Grenada edge St Kitts; TT need to avoid heavy loss to advance

Grenada (seven points) kept faint hopes alive of advancing to the final round of Concacaf qualifying towards the Fifa 2026 World Cup when they got an exciting 3-2 comeback win over St Kitts and Nevis at the Warner Park Football Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis on June 10.

Needing a victory to go level on points with group B's second-placed team Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada fell behind in the 34th minute when opposing attacker Tyreece Simpson scored with a precise left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

The Grenadians found their footing in the second half, though, and a brilliant finish from Regan Charles-Cook in the 49th minute, to go along with items from Jermaine Francis and Darius Johnson, saw them opening up a 3-1 lead. Pushing for a fourth goal, Grenada gave up a soft goal at the other end when Romaine Sawyers scored from close range after goalkeeper Chad Phillip parried a shot into his path.

Group B will come to an intriguing conclusion tonight in San Jose when the Soca Warriors (seven points) play group leaders Costa Rica (nine points) from 9 pm. Grenada have a goal difference of +4, while TT boast a healthy goal difference of +10 after their big 6-2 win over St Kitts and Nevis at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on June 6. For coach Dwight Yorke's team, the task is a simple one as they will advance to the final round once they avoid defeat by seven or more goals against "Los Ticos."

In his pre-game presser on June 9, Yorke said he wanted his team to show defensive improvements.

"We're a team which seems to be a reactive team and not a proactive team...we always seem to concede and then have to go after teams to try and win a game. Even though we're getting better in those areas, these are the kind of games we have to try and have a clean sheet in terms of trying to win a game," Yorke said.

"It's an area we're trying to improve in. We know there's a lot of work to be done in that area."

In this campaign, the Costa Rican team has shown they have goals in them, as they have scored 15 without conceding – including a massive 8-0 victory over the cellar-placed Bahamas on June 7.

On the team's last visit to San Jose during the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in 2017, TT lost 2-1 with current skipper Kevin Molino scoring the lone item.