 But football is where we start this Wednesday edition of the Sportsmax Zone. Following playoff qualifications, second leg fixtures, Tuesday resulting in aggregate wins for Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, the second round groups for Concercalf World Cup qualifiers are now set. Anguilla advancing with our 4-3 penalty shootout win over Turks and Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands getting past the US Virgin Islands, also on penalties 4-2. This next stage of the World Cup qualifying is set to begin in June of this year. The second round of qualifying will comprise the 30 teams in six groups of five, where the top two of each group will move on to the final round of qualifiers, where there will be three groups of four teams. So let's see now how the second round groups shape up. So in group A, we have Honduras, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. In group B, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cinqueza Nives, Grenada, Bahamas. In group C, Haiti, Curacao, Saint Lucia, Barbados and Aruba. What about group D, Panama, Nicaragua, Guyana, Montserrat and Belize. In group E, Jamaica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Dominica and the British Virgin Islands. And in group F, El Salvador, Suriname, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Anguilla. Okay, so Lance, we've seen all the different groups. We know which Caribbean countries will be suiting up against the other. I think let's start with the group A. What do you think about that group and who do you think will be the likely prospects? Of course, we're just going based on form and... Yeah, well, let's first establish that the qualification system this time is completely different and the qualifying landscape is completely different. Because with Mexico, Canada and the USA hosting the World Cup, those three CONCACAP teams already have automatic spots to the CONCACAP from CONCACAP to the World Cup Finals. And these World Cup qualifiers in CONCACAP now will provide three other automatic qualifiers and two other potential qualifiers based on intercontinental playoffs. So at the back end of the qualification series, which you just outlined, when you have three groups of four teams, only the group winners will automatically qualify for the World Cup Finals. And then the best-placed runners-up, the two best-placed runners-up will go into intercontinental playoffs to get in. So we could see eight CONCACAP teams playing in the World Cup. The expanded World Cup, of course. So let's put that on the table first of all. Yeah, important. Yeah. Previously, we had the World Cup qualifying for CONCACAP boiled down to what they call a hexagonal when there was just one final group of teams contesting for three or four automatic spots. And they would play each other home and away, round Robin Wright throughout. But this now is a different format, and I hear a lot of comments about which teams should be comfortable coming out of the initial groups that we just saw. But the groups that we just saw will only provide the top two into the next stage. So it will be the next stage that will be important. So can we have a look at group A then? Yes. The first one that you mentioned, because I think the groups are providing an opportunity for some of the lower-ranked teams to muscle up against some of the top teams. Honduras has been a perennial hexagonal qualifier in World Cup qualifying for this region. So Honduras would have to be favorites here. Antigua and Barbuda have been improving. Yes. They're a fluctuating kind of team, the kind of team that you can't take your eyes off. We remember them upsetting Trinidad and Tobago in a first leg match a couple of years ago. TNT, of course, played them again and set the record straight. Cayman Islands, a bit of a struggle for them. Cuba is an unknown quantity because their sporting program, especially in football, isn't the same as it was maybe 20 years ago. But they would want to use this opportunity to land. But I would say Honduras would be safe here and it's a toss-up for the other teams. Like, quite like Antigua and Barbuda's recent form in international football. But this one is a toss-up to see who would go through with Honduras from the second round. Yes, so that's an exciting one. I know one I would be keeping my eyes very, very close on would be the group with Trinidad and Tobago. I know Angus, I think the team has been showing a lot of positive signs under coach, it's unfortunate how it turned out in the Conca Cap Nations League. But for me, I feel like Trinidad and Tobago also has a good shot in that group if they continue on the trajectory that they are currently on. Yeah, Trinidad and Tobago has been a powerhouse in Caribbean football and have made their mark in Conca Cap at the Conca Cap level from time to time and they are in a rebuilding phase. I would like Trinidad and Tobago here to advance with Costa Rica. You know, I remember when we qualified for the World Cup. It's so funny when I think about it now, right Lance? Because I sit on this show and of course Brent Sancho is one of our analysts and I talk to him. But I was just a little girl when we qualified. I remember I was going to Naprima Girls and the entire country, it was like Hanover. We were all so happy and celebrating so I know what it would mean to the country to of course experience that feeling again. Yeah, I don't think given their current rebuilding phase and the sort of... I think their progress in the past couple of years has been incremental. And Brent said it, that there has been improvement. But the pace of their improvement is a bit slow at the moment and these World Cup qualifiers are on our doorsteps, starting in June. I don't think this group though that they are in should hold terrors for them. Costa Rica would be favorites there. What about Grenada? Oh, Grenada are a pretty strong team. They contested the Gold Cup last year, so they have shown themselves as worthy contenders. So they can't be overlooked for sure. But if I was a betting person, I'd take TNT to survive this because I believe that they're at the stage of an upward trajectory. And while they aren't where they were in the past, I still think that they probably have too much know-how to be upset by some of the other teams that are in that group outside of Costa Rica. Yeah, and what's so important is I like to go on experience, right? I know it's a different group of players, but when you look at this group, Group B, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago are the only two teams that have been to the World Cup from this group. So just having the know-how and gives them an advantage, well, I'll say a psychological advantage because it's a new set of players. Yeah, and you know, when it comes to sports, self-belief goes a very long way. So when you have a team like Trinidad and Tobago playing, let's say, a Grenada, there's something about the aura of a Trinidad and Tobago that will give those players a confidence that they can handle the Grenadians. Not that the Grenadians can't beat them, because I believe, given how the current quality of the Trinidad and Tobago team is, they can't take these teams for granted. But I believe that when you're playing sport and you have a belief and you represent a body that has been there before and has beaten the current opposition before, it somehow trickles into your psyche that you can handle this. So I think self-belief is one of the things that TNT could use against teams like Grenada and so on. But I think this is a reasonably tight group. Yes. But I'd still take TNT and Costa Rica here. Yeah, and I've seen that confidence in the TNT setup grow. Let's move across now Lance to Group C as we try to get through as much of the groups as we can. Group C. All right, so this one looks mouthwatering. Haiti, Curacao, St Lucia, Barbados and Aruba. Are you going for your second home Barbados? Barbados is struggling at the moment. Their world rankings is somewhere down 160 or so. Curacao and Haiti would be the favorite teams here for sure. The last time we had a Caribbean championship, Curacao were champions, and they have a lot of players who are playing in the Dutch League and so on. So they're using a lot of players who are not based in Curacao in pretty much the same way that the reggae boys use. A lot of players who are based outside of the country. Haiti is always a former devil opponent when it comes to this sort of level of qualifying. They did contest one World Cup before in 1974, Haiti. So it's not new for them to be playing World Cup football. They haven't been back to that level since though. But Haiti and Curacao, I would think, are the teams to watch here. St Lucia just started a semi-pro league a couple of weeks ago in the country. And there is a hope that St Lucia's football would begin to rebuild, although a lot of their key players are playing in Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda and so on. A couple in Europe as well. So St Lucia is a team that you'd have to watch. But Haiti and Curacao, based on current standards, would be the teams that I would look out for here. Yeah, all right. Let's move across to Group D now. So in Group D, we have Panama, Nicaragua, Guyana, Montserrat and Belize lands. The favourites for this one, do you think Belize would be one of those? No, Belize are at the bottom of the barrel. Panama would be favourites here for sure. Guyana just qualified or got promoted from League B to League A in the Conquer Cap Nation's league, and they're on the improve. Omari Glasgow, they're exciting, 20-year-old forward. We spoke about him yesterday. Yeah, because he won two awards at the Conquer Cap Nation's league. He was a Golden Boot winner and he was also the winner of the best young player award. And he celebrated that with two goals yesterday for the Guyanis against Cambodia in a FIFA series, a quadrangular series going on, or a triangular series going on in Saudi Arabia. Yeah, I just... I think Guyana are on the improve. I don't think Nicaragua should underestimate them or Panama for that matter. Jamal Shabazz, a Trinidad and Tobago national, is coach of the Guyana team, and he has done a very good job with them. I think this is his fourth stint as the Guyana Jaguars coach, Golden Jaguars coach. And I think Guyana is an improving team. I just want to add, as you say, improving team. They're an improving team across all sports, because if you notice, and I don't mean to bring cricket into this discussion, but it's so essential that I make the point because Guyana's cricket has improved massively. We spoke about that, both the men and the women. I had recently... We spoke about golf in case you missed it, like different aspects of... Squash. Squash, squash. So there's so many different sports lands that it makes me wonder what's going on in the sport fraternity in Guyana because there has been a massive shake-up, and things are looking... Some years ago, they found oil. So it has... The oil? Oil means money. Oil means money. I always say on this show, when I ask my guest questions, is that, so how are you going to get money? Because without money, we can't run the sport. I think I understand. Oil, money, sport. Guyana is on the improve, you know? I like this Guyana team, and I like where they're heading with the coach, Jamal Shabazz. When they get back from Saudi Arabia, we're likely to have a discussion with him. Okay. Jamal Shabazz talked to him on the Sports Matter Zone about Guyana's growth in football in the past year. But they also have used some players who are playing in the leagues in England as well. So the Guyana team that we are seeing now is an improved product from the one that we would have seen five or six years ago. And I think Guyana is a team to watch at this stage. When, if they get past here, the third and final qualifying round will be tough for all these teams. But this second round stage, I think is a stage that the Guyanese can target and do well in. All right, we're going to go to my second home now. Let's see, Jamaica is in this group. We have Jamaica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Dominica, and British Virgin Islands. Jamaica, we have seen massive improvement again, lands despite all the off-the-field issues, the last couple of matches we saw from Jamaica, winning that third place medal of course, Concord Calf Nations League. I think it's exactly what they needed as they get ready for this Concord Calf World Cup qualifiers. Their confidence is up. They have goal scorers from different players. One of the points coach mentioned is that now he has these weapons that he can use when he wants. This team is not as predictable as before. And I think that is such an important point to make as we get ready for this. I think Jamaica will be one of my favorites from this group, what say you? And Guatemala as well. Yeah, there are the top teams for sure. The Dominican Republic is not a team that you can underestimate. Dominica and the British Virgin Islands are below this current level here. So this crowd, I think would be a little bit too much for Dominica and the British Virgin Islands. The Dominican Republic can't be underestimated, but Guatemala and Jamaica are the big guns here. Jamaica are currently a top five Concord Calf ranked team. And if we think of a possible eight teams qualifying from Concord Calf to the World Cup Finals in 2026, then you have to think that Jamaica should be one of them. Yeah. And I think it would be hugely disappointing for Coach Halgrimston and Jamaica's reggae football fans if the Jamaicans miss out on this one. You know, earlier today when the GF have posted the graphic, which they do, because their social media is very, very active, right? The comments that I saw last are so harsh. The people were literally saying that it's a no-go for Jamaica. Like, they have to qualify, else they should do something else. Yeah, I think that's what I referenced earlier on when I thought that there's a lot of comment about the groups that people are seeing here. And it's almost as if people think that if they win this group, they qualify for the World Cup. They're in, yeah. So I'm glad you clarified. And that's not so. This is the first stage of the qualifying. It's the second round. It's the third round that will be important. The top two teams in each of these groups will qualify for the third round. Three groups of four and only the group winners will qualify directly to the World Cup after that. And then the two best runners-up place teams will get into an intercontinental playoff. Yeah. All right, well, of course, we have a lot of exciting football to look forward to. And one of the things is we're never short on sport lands. We're gonna just look at group F quickly. Let's see who you think will be the favorites for this one. St. Vincent and the Grenadines, I have to ask about them because, of course, new presidents and all these different things happening, does this make their football any better? Well, history doesn't support some of these teams going deep into the World Cup. Qualifying El Salvador for sure are perennial contenders in the hexagonal when it was down to the last eight. Suriname has been one of the top teams in the Caribbean Football Union for quite some time. So I would put El Salvador and Suriname ahead of Puerto Rico, SVG and Anguilla for sure for this, for this, for this Goobeth. Yeah. All right, lands. Well, of course, as I said, we have a lot of football to look forward to and we will be doing our very best here to do the build-up, the pre-game shows, the previews, the post-game shows and all of that. So you can keep it locked to SportsMash. We're going to take a quick break and come back. We have a lot more to talk here on the SportsMash soon. Don't go anywhere.