Guyana national football team

The Guyana national football team, nicknamed the Golden Jaguars, represents Guyana in international football and is controlled by the Guyana Football Federation. It is one of three South American nations to be a member of the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF alongside Suriname and French Guiana. Until the independence of Guyana in 1966, it competed as British Guiana. They qualified for the Caribbean Nations Cup in 1991, coming fourth, and in 2007. Guyana has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but on 23 March 2019 they qualified for the first time for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Guyana

Nickname(s)	Golden Jaguars
Association	Guyana Football Federation
Confederation	CONCACAF (North & Central America)
Sub-confederation	CFU (Caribbean)
Head coach	Márcio Máximo
Most caps	Charles Pollard (80)
Top scorer	Gregory Richardson (18)
Home stadium	Providence Stadium
FIFA code	GUY
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	167 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest	86 (November 2010)
Lowest	185 (February 2004)
First international
British Guiana 1–4 Trinidad and Tobago  (British Guiana; 21 July 1905)[2]
Biggest win
Guyana 14–0 Anguilla  (St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda; 16 April 1998)
Biggest defeat
Mexico 9–0 Guyana  (Santa Ana, United States; 2 December 1987)
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 2019)
Best result	Group stage (2019)

History

British Guiana (1905–59)

Guyana (as British Guiana) played its first international football match on 21 July 1905, a 4–1 defeat against nearby and fellow British colony Trinidad and Tobago. Their next recorded game came almost 16 years later on 28 January 1921, an away 2–1 win against its neighbour Suriname. The two played again in Suriname on 27 August 1923, and on that occasion the hosts won 2–1. British Guiana did not play another match until 1937, when they lost two matches against Trinidad and Tobago in Suriname: 3–0 and 3–2. After seven years without a match, British Guiana entered a three-team tournament in Trinidad & Tobago against its national side and Barbados. They won twice against Barbados (1–0 and 3–0) before drawing 1–1 and losing 3–0 to Trinidad and Tobago. In the final of this Trinagular tournament they again lost 3–0 to Trinidad and Tobago.

In November 1947 British Guiana played in a Standard Life tournament in Trinidad and Tobago. They beat the hosts 2–1 in their opening game on 5 November before beating Jamaica 2–0 the very next day. On 10 November they drew 0–0 with Jamaica before losing 2–0 to Trinidad and Tobago in the last game on 14 November.

British Guiana played its first home games in 1950 against Trinidad and Tobago: these were British Guiana's first matches since the Standard Life tournament. British Guiana lost 1–0 and 4–1 before winning 1–0. The last match played under the name British Guiana was the next match on 2 March 1959 – a 2–2 draw against Trinidad and Tobago.[3]

Guyana

After independence in 1966, Guyana did not play a match for five years. Their first fixtures under their new name were qualifiers for the 1971 CONCACAF Championship against Suriname. The first match, away, was lost 4–1 and the home match on 21 September 1971 was lost 3–2 as Suriname advanced 7–3 on aggregate. In 1976 Guyana entered its first ever World Cup qualification campaign with the aim of reaching the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. Guyana and Suriname were drawn in a two-legged preliminary in the Caribbean section of CONCACAF qualification and Guyana won the first leg 2–0 at home on 4 July 1976. The second leg in Paramaribo was lost 3–0 which allowed Suriname to advance.[3]

2006

Guyana had a remarkable calendar year in 2006, with eleven successive wins, including five CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers[4] These results boosted Guyana's spot in the FIFA World Rankings by 87 spots in little over a year. As a consequence, the team rose to the top 12 in CONCACAF and were in the third rank of seeds in the World Cup qualifying draw.

Caribbean Nations Cup 2007

At the 2006–07 Caribbean Nations Cup, Guyana finished top of Group A in Stage One, then top of Group H in Stage Two (which they hosted), and finished 3rd in the Bobby Sookram Group, missing out on a semi-final berth on goal difference alone. Had Guyana reached the semi-finals, they would have qualified for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

2014 World Cup qualifying

With the return of international coach Jamaal Shabazz, Guyana finished top of a group containing Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Bermuda to reach the third round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. They qualified with one game to go with a 2–1 home win against Trinidad and Tobago on 11 November 2011.

Guyana organised friendly matches against Columbia, Bolivia, Jamaica and Panama for the first team. In the third round group, they finished last, behind Mexico, Costa Rica and El Salvador, with one point from their six matches.

Lack of football 2013/14

From November 2012 to October 2014 Guyana did not play a single international fixture. This amongst other factors led to FIFA stepping in and removing the GFF executive at the end of 2014.[5]

2015 and 2016 return of the Golden Jaguars

With FIFA stepping into Guyana once again, a FIFA Normalisation Committee was installed to regularise football in Guyana. With this came the search for a National Team Head Coach with Jamaal Shabazz reinstalled initially for one game versus Barbados in Jan 2015. As Guyana had lost many first team players to retirement since 2012, the squad was a new younger group with major gaps in the goalkeeper and defensive areas.

However a 2-2 draw with Barbados was enough for Shabazz and his staff, consisting of assistant coach Wayne Wiggy Dover, Operations Manager Mark Xavier, Team Manager Faizal Khan, Kit Man Trevor Burnett, GoalKeeper Coach Andrew Hazell, Physical Trainer Anson Ambrose, Medical Officer Denzil Hernandez.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Not a FIFA member									Not a FIFA member
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970	Did not enter									Declined participation
1974
1978	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	2	3
1982										6	2	0	4	8	13
1986										2	0	1	1	1	2
1990										2	0	0	2	0	5
1994										2	0	1	1	2	3
1998										2	0	0	2	1	8
2002	Suspended by FIFA									Suspended by FIFA
2006	Did not qualify									2	0	0	2	1	8
2010										2	0	0	2	1	3
2014										12	4	2	6	14	30
2018										2	0	2	0	6	6
2022	To be determined									To be determined
2026
Total		0/21								34	7	6	21	36	81

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1963	Did not enter
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1991	Did not qualify
1993
1996
1998	Did not enter
2000	Did not qualify
2002
2003
2005	Withdrew
2007	Did not qualify
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	3	9
2021	In progress
Total	Group stage	1/25	3	0	1	2	3	9

CONCACAF Nations League

CONCACAF Nations League record
Year	Division	Group	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	P/R	Rank
2019−20	B	C	6	3	1	2	12	10		18th
2022–23	B	To be determined
Total			6	3	1	2	12	10	18th

Current squad

The following 20 players were called up for CONCACAF Nations League

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Akel Clarke	25 October 1988	13	0	Walking Boyz Company
	GK	Alex Murray	21 October 1992	4	0	Santos Georgetown
	GK	Quillan Roberts	13 September 1994	1	0	Forge FC
	DF	Sam Cox	10 October 1990	17	0	Hampton & Richmond Borough
	DF	Sherwin Skeete	31 October 1994	0	0	Fruta Conquerors
	DF	Raphael Edwards	9 February 1996	0	0	Walking Boyz Company
	DF	Matthew Briggs	6 March 1991	10	1	Dartford
	DF	Kevin Layne	1 January 1998	5	0	New Amsterdam United
	DF	Liam Gordon	15 May 1999	3	0	Bolton
	MF	Daniel Wilson	1 November 1993	24	1	Western Tigers
	MF	Clive Nobrega	31 August 1989	11	2	Eagles United
	MF	Neil Danns	23 November 1982	10	8	Tranmere Rovers
	MF	Pernell Schultz	7 April 1994	8	2	Western Tigers
	MF	Delwin Fraser	11 July 1986	4	0	Guyana Defence Force
	MF	Stephen Duke-McKenna	17 August 2000	4	0	Queens Park Rangers U23
	MF	Ryan Hackett	11 September 1999	0	0	Fruta Conquerors
	FW	Sheldon Holder	3 September 1991	27	7	Morvant Caledonia United
	FW	Kelsey Benjamin	8 May 1999	4	1	Morvant Caledonia United
	FW	Keanu Marsh-Brown	10 August 1992	5	1	Memphis 901
	FW	Terell Ondaan	9 September 1993	3	0	Grenoble Foot 38

Staff

As of 6 September 2019

Head Coach	Márcio Máximo
Assistant Coach	Charles Pollard
Assistant Coach	Wilson Toledo
Team Manager	Rawle Adams
Goalkeeping Coach	Eon DeVeira
Kitman	Trevor Burnett
Head Scout	Faizal Khan[6]
GFF President	Wayne Forde[7]
Technical Director	Ian Greenwood[8]

Results and fixtures

Matches in last 12 months, as well as any future scheduled matches

Key

  Win   Draw   Loss

2021

25 March 2021 WC 1st Round Qualifying	Trinadad and Tobago	v	Guyana	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
				Stadium: Hasely Crawford Stadium

30 March 2021 WC 1st Round Qualifying	Guyana	v	Bahamas	Providence, Guyana
				Stadium: Providence Stadium

4 June 2021 WC 1st Round Qualifying	Saint Kitts and Nevis	v	Guyana	Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
				Stadium: Warner Park Sporting Complex

8 June 2021 WC 1st Round Qualifying	Guyana	v	Puerto Rico	Providence, Guyana
				Stadium: Providence Stadium

July 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying	Guatemala	v	Guyana	United States
		Report

Coaches

• Mervyn Wilson (1983)
• Lennox Arthur (1984-1987)
• Mervyn Wilson (1988)
• Gordon Braithwaite (1991-1992)
• Mervyn Wilson (1993-1994)
• Earl O'Neal (1996)
• Deryck White (1998)
• Joseph Wilson (2000–2002)
• Neider dos Santos (2002–2004)
• Jamaal Shabazz (2005–2009)
• Wayne Dover (2009–2010)
• Jamaal Shabazz (2011–2012)
• Denzil Thompson (2014)
• Jamaal Shabazz (2015–2016)
• Wayne Dover (2017)
• Michael Johnson (2018–2019)
• Márcio Máximo (2019–)

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
2. "Trinidad and Tobago – List of International Matches". Rsssf.com.
3. "Guyana – List of International Matches". Rsssf.com. Rec.Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
4. "Guyana: Fixtures and Results". FIFA. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
5. "A brief history of football in Guyana". Worldsoccer.com. 20 September 2014.
6. "Staff –Nurse among overseas trio to join squad". Guyana Times. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
8. "GFF APPOINTS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR". Gffonlione.com. 5 September 2016.