Hatters forward admits World Cup qualification is now an 'uphill task' for Bermuda

Luton forward Nahki Wells has conceded that Bermuda’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup Finals have become an ‘uphill task’ following a 4-0 home defeat to Jamaica in their opening match of the final stage of qualification on Friday night.

In front of a packed Flora Duffy Stadium, former England manager Steve McClaren’s visiting side quietened the crowd early on, when taking an early lead through captain Damian Lowe after just six minutes. Wells then had Bermuda’s best chance with 17 minutes gone, receiving a pass from Reggie Lambe, seeing his effort pushed behind by Jahmali Waite. Renaldo Cephas doubled the advantage just before the half hour, as after the break, Kasey Palmer made it 3-0 in the 58th minute, substitute Shamar Nicholson heading in a fourth late on.

Speaking to the Royal Gazette, Wells, whose side are bottom of their group and travel to Curacao on Wednesday, said: “They scored early from a set piece, something we tried our very best not to do after five minutes. It was a slow set-piece that gave them a lift, knocked us down a bit and changed the momentum of the fixture. We knew that they had the quality and if they were going to get anything, we needed them to work for it.

"The initial goal was sloppy from us and they grew from that. We’re at home and we’re kicking off our World Cup campaign on the wrong foot. We expected a tough game, we knew that a really good side was coming here tonight, and we were just not good enough. We know that losing the first game doesn't define what the outcome is going to be, but it’s an uphill task for us.”

» Town midfielder George Saville was a second half substitute as Northern Ireland lost 3-1 to Germany in their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign no Sunday.

Having beaten Luxembourg 3-1 last week, with the hosts having been beaten by Slovakia, Michael O’Neill’s side fell behind in Cologne when Serge Gnabry scored, although they were level 11 minutes before half-time thanks to Isaac Price's volley. After the break, Nadiem Amiri made it 2-1 on 69 minutes, while Liverpool attacker Florian Wirtz added a third, as Saville soon came on for his 62nd cap, but he couldn’t help the visitors find a way back into the contest.