BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IN 2014 the FIFA World Cup captivated audiences all over the globe, including here in the Federation, and less than one year later the St. Kitts and Nevis Senior Men’s National Football Team is set to embark on another attempt to secure a spot at the 2018 edition with qualifiers set to begin later this month.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, General Secretary of the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA), Stanley Jacobs gave details surrounding the commencement of the nation’s World Cup bid.
“Our 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign commences with a home game in St. Kitts versus the Turks and Caicos and then the return leg in the Turks Caicos on March 26.
“Once we advance, and we believe that we should advance, Round Two comes up the first week in June. Once we advance past Turks and Caicos we would come up against El Salvador.”
He then highlighted what are the aims for the SKNFA during this campaign.
“Our goal for this World Cup campaign is to reach the CONCACAF Qualifying Round, which is the Final 12 of the CONCACAF region. We believe that coach Jeffery Hazel has assembled a very good team, a mix of professional, semi-professional and amateur players. So we believe we definitely should be able to advance past Turks and Caicos for sure and we should be able to advance past El Salvador. Once we get there it is aiming for the Round of 12.”
Jacobs also highlighted the importance of the World Cup campaign to the SKNFA.
“We would appreciate that the FIFA World Cup is the flagship tournament of FIFA. There are many other tournaments that FIFA conducts throughout its four-year cycle, but the World Cup is the tournament that everyone looks forward to and watches. Over the next three years we will see over 900 qualifying matches take place between now and the next World Cup.”
He was also asked of the possibilities of any friendlies between now and the team’s opening match
“We are hoping that we can do at least one friendly. We don't have any opponent as yet. The challenge we are facing right now is the readiness of the field at Warner Park Football Stadium, and we are working assiduously to get it ready for March 23.”
The latest FIFA rankings has the St. Kitts-Nevis National Team at 119 while their first round opponents, Turks and Caicos, are ranked at 176. Potential second round opponents El Salvador are ranked 86th in the world.
