Honduras coach, Colombian Reinaldo Rueda, said this Sunday that the Concacaf qualifying match against Haiti “will be very difficult” because at stake is a position that gives a direct pass to the 2026 World Cup.
The two teams, who lead Group C with five points each, will meet on Monday at the National Chelato Ucles stadium in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, in the fourth of six dates in the final round of the qualifiers.
“Let’s prepare ourselves because it’s going to be a difficult match. We’re going to have a very, very good opponent,” said the 68-year-old strategist during the pre-match press conference.
Rueda felt that the Haitians “are big on the ball, both individually and as a group,” since many of their players play for European teams, a skill their team lacks.
To stop this advantage, they will have to have “a super focused team, with a large dose of high intensity, in the desire to have the ball. Because everything will happen there, in the fact that we have the ball”, he estimated.
For their part, Costa Rica will host Nicaragua at the San José National Stadium on Monday, a match they will look to win from the start to regain ground in Group C.
“We have obligations and we are going to get through this, with the obligation to win,” Ticos coach, Mexican Miguel “Piojo” Herrera, told a news conference.
“We will look for the result from the start” and try to score as many goals as possible because a better score can lead to the ranking, he added.
After three dates, Haiti leads the key with 5 points, just like Honduras, but the Caribbean is first with a goal difference. They are followed by Costa Rica with three units and Nicaragua with one.
Concacaf qualifying gives three World Cup tickets to the top finisher in each group and two play-off tickets to the two best runners-up.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico did not participate in the qualifying round because their presence was assured as World Cup hosts, which opened the door to the World Cup for teams who previously had little chance of qualifying.
