Cayman abandons match against Cuba after winning first World Cup match: Cayman News Service

(CNS): The Cayman Islands men’s national soccer team is on a roll on its road to the 2026 World Cup with a dramatic win over visiting Antigua and Barbuda in the second qualifying round at the weekend. But hopes of actually getting through that round are now dashed following the decision not to play Cuba. U.S. travel restrictions pose a risk to Cayman’s players, many of whom attend college or train in the United States.

Cayman thrilled the local crowd at the Truman Bodden Sports Centre on Saturday night as the national men’s soccer team won a World Cup qualifier for the first time, with 18-year-old Joshwa Campbell’s header in stoppage time giving the team a 1-0 win.

However, Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) president Alfredo Whittaker said despite every effort to move the match to another island, CONCACAF could do nothing because Cuba had the right to play the match at home.

The United States routinely removes the ESTA visa waiver for anyone traveling to Cuba. This will affect several national team players under the age of 23 who traveled to the United States to attend college on student visas and have ESTA on their British passports. Whittaker told the Cayman Compass that the team had discussed various options and decided they could not play in Cuba and therefore had to forfeit the game.

“I don’t want to risk these boys having their ESTA or student visas cancelled because of a game,” the president said.

The next game will be a long time coming. The Cayman Islands will face Bermuda and Honduras in the CONCACAF qualifiers next June.

See Campbell’s Winning header.