British Virgin Islands booked their spot in the second round of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, following a 4-2 penalty shootout win over US Virgin Islands in their play-off contest at the AO Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, BVI, on Tuesday.

After playing out a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg, both teams again failed to separate themselves in a goalless second-leg encounter and so it was down to the dreaded penalties to decide the outcome. In the end, it was British Virgin Islands that held their nerves best from the 12-yard spot to progress to the business round of qualification.

They will join Jamaica, Dominica, Dominican Republic and Guatemala in Group E for the second round of the qualifiers, which are scheduled to run between June 2024 and June 2025. A total of 30 countries will vie for spots in the final round. 

The final round which will be played between September and November 2025, will see teams battling for five spots to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted jointly by Concacaf powerhouses Mexico, United States and Canada.

Of the five teams, three will earn direct qualification, while the other two spots will be decided via a play-offs.

Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands played out a goalless stalemate, while US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands played to a 1-1 stalemate in their respective first legs, as first round action of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers got underway on Friday.

Anguilla 0-0 Turks and Caicos Islands

The action started with Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands failing to get on the score sheet at the Raymond E. Guishard Stadium in Anguilla.

The result halts an 11-match losing streak for Anguilla in World Cup Qualifying.

It was a very cagey first 45 minutes between the two sides, with little in the way of scoring chances.

Things opened up in the second half and Anguilla should have broken the deadlock when they won a penalty, but they were unable to convert.

In the end, the Turks and Caicos Islands defence held firm to secure the goalless draw, leaving things wide open for Tuesday’s second leg.

US Virgin Islands 1-1 British Virgin Islands

The second match of the day offered a bit more in terms of entertainment, as British Virgin Islands came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with US Virgin Islands at the Bethlehem Soccer Stadium in Upper Bethlehem, USVI.

Scoring chances were few and far between in the first half, but it was a different story in the second half, as USVI scored the first goal of the day in the 73rd.

A long throw-in was headed in the area and fell perfectly for Jett Blaschka, who chested the ball to himself and finished a left-footed shot.

BVI camped out in USVI's quarters in their probe for an equalizer, but they found their opponents defence in a defiant mood at that point.

However, BVI’s Justin Smith had other plans and in the second minute of second half stoppage time, he fired home from close-range to earn his side a crucial away goal to keep things even heading into the second leg.

Both Dominica and Aruba clinched promotion to League B after they registered contrasting away victories in their respective League C Concacaf Nations League encounters on Thursday.

British Virgin Islands vs. Dominica

Dominica will be back in familiar territory in League B for the next edition of the Nations League, as they sealed promotion with a 2-1 win over British Virgin Islands in Group C at the A.O. Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, BVI.

With the result, Dominica are guaranteed of top spot in the three-team group with a match to spare. They are on seven points, while BVI, on five points, remain in the mix for promotion as the best-ranked second-place team in League C.

After playing out a goalless first half, where both teams created chances, the best of which fell to BVI, as Luka Chalwell's shot that was saved, while Taylor Scarff's header was tipped over the crossbar by Glenson Prince, in goal for Dominica.

Dominica's best effort in the first 45 minutes, fell to Javid George, whose right-footed effort came back off the post.

However, Dominica’s pressure finally bore fruit in the 52nd minute, as George played a cut-back pass to Audel Laville, who bounced home a shot for a 1-0 lead.

BVI replied 11 minutes later courtesy of T’Sharne Gallimore in the 63rd. Gallimore received a pass and then made a slick cut before curling a right-footed shot into net to make it 1-1.

But Dominica regained the ascendancy in the 68th through Eustace Marshall, who expertly headed home after being left unmarked in front of goal.

Dominica fended off a late BVI charge to nail down the precious three points and secure their place in League B.

US Virgin Islands vs. Aruba

Aruba are also on their way back to League B thanks to their 4-1 triumph over United States Virgin Islands in Group B at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex in Saint Croix.

The victory gives Aruba nine points from three games, five points ahead of second-place Cayman Islands.

It was an ideal start for Aruba, who grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 23rd through Jaydon Dania, who tapped in a cross from Benjamin Maria.

Aruba kept their foot on the gas, and doubled the advantage before halftime and it came in sensational fashion, as Rovien Ostiana launched a shot from over 50 yards out that sailed over the head of USVI's goalkeeper Dylan Ramos to make it 2-0 at the break.

USVI came out strong on the resumption and pulled one back in the 47th when Quinn Farrell headed in a weighted free kick from Zahmyre Harris.

Aruba restored their two-goal cushion in the 52nd, with Maria once again playing provider for Ostiana, who applied a tidy finish.

Maria then took one of his own when he converted from the penalty spot to cap the win and the three points for Aruba.

League C of the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League returned on Thursday with important encounters in Group A and Group C.

Bonaire vs. Anguilla

Bonaire earned their first win of this CNL campaign in Group A with a 2-0 triumph over Anguilla at the Stadion Antonio Trenidat in Rincon, Bonaire.

Bonaire are now back in the race for group honours with three points through two games, three points behind leaders St Martin. Anguilla are in third place with zero points.

Bonaire carved out their first goal of the night through Ginel Ronde in the 10th, as he polished off a counterattack spearheaded by Jonathan Libania for a 1-0 Bonaire advantage.

The lead was then doubled in the 36th, as Marschelon Pourier knocked in a shot from just a few yards out after Anguilla were unable to clear their lines.

With the two-goal cushion, Bonaire could play to their liking and confidently saw things out to pocket the victory.

Dominica vs. British Virgin Islands

The top two teams in Group C met and showed that there is little difference between them after a 1-1 draw between Dominica and British Virgin Islands at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet, St Lucia.

Each side now has four points after two games, with Dominica ahead on goal difference.

Luka Chalwell scored two goals in the September window and picked up where he left off by scoring the opening goal for British Virgin Islands in the 29th.

A long ball was hoofed upfield and Chalwell controlled it superbly, taking a touch and then firing a right-footed shot into net.

Dominica went to work on finding an equalizer and their efforts were finally rewarded in the latter stages, as Briel Thomas struck in the 82th to make it 1-1.

A free kick from the right flank was curled into the area by Troy Jules and Thomas met it with a soaring header to deliver the precious point to his side.

Six Caribbean ladies will line up in Thursday’s 200 metres semi-finals, following contrasting performances in their respective heats on day five of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.

The six, a Jamaican trio of reigning champion Shericka Jackson, Kevona Davis and Natalliah Whyte will be joined by Bahamian Anthonique Strachan, St Lucian Julien Alfred and young British Virgin Islands sensation, Adaejah Hodge. Another Jamaican Ashanti Moore was the only Caribbean athlete to miss out.

Strachan, running from lane nine, got the show going in the first heat, where she was comfortable from start to finish, stopping the clock in 22.31s, ahead of Great Britain’s Daryll Neita (22.39s), with Jael Betsue (22.58s) of Spain taking the third automatic spot.

Moore, who was giving the opportunity to run the event following Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal, found herself in a tough second heat. Though she went out hard, Moore had to settle for fifth in 23.12s, which was not good enough for one of the six non-automatic qualifying spots.

The heat was easily won by newly minted 100m champion American, Sha’Carri Richardson in 22.16s, ahead of Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who clocked a season’s best 22.26s. Olivia Fotopoulou of Cyprus clocked a new personal best 22.65s for the third spot.

Jackson, the reigning 200m champion, expectedly made light work of rivals in heat three, as she cruised to 22.51s. Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira, was second in a national record 22.57s, with Jessika Gbai (22.78s) of Ivory Coast in third.

Though Hodge was fourth, her time of 22.82s, was good enough to progress as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.

St Lucia’s Alfred was tops in heat four, as she powered her way to 22.31s, ahead of Jamaica’s Whyte 22.44s, with Great Britain’s Bianca Williams (22.67s) in third.

The fifth and penultimate heat saw another young Jamaican Davis (22.49s), also booking her semi-final spot with a second-place finish behind American Gabrielle Thomas, who clocked 22.26s.

Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith justified favouritism in the final heat which she won in 22.46s.

You can catch live action of the 2023 World Athletic Championships by downloading the Sportsmax App.

Already blessed with the world-class talents of 400m hurdler Kyron McMaster and long jumper Chantel Malone, the British Virgin Islands seem to have found another potential global star.

When Rikkoi Brathwaite of Indiana University finished second in the 60m dash at the NCAA Division I Indoor Finals in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday, he created history for the BVI in that no other athlete from those islands has ever finished higher in an event at the NCAA level.

It was a close finish between the winner, Jamaica’s Davonte Burnett of USC, who won in a personal best of 6.50 and Brathwaite, who is now the only BVI athlete to secure two medals (bronze and silver) at the NCAA Championships and the only male athlete to secure a podium finish at the NCAA level.

The time of 6.52 is also a lifetime best for the sprinter, a national indoor record for the BVI as well as a school record. Last season, Brathwaite won a bronze medal at the Division I 60m finals.

Next up for the Big 10, 60m champion is the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade where Brathwaite will be hoping to run even faster and probably bring home a medal for his island nation before returning to the USA for the NCAA Outdoor season.

 Jamaica’s Megan Tapper claimed the country’s first bronze medal in the women’s 100m hurdles after battling to the line in Tokyo on Saturday.

Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who is unbeaten this season, followed up an Olympic record of 12.26 in the semi-finals by running 12.36 to win her first Olympic gold medal, five years after hitting a hurdle and crashing out at the semi-final stage in Rio.

Tapper ran 12.55 to win the bronze medal.  The world record holder, Keni Harrison of the USA, won silver in 12.52 to also secure her first Olympic medal.

Bahamian Devynne Charlton finished 6th in 12.74 and Jamaica’s Brittany Anderson finished 8th in 13.24.

Men’s Long Jump

The Caribbean secured two medals in the men’s long jump after Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria and Maykel Masso finished second and third with jumps of 8.41 and 8.21 respectively.

The gold medalist, Miltiadis Tentoglu of Greece, also jumped 8.41 but was determined as the outright winner on countback because his second-longest jump of 8.15 was longer than Echevarria’s second-longest of 8.09.

Jamaica’s reigning world champion, Tajay Gayle, valiantly made an attempt to compete after picking up a left knee injury in qualifying.  Jumping with heavy strapping on that knee, Gayle fouled his first two attempts before registering 7.69 on his third to finish 11th overall.

Women’s Triple Jump

Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica narrowly missed out on a medal.  Ricketts finished fourth after leaping out to 14.84 on her fourth-round attempt.

The Jamaican was in third place going into the fifth round until Spain’s Ana Peleteiro produced a national record of 14.87 to overtake Ricketts and secure the bronze medal.

The competition also saw Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas win her first Olympic gold medal by jumping to a new world record of 15.67 metres, breaking the previous mark of 15.50 set at the 1995 World Championships by Ukrainian Inessa Kravets.

The other Jamaican in the final, Kimberly Williams, finished eighth with a jump of 14.51.

Men’s 400 metres Hurdles

Only one Caribbean athlete advanced to the final.  Both Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands and Jaheel Hyde of Jamaica lined up in semi-final 3 and with 100 metres to go, they both looked in good shape to get to the final.

Unfortunately, Hyde hit the eighth hurdle badly and fell, taking him out of contention.

He ended up jogging to the finish in a time of 1:27.38.

McMaster went on to win the semi-final in 48.26 and advance to his first Olympic final.

Men’s 100m

No Caribbean men advanced to the final of the men’s 100 metres as Jamaica’s Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville both came up short in their semi-final races.

Blake finished sixth in semi-final 1 in 10.14 and Seville finished fourth in semi-final 2 in 10.09.

The final eventually saw Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs take gold in 9.80 ahead of the USA’s Fred Kerley who ran 9.84 for second and Canada’s Andre DeGrasse who ran 9.89 for third, his second successive Olympic 100 metres bronze medal.

All three men recorded personal bests in the race.

Women’s 1500 Metres

Jamaica’s Aisha Praught-Leer competed in heat 2 of the women’s 1500 metres despite injury and finished 13^th in a time of 4:15.31.

Women’s 200 Metres

 Four Caribbean women advanced to the semi-finals of the 200 metres.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas finished second in heat 1 with a time of 22.40 to advance.

100 metres silver medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was next to confirm her spot in the next round, comfortably winning heat 2 in 22.22.

Heat 5 was won by Bahamian Anthonique Strachan in 22.76 but the biggest story from that race was Shericka Jackson of Jamaica.

The 100 metres bronze medalist failed to advance after easing up at the line and being passed Italy’s Dalia Kaddari.

100 metres gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica was very conservative in heat 6, finishing third in 22.86 to secure her spot in the semi-finals.