FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida – Bermuda, and Guyana will get the chance to fine-tune preparations for CONCACAF Gold Cup assignments when they meet in a behind-closed-doors warm-up game here later on Monday. Bermuda faces Barbados here on Friday while Guyana takes on Guatemala on Saturday in a 12-team Gold Cup preliminary round, determining the final three spots for the group stage of the Gold Cup.
Bermuda edged Guyana 1-0 when the two countries met in a friendly at Bermuda’s National Stadium in June 2019.
Guyana is 19th in CONCACAF rankings, two places below Bermuda, whose 23-player squad, captained by striker Nahki Wells, arrived in Florida over the weekend.
Bermuda is attempting to qualify for a second straight Gold Cup, and Barbados they’re first.
Bermuda qualified for the Gold Cup for the first time in 2019 after finishing fifth in the Nations League qualifiers with a record of three wins and one defeat.
The two countries played to a goalless draw when they met in a friendly in Barbados in March 2018.
Friday’s winners will take on Haiti or St Vincent and the Grenadines in the second round for the right to progress to Gold Cup proper, where they will join the United States, Canada, and Martinique in Group B.
Bermuda missed out on automatic qualification to the biennial competition after being relegated from League A of the Nations League.
Bermuda was initially scheduled to face the Bahamas or French Guiana in the second round of qualification for the next Gold Cup.
However, because of the suspension of fixtures initially scheduled last year, CONCACAF was forced to create a preliminary round for those teams due to play in the qualification stage, including Bermuda.
The matches will be played from July 2-6, with the Gold Cup group stage kicking off July 10.
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