GUYANA’S senior National team, more popularly known as the ‘Golden Jaguars’ are set to roar once again in an attempt to qualify for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) under which Guyana fall, will hold the official draw for the initial phases of the CONCACAF Preliminary Competition for the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 on Thursday, January 15, at the W Hotel South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida.

A delegation from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), headed by Chairman of the Normalisation Committee Clinton Urling and newly appointed Technical Director Claude Bolton, is expected to be present in the USA for the draw.
The proceedings will determine pairings for the first two rounds of the qualifying competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, which is set for March 21 – 31.
According to CONCACAF, “The event, involving 27 of the 35 CONCACAF member associations seeking to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, will determine the match-ups for the first two rounds of the five-round regional qualifying tournament in CONCACAF, which begins in March and runs through 2017. The event will feature regional World Cup veterans and high-profile figures from CONCACAF and World Cup history.”
Under former Technical Director Jamaal Shabazz, Guyana, for the first time reached the semi-final stage of the qualifiers but, falling in a group with CONCACAF powerhouses and 2014 World Cup participants Mexico and Costa Rica, the Jaguars bowed out of the campaign.

(By Rawle Toney)