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 2024 FIFA Series friendly matches against Cape Verde and Cambodia on 21 and 25 March 2024.[7]

Caps and goals updated as of 21 November 2023, after the match against Antigua and Barbuda.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Jamain Cumberbatch	(1999-04-21) 21 April 1999	0	0	Guyana Defence Force
18	1GK	Quillan Roberts	(1994-09-13) 13 September 1994	11	0	Western Suburbs
22	1GK	Akel Clarke	(1988-10-25) 25 October 1988	18	0	Slingerz
2	2DF	Leo Lovell	(1996-12-06) 6 December 1996	14	1	Slingerz
4	2DF	Jeremy Garrett	(2000-01-01) 1 January 2000	9	1	Slingerz
5	2DF	Jalen Jones	(1998-11-13) 13 November 1998	9	0	Aveley
6	2DF	Kevin Layne	(1998-01-01) 1 January 1998	7	0	Police
7	2DF	Marcus Simmons	(2000-07-16) 16 July 2000	1	0	Sigma FC
13	2DF	Liam Gordon	(1999-05-15) 15 May 1999	15	1	Walsall
14	2DF	Curtez Kellman	(1998-03-06) 6 March 1998	9	0	Slingerz
16	2DF	Raushan Ritch	(2000-04-05) 5 April 2000	3	0	Western Tigers
19	2DF	Quincy Adams	(1989-01-07) 7 January 1989	19	1	Slingerz
20	2DF	Amos Ramsey	(1991-12-20) 20 December 1991	0	0	Guyana Defence Force
21	2DF	Colin Nelson	(1991-08-09) 9 August 1991	31	1	Guyana Defence Force
3	3MF	Nathan Ferguson	(1995-10-12) 12 October 1995	0	0	Wealdstone
12	3MF	Kadell Daniel	(1994-06-03) 3 June 1994	16	3	Margate
15	3MF	Ryan Hackett	(1999-09-11) 11 September 1999	4	0	Guyana Defence Force
17	3MF	Daniel Wilson	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993	48	1	Western Tigers
23	3MF	Elliot Bonds	(2000-03-23) 23 March 2000	13	0	Cheltenham Town
	3MF	Darron Niles	(2003-05-03) 3 May 2003	3	0	Slingerz
8	4FW	Stephen Duke-McKenna	(2000-08-17) 17 August 2000	16	1	Sutton United
9	4FW	Deon Moore	(1999-05-14) 14 May 1999	7	3	Sutton United
10	4FW	Omari Glasgow	(2003-11-22) 22 November 2003	20	14	Chicago Fire FC II
11	4FW	Ryan Khedoo	(1999-10-27) 27 October 1999	0	0	Sigma FC

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Kai McKenzie-Lyle	(1997-11-30) 30 November 1997	12	1	Welling United	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
GK	Renell McKenzie-Lyle	(2000-04-19) 19 April 2000	0	0	Free agent	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
GK	Joshua Narine	(2003-01-22) 22 January 2003	0	0	Unknown	v.  Montserrat, 28 March 2023
DF	Jonathan Grant	(1993-10-16) 16 October 1993	3	0	York United	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
DF	Marcus Wilson	(2002-04-19) 19 April 2002	3	0	Caledonia United	v.  Montserrat, 28 March 2023
DF	Bayli Spencer-Adams	(2001-06-26) 26 June 2001	2	0	Leicester City	v.  Montserrat, 28 March 2023
MF	Sam Cox	(1990-10-10) 10 October 1990	32	0	Welling United	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
MF	Kelsey Benjamin	(1999-05-08) 8 May 1999	19	2	Guyana Defence Force	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
MF	Neil Danns	(1982-11-23) 23 November 1982	22	11	Macclesfield	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
MF	Trayon Bobb	(1993-01-05) 5 January 1993	51	12	Western Tigers	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
MF	Nathan Moriah-Welsh	(2002-03-18) 18 March 2002	10	1	Newport County	v.  Montserrat, 28 March 2023
FW	Tré Mitford	(1994-12-27) 27 December 1994	5	0	Telford United	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
FW	Emery Welshman	(1991-11-09) 9 November 1991	25	11	Sigma FC	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
FW	Callum Harriott	(1994-03-04) 4 March 1994	9	1	York City	2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
FW	Pernell Schultz	(1994-04-07) 7 April 1994	22	5	Police	v.  Montserrat, 28 March 2023
FW	Morgan Ferrier	(1994-11-15) 15 November 1994	0	0	Hapoel Acre	vs.  Bermuda, 25 March 2023
INJ Withdrew due to injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Retired from the national team. WD Withdrew for personal reasons.