KINGSTON, Jamaica, (CMC) – Antigua and Barbuda won convincingly on Saturday but agonisingly missed out on a spot in the CONCACAF qualifying final round for next year’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

Following two consecutive defeats which left them without a point, they trounced Suriname 3-1 to post their first win of the competition and clinch third spot in Group B.
Despite their enterprise, Antigua missed out on the fifth and final qualifying spot on a coin toss with Curacao, who finished third in Group A on the same three points.
Both teams finished with the same goal difference, necessitating the tie-breaker.
Antigua were behind, however, as early as the sixth minute when Viola Bodji buried a penalty that gave Suriname a 1-0 lead at the break.
Antigua opened the second half in commanding fashion, netting three goals in the space of eight minutes to deflate the Surinamese.
Calaun Martin scored three minutes after the resumption, Tevaugh Harriette added a second two minutes later before Elijah McDonald completed the comeback with his 56th minute strike.
In the feature game of the doubleheader at Stadium East, Jamaica and Cuba, already assured of a place in the CONCACAF final round, played to a listless goalless stalemate.
Both teams entered the contest tied on six points after two consecutive wins but failed to find a way past each other and were forced to share the points.
It was the hosts who entered fancying their chances of topping Group B but lacked enterprise, and shots on target were few.
Perhaps their best chance came late in the game with mere minutes left in regular time when Mark Brown’s free kick flew wide of the uprights.
After a goalless first half, Jamaica’s chances of winning took an even bigger hit when Kareem Manning was sent off after picking up his second yellow card.
The result left both teams on seven points, but with Jamaica topping the group on goal difference.
On Friday, Haiti finished on top of Group A following a 1-1 draw with Puerto Rico, as both teams booked their qualifying spots.
Twelve teams will now do battle in the CONCACAF finals from February 18 to March 2 in Puebla Mexico next year.
Hosts Mexico will be joined by automatic North American qualifiers Canada and the United States, Central American qualifiers Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama and the five Caribbean Football Union countries.
The Under-20 Youth World Cup is scheduled for June 21 to July 13 in Turkey.