Puerto Rico Leans on Leandro Antonetti to Open Concacaf Nations League Against Guyana

Puerto Rico's men's national football team opens its 2026/27 Concacaf Nations League campaign on September 24 with a road trip to Guyana, the first test in a Group A that also includes Dominica and the Cayman Islands ¹³. The team, led by American head coach Jay Mims, is pinning much of its offensive hope on forward Leandro Antonetti, born in Murcia, Spain, and naturalized Puerto Rican, who plays his club football at Estrela Amadora in Portugal ¹².

Background

Antonetti, 23, debuted for the national team on June 9, 2022, in a Nations League match against the Cayman Islands and scored his first international goal on March 23, 2023, in a 3-1 win over the British Virgin Islands ¹². This season he has four goals for Estrela Amadora in the Portuguese league, a run the Puerto Rico Football Federation (FPF) hopes will carry over to the international stage ¹.

Alongside him will be Jeremy De León, a former Real Madrid Castilla player now at UE Sant Andreu in Catalonia, and Wilfredo Rivera, a forward for Argentina's Barracas Central who has been called up eight times by his club without logging minutes, arriving hungry for playing time ¹². Mims, who took charge of the team in March 2026, already has a calling card: under his leadership Puerto Rico won the FIFA Series tournament at Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel in Bayamón, beating rivals including Guam, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands ¹².

The numbers

The 2026/27 Concacaf Nations League restructured the competition around centralized venues to cut down on travel for smaller federations ³⁴. League B's Group A ended up with Guyana, Puerto Rico, Dominica and the Cayman Islands, and each team will play six home-and-away matches split across two FIFA windows: September-October 2026 and November 2026 ³⁴. Puerto Rico travels to Guyana on September 24 and to Dominica on September 27, then hosts group rivals at Estadio Centroamericano in Mayagüez on October 1 and 4 ¹². According to FPF general secretary Gabriel Ortiz, Guyana currently sits 150th in the FIFA rankings, just four spots below Puerto Rico, underscoring how close the opening matchup should be ¹². Guyanese outlet Newsroom described Puerto Rico as a "rapidly improving" side and called the matchup "a tricky test" for Guyana despite Guyana entering as the group's seeded heavyweight ⁴.

League B's format rewards each group winner with direct promotion to League A and a spot in the first-ever League B Championship, scheduled for March 22-30, 2027, while the last-place finisher drops to League C ³⁴. On top of that, the Nations League serves as the primary qualifying path to the 2027 Concacaf Gold Cup, the explicit goal the FPF has set for this cycle ¹²³.

What it means for you

For Puerto Rican fans, this is the first real chance in years to watch the men's national team compete for an actual promotion with a concrete path, rather than simply taking part. A win or draw against Guyana on September 24 would put Puerto Rico in position to fight for first place in the group from matchday one, something recent Nations League cycles haven't offered. And the two home dates in Mayagüez in early October give fans on the island a chance to see in person a squad blending island-raised talent with naturalized players developed in European academies like Estrela Amadora and Real Madrid Castilla.

How to follow it / Checklist

1. Mark September 24 (Puerto Rico at Guyana) and September 27 (at Dominica) on your calendar — both open Group A of League B.
2. Save October 1 and 4 for the home matches at Estadio Centroamericano in Mayagüez, when the national team hosts group opponents.
3. Follow the Puerto Rico Football Federation's (FPF) official accounts and Concacaf's channels for confirmed kickoff times and ticket information for the Mayagüez matches.
4. Look for streaming coverage on Concacaf's platforms or regional sports networks, which typically carry League B Nations League matches live.
5. If you're heading to Mayagüez, arrive early at Estadio Centroamericano — the national team's home matches tend to draw a solid crowd from the west-coast soccer community.

What's next

If Puerto Rico finishes first in Group A after all six home-and-away matches, it earns promotion to Concacaf's League A and a berth in the first League B Championship in March 2027, while moving closer to qualifying for the 2027 Gold Cup. The November 2026 window will close out the group stage, and by then we'll know whether the bet on Antonetti, De León and company paid off against a Guyana side that, by its own media's account, isn't taking the Puerto Rico matchup for granted.

Sources

1. Primera Hora / EFE - Puerto Rico descansa en la energía de Leandro Antonetti de cara a la Liga de Naciones de la Concacaf
2. Infobae - Puerto Rico se encomienda a los goles y la experiencia del español Leandro Antonetti
3. Concacaf.com - 2026/27 Concacaf Nations League Groups Confirmed
4. Newsroom Guyana - Concacaf Nations League: Guyana handed Puerto Rico test in League B draw