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 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.

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 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League matches.[9]
• Match dates: 25 and 28 March 2023
• Opposition:  Bermuda and  Montserrat
• Caps and goals correct as of: 14 June 2022, after the match against  Haiti

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Akel Clarke	(1988-10-25) 25 October 1988	20	0	Slingerz
	1GK	Kai McKenzie-Lyle	(1997-11-30) 30 November 1997	9	1	Welling United
	1GK	Joshua Narine	(2003-01-22) 22 January 2003	0	0	Unknown
	2DF	Colin Nelson	(1991-08-09) 9 August 1991	31	1	Guyana Defence Force
	2DF	Sam Cox	(1990-10-10) 10 October 1990	31	0	Welling United
	2DF	Kadell Daniel	(1994-06-03) 3 June 1994	13	3	Horsham
	2DF	Liam Gordon	(1999-05-15) 15 May 1999	8	1	Walsall
	2DF	Jeremy Garrett	(2000-01-01) 1 January 2000	6	0	Slingerz
	2DF	Jalen Jones	(1998-11-13) 13 November 1998	3	0	Cray Wanderers
	2DF	Marcus Wilson	(2002-04-19) 19 April 2002	3	0	Caledonia United
	2DF	Bayli Spencer-Adams	(2001-06-26) 26 June 2001	2	0	Leicester City U-21
	2DF	Jonathan Grant	(1993-10-16) 16 October 1993	0	0	York United
	3MF	Daniel Wilson	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993	47	1	Western Tigers
	3MF	Nathan Moriah-Welsh	(2002-03-18) 18 March 2002	10	1	Newport County
	3MF	Leo Lovell	(1996-12-06) 6 December 1996	10	0	Slingerz
	3MF	Elliot Bonds	(2000-03-23) 23 March 2000	7	0	Cheltenham Town
	3MF	Curtez Kellman	(1998-03-06) 6 March 1998	1	0	Police
	4FW	Trayon Bobb	(1993-01-05) 5 January 1993	50	12	Western Tigers
	4FW	Emery Welshman	(1991-11-09) 9 November 1991	25	11	Forge
	4FW	Pernell Schultz	(1994-04-07) 7 April 1994	22	5	Police
	4FW	Kelsey Benjamin	(1999-05-08) 8 May 1999	19	2	Guyana Defence Force
	4FW	Omari Glasgow	(2003-11-22) 22 November 2003	12	6	Chicago Fire II
	4FW	Tré Mitford	(1994-12-27) 27 December 1994	3	0	Boston United

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Quillan Roberts	(1994-09-13) 13 September 1994	6	0	Western Suburbs	vs.  Bermuda, 25 March 2023
GK	Alex Murray	(1992-10-21) 21 October 1992	5	0	Morvant Caledonia United	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
DF	Quincy Adams	(1989-01-07) 7 January 1989	23	1	Fruta Conquerors	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
DF	Matthew Briggs	(1991-03-06) 6 March 1991	17	1	Gosport Borough	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
MF	Neil Danns	(1982-11-23) 23 November 1982	23	11	Macclesfield	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
MF	Clive Nobrega	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993	23	0	Eagles United	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
MF	Stephen Duke-McKenna	(2000-08-17) 17 August 2000	11	0	Leyton Orient	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
MF	Jobe Caesar	(1999-01-01) 1 January 1999	8	0	Guyana Defence Force	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
MF	Ryan Hackett	(1999-09-11) 11 September 1999	2	0	Guyana Defence Force	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
FW	Morgan Ferrier	(1994-11-15) 15 November 1994	0	0	Nakhon Ratchasima	vs.  Bermuda, 25 March 2023
FW	Terell Ondaan	(1993-09-09) 9 September 1993	9	0	Free agent	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
FW	Anthony Jeffrey	(1994-10-03) 3 October 1994	7	0	Billericay Town	v.  Haiti, 14 June 2022
INJ Withdrew due to injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Retired from the national team. WD Withdrew for personal reasons.