Suriname vs Puerto Rico

On Friday, at Dr. Franklin Essed Stadium, the top clash of Group F World Cup qualifiers will see Suriname welcome Puerto Rico for the fight to lead the table.

Natio kept their top spot by winning 4-0 against Anguilla on matchday two which gave them two more points than the Puerto Ricans, who defeated Anguilla 8-0 before.

So far in the next round, Suriname has a strong chance to make it to the third round, something they have not done since 2010.

With a victory on Friday, Stanley Menzo’s side would make sure they enter that phase and also have a chance to end the phase with all three points.

In their previous matches, Suriname won twice against Martinique which earned them a spot at this year’s Gold Cup in June.

They have gone without a loss to a Caribbean team since they fell to Guadeloupe in the 2024 CONCACAF Nations League, after which Suriname gained six victories out of seven matches.

All three of the Netherlands’ last World Cup qualifiers on home turf have resulted in victories by a total of 13-1 and both of these games were played at Dr. Franklin Essed Stadium.

For the last season, Natio have scored the first goal in every game and haven’t conceded once in five matches after getting ahead.

So far, it has gone well for Puerto Rico during their qualification stage as they aim to get to the third round for the first time since the early 2000s.

Only three teams from round two of CONCACAF qualifying have not allowed any goals and these are Guatemala, Costa Rica and Charlie Trout’s men.

Los Boricuas, who have already recorded two wins this season, will play their fourth game in an attempt to win their first victory of 2025.

Despite having a strong start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, they are having trouble scoring on the road and have gone scoreless in their last two competitive games as the visiting team.

Since June 2021, the Puerto Ricans have won both of their previous World Cup qualifying matches as the visitors and have given up no goals in either of those contests.

El Hurcan Azul will play Suriname on the international scene for the third time on Friday. They have won 4-3 on penalties in a 2023 Gold Cup qualification and have drawn 1-1 in the 2004 Caribbean Cup.