Can Belize Still Advance to the Gold Cup?

During the announcement of the team, it was said that Belize needs three wins and one draw to be able to advance to the Gold Cup in 2023. But with two losses so far, News Five asked Team Manager Ian Jones about Belize’s chances of making the cut.

Ian Jones

Ian Jones, Team Manager, Belize Senior Men’s Team

“This grouping has been very interesting because everybody thought that Guatemala and then Belize would be the top teams in this group and then French Guiana would be the underdogs. But the way things have played out. DR beat us in Belize, they earned three points and then French Guiana defeated Guatemala in French Guiana and earned three points. And then in DR when French Guiana and DR met, everybody was of the belief that DR would earn six points, they would topple French Guiana, but French Guiana came out and defeated them as well. And then we lost to Guatemala. So French Guiana has six point, DR has three points and Guatemala has three points and we have zero. So mathematically, because of how the other games have played out, it is still anybody’s race in terms of this grouping because we have two games right now in June remaining, which is against French Guiana. Again, this is a team that we have defeated before and we are going into the game with the intention of winning the game here in Belize and then travelling to French Guiana and win that game. That would then put us at six points and then it’s anybody’s game between DR and Guatemala because the grouping seems to be evenly matched this time around. We have to win the next two games in June, which will be both against French Guiana – one in Belize and one in French Guiana. And then in March, we need to at least win and draw a game in March for us to still be able to qualify for the Gold Cup.”