Aruba’s men’s national football team held on for a 0-0 draw against a dominant Martinique side on Thursday night, November 12, in the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League Play-In tie at Compleho Deportivo Guillermo Prospero Trinidad in Dakota.
Martinique controlled most of the match from the opening minutes, forcing Aruba into a cautious, defence-first approach. The visitors had the better of the possession and the chances in the first half, but Aruba kept their defensive organisation intact and the teams went into the break still level at 0-0.
Visitors dominate the numbers
The statistics underlined Martinique’s control of the game. The visitors finished with 69 percent of possession to Aruba’s 31 percent, registered 14 attempts on goal to Aruba’s six, and completed 474 passes to Aruba’s 165. For all of that superiority, however, Martinique could not find a way through to open the scoring.
Martinique picked up two yellow cards in the first half, with Kenny Lala booked in the 27th minute and F. Poulolo following in the 34th. Aruba’s R. Breinburg was shown a yellow card in the 64th minute. Aruba also lost Bradley Martis to injury in the second half, with the injury recorded in the 71st minute.
Everything to play for in Fort-de-France
The goalless draw leaves the tie wide open for the second leg, which is scheduled for Monday, November 16 at Stade Pierre Aliker in Fort-de-France, Martinique. The two teams are competing to advance in the qualification process for the Concacaf Gold Cup 2027.
For Aruba, the result was a hard-earned one: against an opponent that dominated possession and created more attacking opportunities, defensive discipline and persistence earned the home side a clean sheet to take into the return match. The draw follows ArubaNews.ca’s November 8 preview of the fixture, when tickets for the Dakota match were already on sale at Señor Frog’s in Palm Beach.
Source: 24ora (November 12, 2026)
