Guyana national football team
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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 (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.
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| Nickname(s) | Golden Jaguars | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Guyana Football Federation | ||
| Confederation | CONCACAF (North America) | ||
| Sub-confederation | CFU (Caribbean) | ||
| Head coach | Jamaal Shabazz | ||
| Captain | Elliot Bonds | ||
| Most caps | Walter Moore (77) | ||
| Top scorer | Nigel Codrington (18) | ||
| Home stadium | Providence Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | GUY | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 156  2 (19 September 2024)[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 | |||
 Surinam 9–0 British Guiana (Netherlands Antilles; 17 February 1952) Surinam 9–0 British Guiana (Aruba; 9 February 1953) Guyana 0–9 Mexico  (Santa Ana, United States; 2 December 1987) | |||
| Gold Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2019) | ||
| Best result | Group stage (2019) | ||
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.
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.
Guyana had a remarkable calendar year in 2006, with eleven successive wins, including five CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers[5] 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 Colombia, 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.[6]
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.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
As of 21 November 2023
| Head coach | Jamaal Shabazz |
| Assistant coach | Ibraheem Anil |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Renzo Patel |
| Team Manager | Tyrese Stanley |
| Goalkeeping coach | Evon Cobaine |
| Kitman | Hal Portius |
| Head scout | Romild Christie |
| GFF President | Wayne Forde[9] |
| Technical director | Gennarius Huxley |
- Feroze Usman (1975–82)
- 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 (2019–2021)
- Jamaal Shabazz (2021–present)
The following players were called up for the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League A matches against Suriname and Martinique on 5 and 9 September 2024.[10]
Caps and goals updated as of 9 September 2024, after the match against Martinique.
The following players have been called up within the past year.
- As of 9 September 2024[11]
- Players in bold are still active with Guyana.
| Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Moore | 77 | 5 | 2004–2019 |
| 2 | Charles Pollard | 60 | 3 | 1996–2012 |
| 3 | Daniel Wilson | 59 | 1 | 2011–present |
| 4 | Anthony Abrams | 58 | 15 | 2004–2017 |
| 5 | Trayon Bobb | 51 | 12 | 2011–present |
| 6 | Howard Lowe | 46 | 1 | 2002–2010 |
| Gregory Richardson | 46 | 17 | 2002–2019 | |
| 8 | Dwain Jacobs | 42 | 1 | 2008–2017 |
| 9 | Kayode McKinnon | 41 | 4 | 2002–2012 |
| Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigel Codrington | 18 | 26 | 0.69 | 2001–2010 |
| 2 | Omari Glasgow | 17 | 25 | 0.68 | 2021–present |
| Gregory Richardson | 17 | 46 | 0.37 | 2002–2019 | |
| 4 | Anthony Abrams | 15 | 58 | 0.26 | 2004–2017 |
| 5 | Trayon Bobb | 12 | 51 | 0.24 | 2011–present |
| 6 | Neil Danns | 11 | 25 | 0.44 | 2015–2023 |
| Emery Welshman | 11 | 28 | 0.39 | 2015–present | |
| 8 | Randolph Jerome | 9 | 21 | 0.43 | 1998–2008 |
| Sheldon Holder | 9 | 34 | 0.26 | 2011–2021 | |
| 10 | Vurlon Mills | 8 | 32 | 0.25 | 2011–2019 |
| FIFA World Cup | FIFA World Cup qualification | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| 1930 to 1970 | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | |||||||||||||
| 1974 | Did not enter | Declined participation | |||||||||||||
| 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 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | |||||||||
| 2026 | To be determined | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2030 | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
| 2034 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 0/13 | 40 | 9 | 6 | 25 | 43 | 92 | ||||||||
| CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | ||
| 1963 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
| 1965 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1967 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1977 | Did not qualify | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1981 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 13 | |||||||||||
| 1985 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1989 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | |||||||||||
| 1991 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 15 | |||||||||||
| 1993 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |||||||||||
| 1996 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | |||||||||||
| 1998 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Did not qualify | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 2002 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||||
| 2003 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2005 | Withdrew | Withdrew | |||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Did not qualify | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 2009 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | |||||||||||
| 2011 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 2013 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 11 | |||||||||||
| 2015 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2017 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 12 | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Group stage | 13th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | Squad | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | ||
| 2021 | Did not qualify | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 2023 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 17 | |||||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 1/27 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | — | 86 | 34 | 13 | 39 | 155 | 148 | ||
CONCACAF Nations League
| CONCACAF Nations League record | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Finals | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Division | Group | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | P/R | Finals | Result | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | |
| 2019–20 | B | C | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 2021 | Ineligible | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | B | B | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| 2023–24 | B | D | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| 2024–25 | A | A | To be determined | 2025 | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
| Total | — | — | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 40 | 29 | — | Total | 0 Titles | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| CFU Championship & Caribbean Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1978 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| 1979 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1981 | |||||||||||||||
| 1983 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||||||||
| 1985 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1988 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1989 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1990 | Did not qualify | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
| 1991 | Fourth place | 4th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1992 | Did not qualify | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||
| 1993 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1994 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| 1995 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1996 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||
| 1997 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | |||||||||
| 1998 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 4 | |||||||||
| 1999 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2001 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||
| 2005 | Withdrew | Withdrew | |||||||||||||
| 2007 | Group stage | 5th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| 2008 | Did not qualify | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | ||||||||
| 2010 | Group stage | 8th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Did not qualify | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 9 | ||||||||
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2017 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 12 | |||||||||
| Total | Fourth place | 3/25 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 25 | 71 | 27 | 15 | 29 | 122 | 104 | |
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Trinidad and Tobago – List of International Matches". Rsssf.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ "Guyana: Fixtures and Results". FIFA. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ "A brief history of football in Guyana". Worldsoccer.com. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ^ "Suriname 3-1 Guyana (Sep 5, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ "Martinique 2-2 Guyana (Sep 9, 2024) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Squad List". Guyana Football Federation. 22 August 2024 – via Instagram.
- ^ "Guyana". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- Official website
- Guyana – FIFA profile