Bermuda coach Michael Findlay is targeting three points against Antigua & Barbuda when the two teams clash in a 2026 World Cup qualifier this afternoon (4pm).

Bermuda also face Honduras at Flora Duffy Stadium on Sunday and Findlay is looking for a bright start at the Antigua & Barbuda Football Association Technical Centre.

“I think you look at every game as being crucial,’’ Findlay said.

“We have two matches to play in June this year, then we have two matches to play in June next year.

“Obviously, we’re not going to know the final results until this time next year, and where we position ourselves.

“There is no doubt that our priority is to start off very positively and the best way to start off is to take three points from Antigua & Barbuda, which positions us well moving into match two.

“World Cup qualification is all about the crucial moments and this is one of them. I think everyone is really excited about it. We've had a good week of preparation and I think everybody, as footballers always do, they want to play.

“We’re preparing the players accordingly and we’ll be looking to apply ourselves to the best of our ability, and, hopefully, at the end of that, that’s three points to get on the plane and come home with.”

Findlay shared his insights into what they expect from their first opponents in the group.

“As part of our ongoing efforts we always make sure that we know as much as possible about the opponents,’’ the coach said.

“Antigua & Barbuda are a team that provides a couple of different challenges for us. They are somewhat unpredictable and they've had a good streak over the last number of years, and over the last little while they've had some challenges.

“When you have that kind of unpredictability, you have to prepare for everything. Certainly, that is something that we are doing and we want to make sure that we know about them as much as possible.

“They definitely lean on the physical side of the game. They have a mentality that they want to play and you have to be aware of that, and they’re pretty consistent with the way they set up.

“Seeing that it’s their first World Cup qualifier and it’s at home, we can expect them to come with a great mindset and we have to prepare for that.”

While Antigua and Honduras are ranked higher than Bermuda, Sunday’s fixture is viewed as the tougher of the two, but the Bermuda coach wants his players to limit their concentration to the first game.

“We have chosen as staff that our players are very focused on one match at a time,’’ he said.

“We don’t necessarily look beyond what we’re doing, which is taking care of business against Antigua & Barbuda. Once we’ve done that, we’ll turn our attention, focus, information and our research on Honduras.

“Of course, Honduras are going to be an incredible challenge for us. You’re talking about the seventh-ranked team in Concacaf and they have World Cup finals experience, they were in the finals of the Nations League in 2023.

“They’re coached by an extremely experienced and technically gifted coach. It’s going to be a great challenge for us come Sunday, but after we finish our game with Antigua & Barbuda, I think it’s going to be an exciting time for us.

“If we want to be what we are aspiring to be, which is in the top half of the Concacaf rankings, we have to play experienced teams like Honduras.

“That’s going to be a great opportunity for our players to test themselves. It’s going to be a great opportunity for the Bermudian fans to see the quality of a team like Honduras.

“Everybody is looking forward to that, but let’s be very specific here, we know that is on page two, page one is Antigua & Barbuda.”

Bermuda head into the two matches without Lejuan Simmons, who is recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon in the final game of the inaugural Fifa Series in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in March.

“It was a very unfortunate situation and very disappointing,’’ the coach said.

“You are hard-pressed to replace someone like Lejuan, both as an experienced footballer, but also as a person within the group. He’s a great human being and great to have around

“We've got a couple of decisions that we’ll have to make before the match against Antigua & Barbuda.

“We’re very confident that we can fill in that gap with the players that we have. That’s part of the growth of this squad, we want to get beyond the numbers that we had before so that we can quite confidently, we can select someone who can step into those roles if need be.”