Striker Kole Hall is hoping to fire Bermuda into the next round of World Cup qualifying in Cuba on Tuesday.

Hall knows that a victory against Cuba would guarantee a spot in the third round of 2026 World Cup qualifying, with the senior men’s national team two points behind their hosts in the race for the second qualification spot in group A.

After scoring in the 5-0 win against Cayman Islands last week, the forward is hopeful of continuing his good form.

“I can’t wait to play if my name is on the teamsheet,” Hall said.

“Even if I’m on the bench, I know I have a job to do to come off it and make an impact, but I’m looking forward to it and if I’m selected I’ll do everything to help the team. There is a lot to play for, we’re excited to be here and all our focus has been on tomorrow’s game.”

Hall returned to the squad against Cayman last week after missing the past few internationals through injury and club commitments but is delighted to be back in the fold. He also went viral on social media after the Cayman game for producing a fantastic moment of skill to flick the ball twice over a defender’s head in the same movement.

“I love to play for Bermuda and every time I get to put on the shirt is an honour,” Hall said. “I was raring to go when I got the call that I was selected and I just wanted to take the chance I got.

“I’ve always had that skill in my locker from when I was a little kid and you know when your confidence is up you feel like you can do anything. In the moment I did it and it happened to come off.”

Coach Michael Findlay has called the game against Bermuda “a cup final” and knows the importance of Hall if his team are to make it into the next phase.

“This is a one-off game and this is a cup final,” Findlay said.

“We have a chance to put this Bermuda football team and this programme on the map by making round three of the qualifiers, so we are here to play. We need to win so we need to be on the front foot.

“Kole Hall leads the line very well for us and his physicality will help us against a team like this. We have talked about three things since I’ve arrived as being critical to our performance and they have stayed constant from day one.

“We need to have no fear. We need to create the mindset we can be competitive with any team within this zone and that is the only way you are going to gain success.

“We also have to fight for the ball, fight for your position and fight against the man directly across from you and we’ve started to display that in matches more and more.

“Finally, it’s about executing when those opportunities present themselves and Kole did that for us last week.”

The match will be played in testing, humid conditions with heavy rain forecast alongside temperatures of 32C (90F) and Bermuda’s players will also need to display their talents on a synthetic pitch.

“We think we can match them and Cuba is not a team at the level of Honduras, a top-ten Concacaf team, where we know we are not going to get much of the ball,” Findlay said.

“We need to take in the conditions because it is hot and humid here and it is on a synthetic pitch so the ground temperature rises. We need to be aware of our energy levels, when we apply pressure and when we don’t and when we try to trap and transition.

“Cuba know that all they need is a tie and if that is in their thought process, we’ll try to take advantage of that and get after them.”

Findlay and his coaching team have analysed the footage of previous Cuba matches, including their 1-0 win over Antigua & Barbuda last Friday, to work out the best approach for Bermuda to pick up the crucial win they need.

“I’m not giving away any secrets or telling tales out of school but our expectation is not to be low blocking,” Findlay said.

“Our intention is first and foremost to match the fight. For a lot of Cuba’s players this is their exit strategy. Playing in the third round of World Cup qualifying gives them a chance to present themselves on the world stage and possibly get out of situations they find themselves in.

“That tends to generate an enormous amount of fight. They want to scrap, they are physical and we’ll have to match that.

“They are a strong, powerful team and have qualities in the wide area that they would like to exploit; probably their best two players are in the wide positions and they have good qualities in transition.

“We didn’t get to see much of Cuba defensively in the Antigua game, but that performance showed their ability to be organised, manipulate the ball and try to find the gaps.

“In a previous games they failed to beat Trinidad & Tobago, and that showed us where they are vulnerable. Those areas of vulnerability are in the wide areas and in terms of the gaps they leave that we can exploit in transition. They are solid defensively and that is why our ability to control the tempo is important.“