Curaçao, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Suriname all reached the six-point plateau with away victories, as the second round of Concacaf qualifiers continued on Saturday. Curaçao edged rivals Aruba, Guatemala recorded a clean sheet triumph against British Virgin Islands, Nicaragua downed fellow Central Americans Belize and Suriname collected all three points in their visit to Anguilla.

Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago earned their first win in Group B with a commanding display at Bahamas, and Cayman Islands found a late winner against Antigua and Barbuda.

How it works
Between six and eight teams will represent Concacaf at the North American extravaganza. Canada, Mexico and USA have already qualified as co-hosts.

Thirty nations remain in the hunt to join them. They were drawn into six groups of five in the second round. The top two from each group will reach the third round, which will feature three groups of four. The group winners will qualify for the global finals automatically, while the best two runners-up will go into the FIFA Play-Off Tournament.

Group A
Cayman Islands 1-0 Antigua and Barbuda

Cayman Islands opened qualifying with a dramatic stoppage time win against Antigua and Barbuda. It was a cagey first half, with the scoring chances few and far between. Cayman Islands grew into the game and had the first good look at goal early in the second half when Jacobbi Tugman hammered a shot off the crossbar. Antigua and Barbuda tried to find a winner themselves, but lacked the finishing touch in front of goal. Just when it looked like the teams would share the spoils in a goalless draw, Joshwa Campbell scored in the waning minutes to deliver the three points to the hosts. It was the first World Cup qualifying win for Cayman Islands in 21 matches.

Group B
Bahamas 1-7 Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago rolled to their first win in qualifying with a commanding effort at Bahamas. The Soca Warriors came storming out of the gates and held a lead inside the first 10 minutes thanks to a clinical finish from Malcolm Shaw. Alvin Jones then doubled the advantage by converting from the penalty spot. Trinidad and Tobago kept their foot on the gas and back-to-back blasts from Duane Muckette made it a four-goal lead at half-time.

A tidy finish from Reon Moore early in the second stanza extended the advantage to five. Shaw notched his second of the night with a left-footed strike midway through the half to make it six to the visitors, before Nathaniel James capped the night with an excellent solo effort. Bahamas would get a late consolation score, with Wood Julmis finding the back of the net.

Group C
Aruba 0-2 Curaçao

Curaçao emerged with the three points in their visit to Aruba. The first half saw Curaçao largely in control with several good scoring chances, but no goals to be found before intermission. The breakthrough for the visitors came shortly before the hour mark, with Juninho Bacuna firing home from just inside the area to hand Curaçao a lead. The away side then tacked on a second with the last kick of the game through Xander Severina to claim their eighth win in 11 matches against Aruba.

Group D
Belize 0-4 Nicaragua

Nicaragua continued their fine form by posting a win at fellow Central American side Belize. Nicaragua enjoyed the majority of the scoring chances in the first half and finally broke the deadlock shortly before half-time when a powerful right-footed strike from Bancy Hernandez rippled the net. Nicaragua added some insurance early in the second half courtesy of all-time top scorer Juan Barrera, who converted from the penalty spot. Hernandez then scored his second of the night on a strong right-footed effort, followed by a late penalty conversion from Jaime Moreno, to earn Nicaragua their tenth World Cup qualifying win in 12 matches.

Group E
British Virgin Islands 0-3 Guatemala

Guatemala now have six points through two matches to start qualifying after defeating British Virgin Islands. Home goalkeeper Frankie Beckles was the star early on with a bevy of saves to keep things scoreless, but Guatemala would find a breakthrough midway through the first half when Oscar Castellanos hammered in a right-footed volley.

Moments after British Virgin Islands almost pulled level, Rubio Rubin doubled the margin for Guatemala right before half-time. Guatemala kept things going in the second half with Jose Pinto converting a penalty shortly after the restart. The Central American visitors saw things out from there to register their sixth straight clean sheet in World Cup qualifying matches.

Group F
Anguilla 0-4 Suriname

Suriname secured another three points to start qualifying with an away win at Anguilla. Suriname went right to work on finding a goal and got it through Tyrone Conraad, who calmly tapped in at the far post. Suriname kept poking and prodding for a second and it would finally arrive shortly after the hour mark when substitute Shaquille Pinas blasted a left-footed shot into the net.

Conraad was back at it again to give his side their third of the day with a header, before an own goal rounded off the scoring for the visitors, giving Suriname 23 goals in their last six World Cup qualifying matches.