Barbados vs Aruba

Barbados and Aruba will battle to keep their faint hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup alive in a Group C clash on Wednesday at Wildey Turf in Bridgetown.

Barbados, known as the Bajan Tridents, find themselves at the bottom of the group after a 3-1 loss to Haiti, trailing Aruba by one point. Aruba, meanwhile, earned a 2-2 draw against Saint Lucia in their last outing.

Despite Barbados’ promotion to CONCACAF Nations League B last year, their World Cup qualifying campaign has struggled, with the team conceding seven goals while scoring just two in the second round. A victory is crucial for Kent Hall’s squad to stay in contention for a top-two finish and keep aluive their qualification dreams.

Barbados have failed to score in the first half of their group-stage matches while allowing three goals before the break. On a brighter note, they are unbeaten in their last two games, drawing 0-0 in both friendlies against Dominica last month. At home, Barbados have won two of their last three matches at Wildey Turf, scoring 10 goals and conceding six. Historically, they’ve dominated Aruba, winning five of their six encounters, including a 2-0 victory in June 2015.

Aruba, led by Marvic Bermudez, showed promise in the first half of their second matchday but couldn’t secure the win, leaving them with just one point in the group stage. Since their draw with Saint Lucia, Aruba have struggled, losing seven of their last eight competitive matches, though they did defeat Cambodia 2-1 in a March friendly.

Having secured at least one win in each of their last three World Cup qualifying campaigns, Aruba need a victory to stay in the race before facing Haiti in their final group match. A win on Wednesday would mark their first back-to-back away victories since 2023, when they won consecutive CONCACAF Nations League games on the road. Their last competitive meeting with Barbados, in June 2015, saw Aruba claim a 3-0 win in World Cup qualifying.