The long wait is finally over for Bermuda’s under-17 women’s team, who learnt on Monday night that they had qualified for the next round of 2026 World Cup qualifying.

After drawing 2-2 against Panama on Wednesday night in their group and missing out on the only automatic qualification spot on goal difference, the Bermuda squad faced an anxious five days waiting for the other five groups to conclude before they could be confirmed as one of the best group runners-up.

Heading into the final day of action on Monday, the Lady Gombey Warriors were sweating on the results of matches in a number of groups with Nicaragua and Cuba in Groups A and E respectively the teams best placed to garner enough points to eliminate Bermuda.

But Nicaragua’s 2-1 defeat to group winners Dominican Republic in a top-of-the-table clash in Group A on Monday guaranteed Bermuda progress into the next round and meant there was no sweating ahead of the stage’s final game, with the match between Costa Rica and Cuba having no impact on Bermuda’s status.

Bermuda are one of 12 teams to make it to the final stage of qualifying with this round set to feature the introduction of some of the region’s biggest countries with United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico entering the competition.

It remains to be seen what the format of the final stage will be with Concacaf nations being allocated four spots at the women’s under-17 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Morocco in October and November this year.