Cuban U17 men's national soccer team heads for the World Cup in Qatar

Cuban U17 men's national soccer team will face the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers scheduled from today until February 16 in Costa Rica, one of the seven venues that will host the qualifiers for the 2025 World Cup in Qatar.

Cuban team will seek to obtain the only ticket granted by Pool F, which they share with the favored United States and the teams of the British Virgin Islands and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Speaking to the Cuban News Agency(ACN), the team's technical director, Sandro Sevillano, expressed confidence that they will be able to do well even against the favored United States.

We must focus on the individual and collective evolution of the group before thinking about the result; at that point, we will have more chances to compete for the ticket to Qatar, scheduled for November 5 to 27, the national team strategist told the press since 2012.

Miguel Diaz, general secretary of the Cuban Football Association (AFC), pointed out at the annual congress of the football organization in the archipelago, held a few days ago, that the U17 team developed an extensive preparation with more than a dozen friendly matches.

It is a team with strengths in all its lines. It was very difficult for us to call up 21 players, something that was not so complex a few years ago. We have increased the number of top-level players in our youth academy, Diaz told the press.

The executive pointed out that the most worrying aspect is the defense, and specifically the goalkeeping area, which has had many rotations in search of a goalkeeper to support the eleven.

ACN had the opportunity to talk to several players of the team in one of the last training sessions held in Havana. In the meeting, striker Lazaro Diaz highlighted the forcefulness in the attack of this generation, even stressing that it is an aspect that differentiates the group with other teams from the AFC.

Jonathan Duarte, a midfielder based in the Dominican Republic and who defends the colors of the Delfines del Este club, is the only Caribbean player in the team with experience in foreign leagues.

On the subject, the Havana-born midfielder says that the team's unity, the illusion of being included in a World Cup and the discipline on the field have counteracted any kind of lack of experience in demanding competitions.

Cubans will debut on February 10 against St. Kitts and Nevis, on February 12 they will face the Virgin Islands and on February 15 they will close the qualifiers against the top rival, the United States, which they must surely overcome if they want to reach the Persian Gulf in November.
All the matches will take place in the stadium of the city of Alajuela, Alejandro Morera Soto, with a capacity for more than 18,000 people and, in addition, the first two duels will start at 5:00 p.m. and the last one will start at 8:00 p.m. (Cuban time).

The U17 World Cups are held every two years so that no generation misses an edition due to age restrictions.

Two Cuban men's U17 teams have qualified for global tournaments, in the cases of the 1989 and 1991 teams.

With nine titles, Mexico is the nation with the most CONCACAF U-17 men's championship titles: 1985, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023. The United States follows with three trophies (1983, 1992, 2011), followed by Costa Rica (1994) and Cuba (1988).

In 2024, Cuba's U20 national team achieved the second qualification in the history of a Cuban team to the Under-20 World Championships.