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SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – Deon McCauley scored his fourth goal in two games and helped Belize to a 3-1 victory over Montserrat on Sunday that completed an 8-3 aggregate win in the first phase of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
McCauley, who scored three in a 5-2 win in Montserrat’s home leg on June 15 in Couva, Trinidad, put Belize ahead 2-1 in the 59th minute, a minute after Jay-Lee Hodgon had equalized fro Montserrat. Daniel Jimenez had given Belize the lead in the 23rd minute and Luis Mendez added the insurance goal two minutes after McCauley had restored the lead.
The match, Belize’s home leg, was played in San Pedro Sula due to the ongoing dispute between the Football Federation of Belize and the national government. The dispute, which included the government not recognizing the BFF and its refusal to provide assurances for the safety of Montserrat and game officials, led FIFA to suspend the BFF over governmental interference.
The originally schedule match, set for June 19, was postponed, but later rescheduled outside of the country when FIFA provisionally lifted the suspension.
Belize will join Bermuda, St. Lucia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Bahamas and the Dominican Republic in the World Cup qualifying draw on July 30 in Rio de Janeiro.
They will be added to 18 other seeded teams for the first group stage of six, four-team groups, from which the winners will advance to a semifinal round. The semifinal round will consist of four, three-team groups to determine six qualifiers for the final six-team group phase – known by some as the “hexagonal”.
