Guyana national football team

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]

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]

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.

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.

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.

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]

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.

The following players were called up for the Courts Caribbean Classic friendly tournament matches against Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago on 27 and 29 March 2022.[9]

Caps and goals are correct as of 1 February 2022, after the match against Suriname.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Akel Clarke	(1988-10-25) 25 October 1988	17	0	Mount Pleasant
18	1GK	Ronaldo Blair	(2003-09-13) 13 September 2003	0	0	Santos
8	2DF	Sam Cox	(1990-10-10) 10 October 1990	26	0	Hampton & Richmond Borough
3	2DF	Kevin Layne	(1998-01-01) 1 January 1998	9	0	Mount Pleasant
5	2DF	Shemar Fraser	(1998-06-03) 3 June 1998	2	0	Police
4	2DF	Jeremy Garrett	(2000-01-01) 1 January 2000	1	0	Guyana Defence Force
15	2DF	Marcus Wilson	(2002-04-19) 19 April 2002	1	0	Western Tigers
19	2DF	Quincy Adams	(1989-01-07) 7 January 1989	0	0	Western Tigers
23	3MF	Daniel Wilson (captain)	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993	40	1	Western Tigers
9	3MF	Clive Nobrega	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993	18	0	Eagles United
16	3MF	Neil Danns	(1982-11-23) 23 November 1982	17	9	Macclesfield
7	3MF	Jobe Caesar	(1999-01-01) 1 January 1999	6	0	Guyana Defence Force
6	3MF	Nathan Moriah-Welsh	(2002-03-18) 18 March 2002	4	0	Bournemouth
2	3MF	Leo Lovell	(1996-12-06) 6 December 1996	2	0	Den Amstel
21	3MF	Javier George	(2001-01-27) 27 January 2001	2	0	York United
20	4FW	Trayon Bobb	(1993-01-05) 5 January 1993	42	11	Western Tigers
11	4FW	Kelsey Benjamin	(1999-05-08) 8 May 1999	13	1	Guyana Defence Force
12	4FW	Pernell Schultz	(1994-04-07) 7 April 1994	9	2	Police
10	4FW	Omari Glasgow	(2003-11-22) 22 November 2003	6	1	Fruta Conquerors
17	4FW	Terell Ondaan	(1993-09-09) 9 September 1993	4	0	FC U Craiova 1948
13	4FW	Jamal Pereira	(1988-03-09) 9 March 1988	1	0	Den Amstel
14	4FW	Jamanine Beckles		0	0	Santos

The following players have been called up within the past year.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Alex Murray	(1992-10-21) 21 October 1992	5	0	Santos	vs.  Barbados, 27 March 2022
GK	Sese Norville	(2000-08-05) 5 August 2000	2	0	Milerock	vs.  Barbados, 27 March 2022 PRE
GK	Kai McKenzie-Lyle	(1997-11-30) 30 November 1997	9	1	Cambridge United	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
GK	Shawn Adonis	(2002-05-14) 14 May 2002	0	0	Police	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
GK	Quillan Roberts	(1994-09-13) 13 September 1994	3	0	Electric City FC	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021 PRE
DF	Kevin Dundas	(1996-03-16) 16 March 1996	2	0	Santos	vs.  Barbados, 27 March 2022 PRE
DF	Colin Nelson	(1991-08-09) 9 August 1991	31	1	Defence Force	vs.  Suriname, 1 February 2022
DF	Jordan Dover	(1994-12-14) 14 December 1994	4	0	Simcoe County Rovers FC	vs.  Suriname, 1 February 2022
DF	Nicolai Andrews	(2002-11-03) 3 November 2002	4	0	Santos	vs.  Suriname, 1 February 2022
DF	Bevan Baker	(1999-07-29) 29 July 1999	1	0	Unattached	vs.  Suriname, 1 February 2022
DF	Thevron Pluck	(2001-01-11) 11 January 2001	0	0	Unattached	vs.  Suriname, 1 February 2022
DF	Matthew Briggs	(1991-03-06) 6 March 1991	15	1	Gosport Borough	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
DF	Liam Gordon	(1999-05-15) 15 May 1999	7	0	Bolton Wanderers	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
DF	Reiss Greenidge	(1996-02-08) 8 February 1996	1	0	Barnet	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
DF	Terence Vancooten	(1997-12-29) 29 December 1997	16	1	Stevenage	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
MF	Ryan Hackett	(1999-09-11) 11 September 1999	0	0	Guyana Defence Force	vs.  Barbados, 27 March 2022
MF	Darren Niles	(2003-05-03) 3 May 2003	1	0	Santos	vs.  Barbados, 27 March 2022 PRE
MF	Jamar Harrigan	(2002-04-06) 6 April 2002	0	0	Buxton United	vs.  Barbados, 27 March 2022 PRE
MF	Curtez Kellman	(1998-03-06) 6 March 1998	1	0	Daytona State College	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
MF	Stephen Duke-McKenna	(2000-08-17) 17 August 2000	8	0	Queens Park Rangers	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
MF	Callum Harriott	(1994-03-04) 4 March 1994	9	1	Free agent	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021 PRE
FW	Nicholas McArthur	(2001-12-21) 21 December 2001	4	0	Portmore United	vs.  Suriname, 1 February 2022
FW	Chris Macey	(1999-12-16) 16 December 1999	1	0	Guyana Defence Force	vs.  Suriname, 1 February 2022
FW	Connor Kurran-Browne	(2002-01-26) 26 January 2002	1	0	Bournemouth	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
FW	Keanu Marsh-Brown	(1992-08-10) 10 August 1992	16	1	East Riffa	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
FW	Sheldon Holder	(1991-09-30) 30 September 1991	34	9	Caledonia AIA	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
FW	Emery Welshman	(1991-11-09) 9 November 1991	22	10	Forge FC	vs.  Guatemala, 3 July 2021
INJ Withdrew due to injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Retired from the national team. WD Withdrew for personal reasons.