Belize national football team

Belize
Nickname(s) The Jaguars
Association Football Federation of Belize (FFB)
Sub-confederation UNCAF (Central America)
Confederation CONCACAF (North America)
Head coach Leroy Sherrier Lewis
Most caps Elroy Smith (36)
Top scorer Deon McCaulay (17)
Home stadium FFB Field, Belmopan
FIFA code BLZ
FIFA ranking 159 Increase 5 (9 April 2015)
Highest FIFA ranking 128 (14 March 2013)
Lowest FIFA ranking 201 (23 November 2007, 16 January 2008)
Elo ranking 172
Highest Elo ranking 167 (14 June 2013)
Lowest Elo ranking 189 (January 2008)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 El Salvador 3–0 Belize 
(San Salvador, El Salvador; November 29, 1995)
Biggest win
 Belize 7–1 Nicaragua 
(Belize City, Belize; April 17, 2002)
Biggest defeat
 Costa Rica 7–0 Belize 
(San José, Costa Rica; March 17, 1999)
 Mexico 7–0 Belize 
(Monterrey, Mexico; June 21, 2008)
CONCACAF Championship
& Gold Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 2013)
Best result Group stage

The Belize national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Belice) is a national team of Belize and is controlled by the Football Federation of Belize. It is affiliated to the Central American Football Union of CONCACAF.

History

Overview

Although Belize gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1980 (and many of the UK's current colonies have international teams), Belize did not play international football until 1995. It made its debut at the 1995 UNCAF Nations Cup and was eliminated in the first round after losing to El Salvador and Costa Rica.

[1]In March 2013 it reached its highest ever ranking of 128th.[2]

Belize has never qualified for the World Cup but finished fourth in the 2013 Copa Centroamericana. Their fourth-place finish in the 2013 Copa Centroamericana gave Belize its first qualification to a major international competition, that being the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

June 2011 suspension by FIFA

On 15 June 2011, Belize kicked-off its 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign against minnows Montserrat, winning 2–5 away in a match played in the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad. However, the return which was scheduled for 19 June was postponed by FIFA when they suspended the FFB due to governmental interference.[3]

Facilities

FFB Field in Belmopan is the home stadium for the Belize national football team. Prior to this stadium, Belize had no facilities that met FIFA specifications. Apart from this Belize has many fields to play on but with no facilities for the players.

Competition records

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1994 Did not exist
1998 to 2014 Did not qualify
Russia 2018 To be determined
Qatar 2022
Total 0/20

Gold Cup record

CONCACAF Gold Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
1991 to 1993 Did not exist
1996 to 2002 Did not qualify
United States Mexico 2003 Did not enter
2005 to 2011 Did not qualify
United States 2013 Group stage 12th 3 0 0 3 1 11
United States Canada 2015 Did not qualify
Total 1/13

Copa Centroamericana

Copa Centroamericana Record
Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA
Costa Rica 1991Did Not Exist
Honduras 1993Did Not Exist
El Salvador 1995Group Stage6th200215
Guatemala 1997Preliminary7th201112
Costa Rica 1999Group Stage6th2002112
Honduras 2001Group Stage6th201137
Panama 2003Did Not Enter
Guatemala 2005Group Stage7th300307
El Salvador 2007Group Stage7th300337
Honduras 2009Group Stage7th301237
Panama 2011Group Stage7th301238
Costa Rica 2013Fourth Place4th511324
United States 2014Group Stage7th300316
Total 9/12 0 Titles 25 1 5 19 17 59

The 1995 tournament in El Salvador saw Belize's international debut. They played the hosts in their first-ever international on 29 November in Group A. El Salvador won 3–0 with all goals coming in the second half.[4] On 1 December Belize scored their first-ever international goal as they lost 2–1 to Costa Rica and were eliminated from the tournament. Both other teams advanced to the semi-finals and were defeated there, Costa Rica's conqueror Honduras beat Guatemala in the final.

Team staff

Name Nat Position
Jorge Nunez Brazil Head coach
Carlos Slusher Belize Assistant Head coach
Peter Jones Belize Assistant Head coach
Kent Gabourel Sr. Belize Goalkeeping coach
Phillip Marin Honduras Physical Trainer
Thomas Rivars Belize Physiotherapist

Current squad

The following 21 players were called up for the training camp in April.
Caps and goals updated as September 10, 2014 after the game against El Salvador.

# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
GK Woodrow West September 19, 1985 20 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
GK Shane Orio August 7, 1980 25 0 Guatemala Suchitepéquez
GK Tevin Wilford Gamboa January 22, 1994 Belize TBD
DF Dalton Eiley (captain) December 10, 1983 32 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
DF Ian Gaynair February 26, 1986 35 1 Belize Belmopan Bandits
DF Elroy Smith November 30, 1981 40 2 Honduras Platense
DF Kahlil Velasquez August 13, 1985 3 0 Belize TBD
DF Shane Armstrong November 14, 1988 Belize TBD
Elroy Kuylen June 6, 1983 18 3 Belize TBD
DF Allan La Flore TBD TBD
MF Trevor Lennan January 5, 1983 26 1 Belize Police United
MF Nahjib Guerra TBD 2 0 Belize TBD
MF Denmark Casey January 14, 1994 4 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
MF Andrés Makin April 11, 1992 7 0 Belize Police United
MF Dellon Torres June 14, 1994 4 0 Belize Sagitun
MF Jordy Leonel Polanco TBD 1 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
MF Highking Roberts May 23, 1994 1 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
MF Stephen Martinez March 8, 1989 Belize Belize Defence Force
MF Amin August Jr. August 16, 1990 1 0 Belize TBD
FW Deon McCaulay September 20, 1987 32 17 United States Atlanta Silverbacks
FW Jarret Davis June 17, 1989 4 0 Belize Belize
FW Daniel Jimenez April 14, 1988 22 2 Belize Police United
FW Carlton Thomas TBD 1 0 Belize TBD
FW Michael Salazar November 15, 1992 4 0 United States UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
FW Marlon Meza September 12, 1986 Belize TBD
Brian Hulse TBD TBD

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the past 18 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Frank Lopez December 3, 1989 1 0 Belize Police United {{{latest}}}
DF Tyrone Pandy January 14, 1986 10 0 Belize Belize Defence Force 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
DF Cristobal Gilharry September 2, 1980 8 0 Belize Belize 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
DF Evral Trapp January 22, 1987 20 0 Belize Verdes
DF Felix Miranda January 14, 1993 0 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
MF David Trapp August 5, 1981 15 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
MF Harrison Tasher January 5, 1985 13 0 Belize Belize Defence Force 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
MF Devon Makin November 11, 1990 7 0 Belize Police United 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
MF Luis Torres March 2, 1993 2 0 Belize Placencia Assassins 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
MF Harrison Roches November 29, 1983 35 4 Belize Police United
MF John King November 13, 1993 1 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
FW Ashley Torres September 15, 1985 5 0 Belize Placencia Assassins 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
FW Lennox Castillo November 19, 1985 3 0 Belize Police United 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
FW Clifton West April 21, 1989 3 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
FW Evan Mariano January 20, 1988 14 0 Belize Belmopan Bandits
FW Jeromy James April 11, 1981 13 1 Belize Belmopan Bandits

Records

As of 11 April 2015
Players in bold text are still active with Belize.

Most Caps
# Player Caps Career
1 Elroy Smith 40 2004–
2 Harrison Roches 35 2004–
= Ian Gaynair 35 2007–
4 Deon McCaulay 32 2007–
= Dalton Eiley 32 2005–
6 Victor Morales 28 2004–
7 Trevor Lennan 26 2007–
8 Shane Orio 25 2000–
9 Daniel Jimenez 22 2008–
= Ryan Simpson 22 2007–
10 Evral Trapp 20 2010–
= Woodrow West 20 2009–
Top Goalscorers
# Player Goals Career
1 Deon McCaulay 17 2007–
2 Dion Frazer 5 2000–2008
3 Harrison Róches 4 2004–
4 Norman Nuñez 3 1995–2005
= Vallan Symms 3 2000–
= Bent Burgess 3 2000–2002
= Elroy Kuylen 3 2009–
8 David MacCauley 2 1995–1996
= Aaron Nolberto 2 1999–2001
= Elroy Smith 2 2004–
= Daniel Jiménez 2 2008–

Managers

Since the creation of the national team in 1995, several coaches have been in charge of managing Belize. From 1995 to 1996, Winston Michael was appointed as Belize's first ever manager. As of January 2012, the Belize national football team has had 11 managers.

Manager Period in charge Played Won Drawn Lost Win %
Belize Michael, WinstonWinston Michael 1995–1996 4 0 0 4 0.0
Argentina Bilches, ManuelManuel Bilches 1999-2000 6 0 1 5 0.0
Costa Rica Sherrier Lewis, LeroyLeroy Sherrier Lewis 2001 5 3 1 1 60.0
Brazil Santana, EduardoEduardo Santana 2003 0 0 0 0 —
Belize Adderly, AnthonyAnthony Adderly 2004–2006 5 0 0 5 0.0
Brazil Antonio Carlos Vieira 2006–2007 3 0 0 3 0.0
Guatemala Salas, José PalmiroJosé Palmiro Salas 2008 2 1 0 1 50.0
United States Mork, IanIan Mork[5] 2008 4 0 1 3 0.0
Mexico Couoh, RenanRenan Couoh 2008–2009 3 0 1 2 0.0
Honduras José de la Paz Herrera 2010–2012 7 2 2 3 28.6
Costa Rica Leroy Sherrier Lewis 2012–2013 5 1 1 3 20.0
Belize Charlie Slusher 2013 1 0 1 0 0.0
United States Mork, IanIan Mork[6] 2013-2014 4 0 1 3 0.0
Costa Rica Leroy Sherrier Lewis 2014 3 0 0 3 0.0
Brazil Jorge Nunez 2015- 2 0 2 0 0.0

Schedule and recent results

Recent match results

References

  1. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html
  2. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=blz/ranking/gender=m/index.html
  3. ↑ Suspension of the Football Federation of Belize – FIFA
  4. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesb/belize-intres.html
  5. ↑ As World Cup soccer coach,Mork's gotta Belize – San Diego Union Tribune
  6. ↑ As World Cup soccer coach,Mork's gotta Belize – San Diego Union Tribune

External links