Head coach Richard Orłowski Top scorer Deon McCaulay (21) Founded 1980 Arena/Stadium FFB Stadium | Most caps Elroy Smith (44) Home stadium FFB Field, Belmopan Manager Jorge Nunez Confederation CONCACAF | |
Nickname(s) The Jaguars, The Unbelizeables Sub-confederation UNCAF (Central America) Association Football Federation of Belize | ||
The Belize national football team is controlled by the Football Federation of Belize. It is affiliated with the Central American Football Union of CONCACAF.
Contents
- Overview
- June 2011 suspension by FIFA
- Facilities
- Copa Centroamericana
- Current squad
- Recent call ups
- Records
- Managers
- References
Overview
Although Belize gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1981 (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.
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 June 15, 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 June 19 was postponed by FIFA when they suspended the FFB due to governmental interference.
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.
Copa Centroamericana
The 1995 tournament in El Salvador saw Belize's international debut. They played the hosts in their first-ever international on November 29 in Group A. El Salvador won 3–0 with all goals coming in the second half. On December 1 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.
Current squad
The following 23 players were called up for the match against Dominican Republic in June 14, 2015 .
Caps and goals updated as June 14, 2015 after the game against Dominican Republic.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up within the past 18 months.
Records
As of September 8, 2015 Players in bold text are still active with Belize.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.