The selection Cuban soccerunder-17 category, did his homework this Wednesday against his counterpart from Belize, and with a tie he secured the ticket that will take him to the World Cup Qatar 2026.
The tie will allow the island’s cast to attend a world event, exactly 35 years after their last foray into these tournaments.
Cuba’s previous performances in the qualifying round hosted by Guatemala—mainly the victory over El Salvador in their second match—had put the Cuban team half a step away from the classification, but needs to get at least one point against Belize.
And so it happened, thanks to a goalless draw, as reflected on the CONCACAF website.
Cuba enters the World Cup! pic.twitter.com/DQIFhtGFfS
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) February 12, 2026
Lack of aim
Although it was enough for them not to lose in the closing match, the Cuban team tried to secure passage with the peace of mind of a new success, but their attackers missed their aim on the clearest occasions of the match.
The responsibility for keeping the scoreboard of the Cementos Progreso stadium, in Guatemala City, intact also fell on the actions of the Belizean goalkeeper, author of providential saves that prevented the defeat of his team, according to the reviews of the clash.
Thus, the representative of Cuba reached seven points and secured first place in the F bracket, since before defeating the favorite team from El Salvador they had emerged victorious in their match against Curacao (1-0).
Beyond the collective display, vital to ensure both victories, the talent of attacker Yiankarlos Iglesias stood out, who in addition to the two decisive goals scored against the Salvadorans, scored the assist on the only goal against the Curacao team.
Third time in the elite
With the advance to the Qatar tournament, the under-17 team became the only one that has placed Cuba in three editions of a universal soccer event.
Before this result, the island’s U-20 squad had also made two World Cup appearances, the first 13 years ago in Turkey, and the most recent last year during the competition held in several cities in Chile.
Now the youngest Cuban generation has matched what their predecessors did in 1989 and 1991, when the global tournaments were hosted by Scotland and Italy, respectively.
Those presentations ended with just one draw in six games. Equality was recorded in the debut with a score of 2-2 against the Ghana team.
