St. Vincent and the Grenadines saw their hopes of advancing to the next round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying dashed on Tuesday night following a 2-1 loss to hosts Puerto Rico at Estadio Centroamericano in Mayagüez.
Despite a spirited second-half performance, including a well-taken equalizer from captain Oalex Anderson, Vincy Heat were undone by a late winner from Puerto Rico’s Steven Echevarria that sealed their exit from Group F contention.
The hosts took the lead in the 11th minute through Leandro Antonetti, who latched onto a precise pass from Gerald Díaz and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Garwin Davis to put Puerto Rico in front.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines had a golden opportunity to equalize in the 38th minute when Steven Pierre earned a penalty after being brought down in the box. However, Kyle Edwards’ effort was saved low to the left by Puerto Rican goalkeeper Sebastián Cutler, preserving the home side’s lead into the halftime break.
Anderson gave his team hope just moments into the second half. After linking up again with Edwards on a fast break, he rifled a right-footed shot into the top left corner to level the score at 1-1 in the 47th minute.
But Puerto Rico continued to push forward, and in the 77th minute, Echevarria capitalized on a loose ball in the box to bury the decisive goal and send the home crowd into celebration.
Despite late substitutions by head coach Ezra Hendrickson—including the introduction of Milton Joseph and Nazir McBurnette—St. Vincent and the Grenadines couldn’t find a second equalizer.
With the result, Vincy Heat finish second from bottom in Group F, ahead of only Anguilla, and are officially eliminated from the race to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Puerto Rico, meanwhile, advance to the final round of qualifiers alongside group winners Suriname.
For Hendrickson and his team, who entered the match needing a win and other results to go their way, the loss marked a painful but spirited end to their qualifying campaign.
