems and, by extension, their chances of avoiding relegation were compounded when Karel Perez Mendoza was shown a red card in the 70th. From there, Trinidad and Tobago did what was required to see off the remaining minutes.

• Deschamps delighted with 'radiant' Kolo Muani

  Didier Deschamps hailed a "radiant" Randal Kolo Muani after the forward's double helped France see off Belgium 2-1.

  France made it three wins in a row in the Nations League on Monday, with Kolo Muani's goals doing the damage at Stade Roi Baudouin.

  Kolo Muani converted a first-half penalty before heading home what proved to be the winner in the 62nd minute, after Lois Openda had restored parity.

  Having also netted in the reverse fixture against Belgium last month, the Paris Saint-Germain forward is France's leading scorer in their Nations League campaign.

  And with Kylian Mbappe absent, head coach Deschamps, who was handed an early birthday present by France's win, has been impressed by Kolo Muani's attitude and application.

  Speaking to TF1, Deschamps said: "He's interesting, he's radiant.

  "He is confident and has a very specific profile where in his runs with the ball has a presence. He is a good header [of the ball] and with us he is very often successful."

  France have now won their last five matches against Belgium. Only against the Faroe Islands have Les Bleus had a longer winning streak (six games).

  They had to do it the hard way, though, with stand-in captain Aurelien Tchouameni seeing red in the 76th minute.

  Tchouameni became the first France player to be sent off since Jules Kounde in September 2021 (v Bosnia-Herzegovina), and the first as captain (from when the match kicked off) since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final.

  Belgium finished with 20 shots to France's 14 and more expected goals (2.64xG to 1.49xG), yet the visitors got the job done to move onto nine points from their four matches.

  "We were shaken for the first 20 to 25 minutes," explained Deschamps, who turned 56 on Tuesday.

  "Belgium put in a lot of intensity, while we made a lot of technical errors.

  "When we were able to find solutions going forward, it was better for us.

  "We had to shake the players up. It was mostly the mistakes, we had to calm down.

  "We had to go forward and press well. Of course, they had chances, but so did we in the second half. We're happy to win this match, especially with 10 men."

• Reggae Boyz seal Nations League quarterfinal berth with goalless stalemate against Honduras

  Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz closed out their Group B Concacaf Nations League campaign with a goalless stalemate against Honduras at the National Stadium on Monday night.

  While their performance wasn’t the most impressive in terms of flair or attacking threat, the Jamaicans did enough to finish atop the League A group on eight points to secure a quarterfinals berth.

  Honduras, who placed second on seven points, also advanced to the next stage of the competition. Nicaragua (seven points), Trinidad and Tobago (five points), Cuba (three points), and French Guiana (one point) complete the group.

  Jamaica and Honduras now join Concacaf’s top-ranked teams, United States, Panama, Mexico, and Canada, in the knockout round, with the top two finishers in Group A—to be decided on Tuesday—set to meet them there.

  The Jamaicans entered the game aiming to build on their 2-0 win over Nicaragua just days earlier, but found themselves stifled in the final third, particularly in the first half.

  In fact, it was a slow start by both teams, as they took some time to settle into their respective game plans to prove an attacking threat in open play. The Reggae Boyz moreso displayed patience in an attempt to efficiently execute the possession-based style play desired by Head coach Steve McClaren.

  However, while they tried to work out how to break down Honduras' low block tactics in midfield, the visitors launched a few good counterattacks from which they should have piled misery on the Boyz, but for a lack of quality in the final third.

  Honduras had eight shots at goal in the first half, compared to Jamaica’s solitary effort, which came in the 33rd when an unmarked Ethan Pinnock fired wide from Demarai Gray's corner kick.

  Prior to that, Honduras' first warning shot came in the seventh minute from Edwin Rodriguez, whose right-footer from a distance was easily palmed down by Andre Blake.

  Three minutes later, a short pass by Mason Holgate was picked up by Honduras and almost proved costly. Luckily for the Boyz, Joel Latibeaudiere recovered well to avert the danger.

  Though they bossed possession, the Reggae Boyz struggled to convert their dominance into clear-cut scoring opportunities, leaving fans at the National Stadium craving more attacking dynamism.

  This, as Honduras continued to show more purpose in the attacking third and kept Blake busy, as Jorge Alvarez's 21st-minute shot from the top of the 18-yard box went straight at the Philadelphia Union goaltender.

  In the 32nd, Holgate again gave up possession to Antony Lozano, who went on the break, but the Honduran, sporting the number nine jersey and the captain's armband, muffed his effort and gave the Jamaicans a reprieve.

  Lozano went on another break in the 38th, but again lacked composure where it mattered most as he slammed a rushed right-footer into the sidenetting.

  The Jamaicans were more spirited on the resumption, especially with the introduction of Renaldo Cephas and Kaheim Dixon. Both fleet-footed attackers combined well at times with Michail Antonio and Gray, but their hunt for the go-head goal proved fruitless. 

  Dixon went close in the 69th when he drove a right-footer along the turf, but the effort went just wide of the right upright. 

  The former Clarendon College and Arnett Gardens stalwart, who now plies his trade at Charlton Athletic, applied pressure in the 79th and went down in a challenge for possession with Honduras' goalkeeper Edrick Menjivar. However, his appeal for a penalty was waved off by American referee Armando Villarreal.

  Honduras' best effort of the half came in the 80th when Kervin Arriaga lashed a stinging left-footed drive from about 20 yards out, but it was tipped over by Blake, who produced another steady performance between the posts, to not only keep a clean sheet but, more importantly, demonstrate the calm leadership he's known for.