clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Peter Nowak's Antigua and Barbuda to play for next round of World Cup qualifying

Peter Nowak is the head coach of Antigua and Barbuda and they get set to play a historic match against Guatemala in World Cup qualifying.

Drew Hallowell/Getty Images

World Cup Qualifying: Guatemala v. Antigua and Barbuda - September 8th, 10:06PM EST BeIN Sport Connect

Peter Nowak, original Head Coach of the Philadelphia Union, is doing pretty well, thank you. For nearly two years he's been spending time in the Caribbean as Technical Director and personal advisor to the President of the Caribbean Football Union. A year ago he added responsibilities as Head Coach and Technical Director for the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association. That's a lot of titles, but it appears he's making good use of them. Antigua and Barbuda is on the cusp of making history.

By beating Guatemala 1-0 on Friday, Nowak's Antigua and Barbuda is one game away from advancing to the fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. If they advance they would find themselves in the group with the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. Achieving this stage would actually equal their run for 2014 qualifying, where they also played in the U.S.' group. The significant difference is who they would be eliminating to advance.

Friday's result was the first time that Antigua and Barbuda had beaten Guatemala in six attempts. They actually faced off in the same World Cup qualifying group as the United States in 2012. Guatemala won both games by a combined score of 4 to 1. Pushing past Guatemala to the next round of qualifying this time would definitely show significant progress. Antigua and Barbuda has never been to the CONCACAF Gold Cup while Guatemala normally qualifies.

If Nowak can pull off the upset Tuesday night and advance it will be the upset of the third round. Here are the highlights of Friday's game.