Trinidad and Tobago national football team
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| Nickname(s) | The Soca Warriors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Trinidad and Tobago Football Association | ||
| Confederation | CONCACAF (North America) | ||
| Sub-confederation | CFU (Caribbean) | ||
| Head coach | Terry Fenwick | ||
| Captain | Khaleem Hyland | ||
| Most caps | Angus Eve (117) | ||
| Top scorer | Stern John (70) | ||
| Home stadium | Hasely Crawford Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | TRI | ||
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| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 98  2 (4 April 2024)[1] | ||
| Highest | 25 (June 2001) | ||
| Lowest | 106 (October 2010) | ||
| First international | |||
 British Guiana 1–4 Trinidad and Tobago  (British Guiana; 21 July 1905)[2] | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Trinidad and Tobago 15–0 Anguilla  (Arima, Trinidad and Tobago; 10 November 2019) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Mexico 7–0 Trinidad and Tobago (Mexico City, Mexico; 8 October 2000) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2006) | ||
| Best result | Group stage (2006) | ||
| CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup | |||
| Appearances | 16 (first in 1967) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (1973) | ||
The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed the Soca Warriors, represents the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in international football. It is controlled by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association and competes in both CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) and the Caribbean Football Union, its sub-continental confederation. The team is ranked 93rd in the world according to the FIFA Rankings, and 89 in the World Football Elo Ratings. They reached the first round of the 2006 World Cup and held the record of being the smallest nation (both in size and population) to ever qualify for a World Cup, until the 2018 World Cup, when Iceland broke the (population) record.
The national team competes in the World Cup and the Gold Cup, in addition to the Caribbean Cup and other competitions by invitation. The Soca Warriors lone appearance at the World Cup came in 2006 after the team defeated Bahrain 2–1 on aggregate in the CONCACAF–AFC intercontinental play-off. The team has qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup on eight occasions with their best performance in 2000 after reaching the semi-finals, finishing 3rd. However, the national team has experienced great success in the Caribbean Cup having won the sub-continental competition eight times and runners-up on five occasions.
The separate Trinidad and Tobago national football teams are not related to the national team and are not directly affiliated with the game's governing bodies of FIFA or CONCACAF, but are affiliated with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation.
History
1970s
At the 1973 CONCACAF Championship, Trinidad and Tobago fell two points short of qualifying for the 1974 World Cup Finals in controversial fashion. Trinidad and Tobago lost a crucial game on 4 December 1973 against hosts Haiti 2–1 after being denied five goals. The referee, José Roberto Henríquez of El Salvador, and Canadian linesman James Higuet were subsequently banned for life by FIFA for the dubious events of the match.[4][5][6]
1980s to 1990s: The Strike Squad
Trinidad and Tobago came within one game of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Nicknamed the Strike Squad during the qualifying campaign, Trinidad and Tobago needed only a draw to qualify in their final game played at home against the United States on 19 November 1989. In front of an over-capacity crowd of more than 30,000 at the National Stadium on Red Day,[7] Paul Caligiuri of the United States scored the only goal of the game in the 38th minute dashing Trinidad and Tobago's qualification hopes.[8] For the good behaviour of the crowd at the stadium, despite the devastating loss and overcrowded stands, the spectators of Trinidad and Tobago were awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1989.[9]
2000s
2006 FIFA World Cup
Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, its first-ever qualification for the tournament. During their qualifying campaign, they sat at the bottom of the table in the final round of qualifying with one point from three. However, after the arrival of Leo Beenhakker as team coach and the recalling of veteran players Dwight Yorke and Russell Latapy, Trinidad and Tobago reversed its fortunes and placed fourth in the group. They qualified via a play-off against Bahrain, recovering from a 1–1 draw at home to win 1–0 in Manama, Bahrain to book a place in the finals. As a result, Trinidad and Tobago became the smallest country to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, a record they held until Iceland reached their first World Cup in 2018.
In Germany, Trinidad and Tobago were grouped with England, Sweden and Paraguay in Group B. They drew their first game 0–0 against Sweden despite going down to ten men early in the second half. They lost both their remaining matches against England and Paraguay by a 2–0 margin.
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2010s
2010 World Cup Cycle
Trinidad and Tobago began their campaign in the Second Round with a home and away series against Bermuda. Trinidad and Tobago lost the first match at home 1–2, but bounced back to win the away leg in Bermuda 2–0 to progress to the third round 3–2 on aggregate. The Soca Warriors advanced to Group 1 of the Third Round alongside the United States, Guatemala, and Cuba. Trinidad and Tobago progressed to the Fourth Round by placing second in the group with eleven points from six games. This qualified Trinidad and Tobago for the Fourth Round, or Hexagonal, against Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States. The Fourth Round was also played in a home and away format among the six teams involved. Qualification quickly turned disastrous for Trinidad and Tobago as they tied 2–2 with El Salvador after leading 2–0. They would then tie 1–1 with Honduras following a late-strike. However, three consecutive losses to the United States, Costa Rica, and Mexico found the Soca Warriors bottom of the Hexagonal with two points from their first five matches. In their sixth match, they recorded their first win of the round by defeating El Salvador 1–0. However, the victory was short lived as they suffered losses to Honduras and the United States the following month; ending their hopes to qualify for the World Cup.
2014 World Cup Cycle
Trinidad and Tobago entered qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the Second Round of CONCACAF as a seeded team with Guyana, Bermuda, and Barbados the other teams drawn in Group B. The Soca Warriors defeated Bermuda (1–0) and Bardados (2–0) in their first two matches to earn a full six points. However, on 7 October 2011, Trinidad and Tobago lost away to Bermuda in Devonshire Parish 2–1 to hurt its chances of advancing to the Third Round of qualification.[10] The team quickly rebounded four days later by defeating Barbados 4–0 in Hasely Crawford Stadium with a hat-trick from Lester Peltier.[11] Entering the final two matches in the Second Round, Trinidad and Tobago found itself in second place behind Guyana by one point. As only the group winner would advance to the Third Round of qualification, the Soca Warriors needed to take four points in the next two matches both facing Guyana to advance. Trinidad and Tobago first traveled to Providence, Guyana to face the Golden Jaguars on 11 November 2011. With an early goal from Ricky Shakes and another from Leon Cort in the 81st minute, Trinidad and Tobago found itself behind 2–0 and facing elimination. Kenwyne Jones managed to pull the team within a goal in the 93rd minute, but it was too late as the match would end 2–1 in favor of Guyana.[12] With the loss, Trinidad and Tobago were officially eliminated from qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 12 January 2012, Otto Pfister was sacked following a disappointing campaign which saw the country's earliest exit from World Cup qualification since 1994.[13]
2018 World Cup Cycle
Trinidad and Tobago entered qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the Fourth Round and was drawn into Group C with Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the United States. The team would finish second in Group C with a total of 11 points to qualify for the Hexagonal. However, they would finish in sixth place in the final round with only 6 points, even though they eliminated the United States from World Cup contention with a 2–1 victory in the final match.
Team image
Home stadium
For the first eighty years of their existence, Trinidad and Tobago played their home matches all around the country with Queen's Park Oval, generally thought of as the most picturesque and largest of the old cricket grounds in the West Indies, as the most often used venue.[14] The cricket ground served as the country's largest stadium until the new National Stadium was built in Mucurapo, Port of Spain, to host the nation's athletics competitions and international football matches.
The stadium later was renovated and renamed after Hasely Crawford, the first person from Trinidad and Tobago to win an Olympic gold medal, prior to Trinidad and Tobago hosting the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship. The stadium currently has a seating capacity of 23,000 and is owned by the Trinidad and Tobago government and managed through the Ministry of Sport via its special purpose state agency called SporTT.[15]
In recent years, the TTFA have hosted matches at the smaller 10,000 seat Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, citing a problem with the lighting system at Hasely Crawford Stadium, lower expenses for matches at Ato Boldon, and fans being seated closer to the pitch.[16] Trinidad and Tobago hosted two games during "The Hex" in late 2017. They lost to Honduras 1–2 on 1 September 2017. On 10 October 2017, Trinidad and Tobago defeated the United States 2–1, causing the United States to fail to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. Ato Boldon Stadium has since hosted friendlies against Grenada, Guyana, and Panama.
Supporters
The major supporters' group for the national team is the Soca Warriors Supporters Club or the Warrior Nation. The group is a non-profit organisation that is independent of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. Formed shortly after Trinidad and Tobago secured qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the supporters' club was organised by Soca Warriors Online founder Inshan Mohammed and Nigel Myers.
The group's activities include promoting teams locally and globally, lobbying the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association as representatives of football fans, advocating fair pricing and allocation of event tickets, organising travel for fans to home and away matches, providing a family-oriented fans' organisation, and promoting football among the young people of Trinidad and Tobago.
Players
For all past and present players who have appeared for the national team, see Trinidad and Tobago national team players.
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League A match against Honduras on 17 November 2019.
Goals and caps are updated as of 17 November 2019, after the match against Honduras.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called to the squad in the last twelve months.
Previous squads
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Results and schedule
2019
| 5 June 2019 Friendly | Japan  | 0–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | Aichi, Japan |
| 19:30 UTC+9 | Report | Stadium: Toyota Stadium Attendance: 38,507 Referee: Zhang Lei (China) |
| 10 June 2019 Friendly | Trinidad and Tobago | 0–2 |  Canada | Fullerton, United States |
| 15:00 UTC−7 | Report | Arfield  5', 90' |
Stadium: Titan Stadium | |
| Note: Closed door match | ||||
| 18 June 2019 Gold Cup group stage | Panama  | 2–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | Saint Paul, United States |
| 18:30 UTC−5 | Cooper 53' Bárcenas 68' |
Report | Stadium: Allianz Field Referee: Adonai Escobedo González (Mexico) |
| 22 June 2019 Gold Cup group stage | United States  | 6–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | Cleveland, United States |
| 20:00 UTC-4 | Long 41', 90' Zardes 66', 69'Pulisic 73'Arriola 78' |
Report | Stadium: FirstEnergy Stadium Referee: Said Martínez (Honduras) |
| 26 June 2019 Gold Cup group stage | Trinidad and Tobago | 1–1 |  Guyana | Kansas City, United States |
| 17:30 UTC−5 | Molino 80' |
Report | Danns 54' |
Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica) |
| 11 August 2019 Friendly | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  | 1–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Cunningham 4' |
Report | Stadium: Victoria Park |
| 6 September 2019 Nations League | Martinique  | 1–1 | Trinidad and Tobago | Fort-de-France, Martinique |
| 18:00 UTC-4 | Mandouki 41' |
Report | Jones 65' (pen.) |
Stadium: Stade Pierre-Aliker Referee: José Kellys (Panama) |
| 9 September 2019 Nations League | Trinidad and Tobago | 2–2 | Martinique | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| 21:00 UTC-4 | Molino 17' Telfer 46' |
Report | Carr 60' (o.g.) Delem 80' |
Stadium: Hasely Crawford Stadium Referee: Diego Montaño (Mexico) |
| 2 October 2019 Friendly | Mexico | 2–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | Toluca, Mexico |
| 21:06 (UTC−6) |
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Report | Stadium: Estadio Nemesio Díez |
| 10 October 2019 Nations League | Trinidad and Tobago | 0–2 |  Honduras | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| 19:00 UTC-4 | Report | Stadium: Hasely Crawford Stadium Referee: Mario Escobar (Guatemala) |
| 14 October 2019 Friendly | Venezuela  | 2–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | Caracas, Venezuela |
| 18:00 UTC–4 | Report | Stadium: Estadio Olímpico de la UCV Referee: Gustavo Murillo (Colombia) |
| 10 November 2019 Friendly | Trinidad and Tobago | 15–0 | Anguilla | Couva, Trinidad and Tobago |
| 18:00 UTC−4 | Report | Stadium: Ato Boldon Stadium |
| 14 November 2019 Friendly | Ecuador  | 3–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | Portoviejo, Ecuador |
| 19:00 UTC−5 |
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Report | Stadium: Estadio Reales Tamarindos Referee: Kevin Ortega (Peru) |
| 17 November 2019 Nations League | Honduras | 4–0 | Trinidad and Tobago | San Pedro Sula, Honduras |
| 21:00 UTC−6 | Report | Stadium: Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) |
2020
| March 27 Friendly | Canada | v | Trinidad and Tobago | Langford, Canada |
| 19:30 (UTC-8) | Report | Stadium: Westhills Stadium |
| March 31 Friendly | Canada | v | Trinidad and Tobago | Langford, Canada |
| 19:30 (UTC-8) | Report | Stadium: Westhills Stadium |
Records
As of 29 April 2017
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.[17]
Players with an equal number of caps are ranked in chronological order of reaching the milestone.
Most capped players
| Rank | Player | Position | Caps | Goals | Career[18] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angus Eve | 117 | 34 | 1994–2005 | |
| 2 | Stern John | 115 | 70 | 1995–2011 | |
| 3 | Marvin Andrews | 103 | 10 | 1996–2009 | |
| 4 | Densill Theobald | 99 | 2 | 2002–2013 | |
| 5 | Carlos Edwards | 96 | 4 | 1999–2017 | |
| 6 | Kenwyne Jones | 91 | 23 | 2003–2017 | |
| 7 | Dennis Lawrence | 89 | 5 | 2000–2010 | |
| 8 | Jan-Michael Williams | 81 | 0 | 2003– | |
| 9 | Clayton Ince | 79 | 0 | 1997–2009 | |
| 10 | Russell Latapy | 78 | 29 | 1988–2009 |
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Position | Goals | Caps | Rate | Career[18] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stern John | 70 | 115 | 0.61 | 1995–2011 | |
| 2 | Angus Eve | 34 | 117 | 0.29 | 1994–2005 | |
| 3 | Russell Latapy | 29 | 81 | 0.36 | 1988–2009 | |
| 4 | Arnold Dwarika | 28 | 73 | 0.38 | 1993–2008 | |
| 5 | Cornell Glen | 24 | 71 | 0.34 | 2002–2013 | |
| 6 | Kenwyne Jones | 23 | 91 | 0.25 | 2003–2017 | |
| 7 | Nigel Pierre | 22 | 57 | 0.39 | 1999–2005 | |
| 8 | Leonson Lewis | 21 | 31 | 0.68 | 1988–1996 | |
| 9 | Dwight Yorke | 19 | 72 | 0.26 | 1989–2009 | |
| 10 | Devorn Jorsling | 18 | 41 | 0.44 | 2007–2015 | |
| 10 | Kevin Molino | 18 | 39 | 0.46 | 2010– |
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
Trinidad and Tobago first appeared at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Soca Warriors finished bottom of the group with one point from the team's three matches. Even though the team did not advance in the competition, Trinidad and Tobago recorded its first point from the FIFA World Cup after a 0–0 draw to Sweden in its first match.
Trinidad and Tobago failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup between 1966 and 2002, then again in 2010 to 2018.
| Trinidad and Tobago's FIFA World Cup Record | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup qualification record | Manager | |||||||||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D * | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |||
 1930
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Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
 1934
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 1938
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 1950
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 1954
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 1958
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 1962
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 1966
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Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | Braithwaite | |||||||||
| 1970
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4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | Laing | ||||||||||
 1974
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9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 8 | Verity | ||||||||||
 1978
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6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9 | Vidale | ||||||||||
 1982
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4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Corneal | ||||||||||
| 1986
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4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | Warner | ||||||||||
 1990
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12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 6 | Cummings | ||||||||||
| 1994
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4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | Isa / D'Oliviera | ||||||||||
| 1998
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8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 10 | de Araújo / Vraneš | ||||||||||
 2002
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22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 32 | 28 | Porterfield / Simões | ||||||||||
| 2006
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Group stage | 27th of 32 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 30 | 25 | St. Clair / Beenhakker | ||
 2010
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Did not qualify | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 30 | Maturana / Latapy | |||||||||
| 2014
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6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 4 | Pfister | ||||||||||
 2018
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16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 20 | 28 | Hart | ||||||||||
 2022
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To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
| 2026
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| Total | Group stage | 1/21 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 138 | 55 | 28 | 55 | 200 | 183 | |||
- * Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. Darker color indicates win, normal color indicates lost.
- ** Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.
- *** Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Managers
- Joffre Chambers (1964)
- Amerigo Brunner (1965–1966)
- Conrad Braithwaite (1965–1967)
- Michael Laing (1968)
- Trevor Smith (1969)
- Kevin Verity (1972–1973)
- Rudi Gutendorf (1976)
- Edgar Vidale (1976)
- Alvin Corneal (1980)
- Kenneth Butcher (1980)
- Roderick Warner (1984–1985)
- Everald Cummings (1988–1989)
- Kenwyn Cooper (1989)
- Alvin Corneal (1990)
- Edgar Vidale (1990–1991)
- Muhammad Isa (1992)
- Clóvis de Oliviera (1992)
- Everald Cummings (1993)
- Kenny Joseph (1994)
- Zoran Vraneš (1994–1996)
- Jochen Figge (1996)
- Kenny Joseph (1996)
- Sebastian de Araújo (1996)
- Edgar Vidale (1997)
- Bertille St. Clair (1997–2000)
- Ian Porterfield (2000–2001)
- René Simões (2001–2002)
- Clayton Morris (2002)
- Hannibal Najjar (2002–2003)
- Zoran Vraneš (2003)
- Stuart Charles-Fevrier (2003)
- Ron La Forest (2004)
- Bertille St. Clair (2004–2005)
- Leo Beenhakker (2005–2006)
- Wim Rijsbergen (2006–2007)
- Anton Corneal (2008)
- Francisco Maturana (2008–2009)
- Russell Latapy (2009–2011)
- Otto Pfister (2011–2012)
- Hutson Charles (2012–2013)
- Jamaal Shabazz (2012–2013)
- Stephen Hart (2013–2016)
- Tom Saintfiet (2016–2017)
- Dennis Lawrence (2017–2019)
Terry Fenwick (2019–Present)
Honours
Continental competitions
Regional competitions
Friendly competitions
See also
- Trinidad and Tobago at the FIFA World Cup
- Trinidad and Tobago national under-20 football team
- Trinidad and Tobago national under-17 football team
- Trinidad and Tobago women's national football team
- Football in Trinidad and Tobago
References
- General
- Specific
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Trinidad and Tobago – List of International Matches
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors set to give them all in Germany, Guardian UK. Accessed June 23, 2008.
- ^ Football: Carnival time and the Trinis are up for the party, The Independent. Accessed June 23, 2008.
- ^ Trinidad Express – Haitian robbery: Trinidad and Tobago cheated W/Cup spot, Socawarriors.net. Accessed June 23, 2008.
- ^ Red-Day, Nov, 19, 1989, YouTube.com. Accessed: June 23, 2008.
- ^ Pulse: Thank You Trinidad and Tobago Warriors Archived 17 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Trinidad Guardian. Accessed June 23, 2008.
- ^ FIFA Fair Play Awards Archived 1 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, FIFA.com. Accessed June 23, 2008.
- ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ – Matches – Bermuda-Trinidad and Tobago – FIFA.com". FIFA.com.
- ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™". FIFA.com.
- ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™". FIFA.com.
- ^ Inshan Mohammed. "Corneal appointed TTFF Technical Director, Otto Pfister axed". socawarriors.net.
- ^ "Queen's Park Oval". Cricinfo Staff. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "U.S.'s World Cup qualifier in Trinidad set for 10,000-seat stadium". ESPN. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Trinidad and Tobago – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- ^ a b Inshan Mohammed (13 October 2012). "Goalscorers". Soca Warriors Online. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
External links
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