Jamaica vs Cuba

Friday marks the start of Steve McClaren's tenure as manager of Jamaica, as his Reggae Boyz welcome Cuba to Independence Park in Kingston to kick off the CONCACAF Nations League season.

After defeating Panama 1-0 in the tournament's previous year, the Jamaicans took third place, while Los Leones del Caribe ended fourth in the group stage with five points.

McClaren has been given the task of reviving this team following a difficult Copa America campaign in which they lost all three of their games. The first step in that process will be a great performance in this tournament.

The 63-year-old has not held a head coaching position on the international scene since being fired as England's manager in November 2007 after the Three Lions missed out on qualifying for the 2008 Euros. Most recently, he was a member of Erik ten Hag's backroom staff at Manchester United.

Having won three games and drawn one in their Nations League group stage last season, McClaren takes over a team that has never lost a group match.In the 2023–24 Nations League, Jamaica overcame the loss of the first game and managed to earn a point in three meetings against the USA, even though they had scored the first goal.

The Reggae Boyz have won three straight games in all competitions after that loss when they scored first in the first half.

In their two prior Nations League matches at Independence Park, Jamaica had lost both of their first-leg quarterfinal matchups with Canada (2-1) and played to a 2-2 draw with Haiti in the previous season's group stage.

For Cuba in 2023–24, a string of impressive defensive outings in the first half of the previous Nations League season was as good as it got.

A year previously, Yunielys Castillo's team won all three of their games in this tournament without giving up a goal. However, in their four group stage matches, they were unable to score, falling to Honduras 4-0 in the end.

Los Leones del Caribe's defense has not been as strong as it once was; over their last four competitive games, they have lost three of them and given up three goals or more in each of those losses, including an 8-0 thumping in a friendly against Russia in November.

Cuba hasn't triumphed in a Nations League match away from home since they were in League B and defeated Barbados 1-0 in March 2023.

After falling short 2-1 against Guadeloupe in June 2022, this team has scored goals in each of their previous six meetings in this tournament.

Their last win over the Reggae Boyz in Jamaica came in a 2003 friendly at Independence Park (2-1). They have now lost five straight games against them without scoring in any of those games.