Preview: Bahamas vs Saint Martin - prediction, team news, lineups

Bahamas and Saint Martin begin their 2026-27 Concacaf Nations League League C campaigns against each other on Wednesday, with both sides looking to make an early statement in Group C.

The fixture is the first of two meetings between the teams in this group phase, with a return match scheduled for 6 October, while both nations will also face the U.S. Virgin Islands twice in the same group.

Match preview

Bahamas head into this game looking to end a poor streak of losses that has been ongoing since October 202 when they beat the United States Virgin Islands.

The Baha Boyz lost 1-0 to the Cayman Islands in a CONCACAF Series clash back in March, the same month they also lost 3-1 to Anguilla. 

Those defeats extended their run of losses to seven, a streak that started with a 6-2 loss to Barbados in the Nations League, before conceding 14 goals across defeats to Grenada (6-0) and Costa Rica (8-0).

Those were followed by a 2-1 defeat to Aguilla and a 6-0 loss to the British Virgin Islands in the CONCACAF Series last November.

The hosts will be playing the Nations League for the fifth season and will hope they can add to their five wins from 19 matches in the competition, with their best performance coming during their maiden appearance in 2019-20 when they won three of four matches and earned promotion to League B. 

Saint Martin, by contrast, arrive in Nassau full of confidence having beaten Bonaire 3-0 in the CONCACAF Series in March, a result that followed a 3-1 triumph over Barbados in the same month.

They have now won three of their last four matches, with the other win coming against Dominica, while their only defeat in that period came against Belize (1-0).

Saint Martin are not FIFA members and therefore cannot compete for World Cup qualification, but they remain active within CONCACAF competitions, having first entered competitive football in the 1990 Caribbean Cup qualifiers, where they beat the British Virgin Islands 3-0 in their inaugural fixture.

This will be their second meeting with Bahamas, with the visitors winning the previous meeting 2-0, a feat they will hope to repeat when both sides take to the pitch on Wednesday.

Jean-Claude Darcheville's side head into the group phase having recently been moved into this section of the competition, a reshuffle that followed the withdrawal of several regional nations from the earlier qualifying series, and Saint Martin will see this newly configured group as a genuine opportunity to progress.

Bahamas form (all competitions):

Saint Martin form (all competitions):

Team News

Bahamas coach Kevin Davies has a 21-player squad listed by Concacaf for the Nations League, including goalkeepers Michael Butler and Vance Wheaton.

Defenders Jamario Charles, Junior Kelly, Justin Minns, Lamond Cross and Miguel Thompson are in the team, while they have attacking options such as Robert Holcombe, Lothario Milfrise and Nahum Johnson.

Bahamas have no reported injury concerns heading into the match, with Davies expected to select from the same pool of players involved in the recent friendly defeat to the Cayman Islands.

Saint Martin also have no fitness concerns of note following their win over Bonaire, with Darcheville likely to select a similar group to the one that scored three times in that fixture.

The manager has a squad containing several players with experience in the French lower divisions, while the current Concacaf roster includes Leo, Romuald Lacazette, Rahim Denis, Randy Gentes, Keelan Lebon and Yoann Vardin.

Bahamas possible starting lineup:

Butler; Charles, Kelly, Minns, Cross; Rahming, Ene, Taylor, Archer; Milfrise, Holcombe

Saint Martin possible starting lineup:

Vardin; Raga Rigobert, Dumas, Fonrose, Petchy; Lebon, Marchal, Denis; Gentes, Leo, Lacazette

We say: Bahamas 1-2 Saint Martin

Bahamas have home advantage only nominally in this fixture, with the match being staged at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex in St Croix rather than in the Bahamas. 

Saint Martin's superior recent attacking form and history of scoring freely against Caribbean opposition, gives them the edge over hosts who have struggled for goals.
 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.