Bermuda's Under-17 national team have been pitted against regional powerhouses Trinidad and Cuba in their World Cup pre-qualifiers.

Devarr Boyles' side, who thrashed Bahamas 5-2 on aggregate in the previous round, will also meet St.Kitts in the quarter-final group stage held in Trinidad later this month.

The top two finishers along with the best third place team will qualify for next year's 12 nation Concacaf Under-17 Championships.

Bermuda Football Association (BFA) technical director, Derek Broadley, believes the Under-17's opening match against St.Kitts could be crucial in determining whether they advance to the next phase of the competition.

"I definitely think we can progress. The third place has to be a realistic target for us," he said. "If you can get a good result against one of the teams and a point elsewhere ... we have to be confident we can do that.

"If we have a really good performance then I think we can maybe pick up a surprise result against one of the so-called bigger teams.

"We've put some work into these boys, we took them to Florida where they played a number of competitive games and they have been involved in the Clyde Best Tournament for two years running.

"It would speak volumes for what the national academy could achieve if we do go through, it would also speak volumes about this particular group of players."

Broadley and the national academy coaches have high hopes for a clutch of the Under-17 squad including Chikosi Basden, currently touring the UK with Somerset Trojans, Bermuda Hogges striker Jair Minors and Fulham trialists Zeiko Lewis and Tre Ming.

"Chikosi Basden has been scoring goals while Dale Eve and Shachkeil Burrows are two others we have high hopes for," he said, "and we have a few boys like Jair, Zeiko, Tre and Shakeem Albouy who are playing regularly overseas."

Coach Boyles used the second leg of their Bahamas series as an opportunity to hand some of his fringe players some 'big game' experience having beaten the Caribbean nation 5-1 in the first game.

But Broadley said that policy would not be repeated in Trinidad as he reiterated his desire for Bermuda's national teams to display a more ruthless streak in international tournaments.

"In the second leg against Bahamas it was great for Devarr to be able to give all of his players an opportunity, but what I want us to start doing is being more ruthless in our international matches," he said.

"A lot of our development is done on the Island and I really want to start preparing for these big games and hopefully hammer home our game style."

Once again the Under-17s will travel with only one goalkeeper and Broadley admitted there was a dearth of young shot stoppers with the required ability on the Island.

"The goalkeeping area is a concern for us," he said.

"Timmy Figureido helped out with the Bermuda Hogges this summer and I'm pleading with him to get more involved in the senior national squad set-up."

The team leaves Bermuda on Monday, August 16 and will face St.Kitts two days later before playing Cuba on Friday, August 20, and host country Trinidad on Sunday, August 22.

All games will be played at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya, Trinidad, where Bermuda's senior national team famously toppled the Soca Warriors 2-1 in the World Cup qualifiers in 2008.

The team returns to the Island on Monday, August 23.

Bermuda Under-17 squad: Dale Eve, Zeon Robinson, Zeiko Lewis, Jonte Smith, Shakeem Albouy, Jair Minors, Tre Ming, Jcquan Smith DeShields, William White, Mauriq Hill, Jevon Swan, Dimitre Frias, Chikosi Basden, Shachkeil Burrows, Quintonio Lema, Kamau Leverock, Ryan Hassall, Shahkai Trott, Mikal Simmons, Juma Mouchette. Head coach: Devarr Boyles. Assistant coach: Maurice Lowe. Team physio: Craig Brown.