Cayman_Islands_national_football_team
Cayman Islands national football team
National association football team
The Cayman Islands national football team is the national team of the Cayman Islands, and is controlled by the Cayman Islands Football Association. It is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. Cayman Islands' home ground is Truman Bodden Stadium in George Town, and their head coach is Cláudio Garcia. Garcia replaced Ben Pugh, who was appointed in 2018, when the Cayman Islands national team had failed to win a single game in over nine years, sinking to 206 in the FIFA World Rankings. Under Pugh, they advanced 13 places in the rankings, winning four out of their six matches during the 2019–20 Nations League season.
| Association | Cayman Islands Football Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | CONCACAF (North America) | ||
| Sub-confederation | CFU (Caribbean) | ||
| Head coach | Cláudio Garcia | ||
| Captain | Mark Evans | ||
| Most caps | Ian Lindo (23) | ||
| Top scorer | Lee Ramoon (12) | ||
| Home stadium | Truman Bodden Sports Complex | ||
| FIFA code | CAY | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 196  1 (4 April 2024)[1] | ||
| Highest | 127 (November 1995) | ||
| Lowest | 206 (April 2019) | ||
| First international | |||
 Dominica 2–1 Cayman Islands  (Roseau, Dominica; 3 March 1985) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Cayman Islands 5–0 British Virgin Islands  (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; 2 March 1994) Cayman Islands 5–0 Sint Maarten  (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; 4 March 1994) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Cayman Islands 0–11 Canada  (Bradenton, United States; 29 March 2021) | |||
1985–2000
The Caymanian football team played its first international match on 3 March 1985, against Dominica, in Roseau, as part of the 1985 CFU Championship. They lost that match 2–1 with Lee Ramoon - who would go on to become the team's top scorer - opening the scoring.
They qualified for the 1991 Caribbean Cup, falling in the first round. They returned to the tournament in 1994, suffering the same fate. However, the following year, the Cayman Islands jointly organized with Jamaica the 1995 Caribbean Cup, reaching the semi-finals. It fell to Trinidad and Tobago by a scandalous 2–9, the worst defeat in its history. In the match for 3rd place, they were defeated by Cuba 0–3. They would qualify again in 1998 although they failed to get past the group stage. They have not played a Caribbean Cup final phase since then.
The Cayman Islands participated in their first World Cup qualifying tie in the 1998 where they succumbed in the first round at the hands of Cuba, who eliminated them after winning twice 0–1 and 0–5.
2000–2010
In 2000, given the status of the Cayman Islands as one of the British overseas territories, the national team attempted to use this as a loophole to call up a number of uncapped players possessing British passports but who had no specific links to the islands. Barry McIntosh, a football agent, was called in to scout players for an upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifier against Cuba and ultimately he secured eight players i.e. Wayne Allison (Tranmere Rovers), Ged Brannan (Motherwell), David Barnett (Lincoln City), Martin O'Connor (Birmingham City), Dwayne Plummer (Bristol City), Barry Hayles (Fulham), Neville Roach (Southend United) and Neil Sharpe (Boreham Wood). With the exception of Allison the players all appeared in a 5–0 friendly defeat against D.C. United but before they could appear in any official internationals FIFA stepped in and barred the players from representing the Cayman Islands due to their failure to satisfy the existing rules for national team eligibility.[2] Of the eight players only Hayles went on to play international football, appearing for Jamaica ten times.
In the first round of the 2002 qualifiers, Cayman Islands was once again eliminated by Cuba, winning 4–0 in Havana and drawing 0–0 in George Town. History repeated itself four years later, in the 2006 qualifiers, since the Cubans eliminated the Caymanian team from the World Cup for the third time in a row (1–2 in George Town and 4–0 in Havana).
Things didn't change significantly for the 2010 qualifiers, only this time it was Bermuda that eliminated the Cayman Islands in the first round, 4–2 on aggregate. Regardless, this tie saw the Caymanians earn their first points away from home, earning a 1–1 draw at Hamilton on 3 February 2008, with Allean Grant scoring in the 87th minute.
2010–present
Qualifying directly into the second round of the 2014 qualifiers, the Cayman Islands were drawn in group A along with their peers from El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Suriname. They lost 5 games out of 6, rescuing a 1-1 draw on the last day, on 14 November 2011, against the Dominicans. The Caymanian team did not play any match again in the next few years, since declining their participation in the 2012 and 2014 Caribbean Cups. But they returned to the 2018 qualifiers, facing Belize in the first round. The first leg in Belmopan finished 0–0 and the second leg in George Town finished 1–1. The 1–1 aggregate score meant the Cayman Islands were eliminated on the away goal rule. With this unbeaten elimination, Cayman Islands can say that they are one of the few teams in the world that did not qualify for a FIFA World Cup despite not losing a single match.
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
2023
v Cayman Islands
| 7 September 2023–24 Nations League | U.S. Virgin Islands | 2–2 | Cayman Islands | Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| 19:00 UTC−4 | Report |
|
Stadium: Bethlehem Soccer Stadium Referee: Reon Radix (Grenada) |
v 
Aruba
| 11 September 2023–24 Nations League | Cayman Islands | 1–2 | Aruba | George Town, Cayman Islands |
| 15:30 UTC−5 |
|
Report | Stadium: Truman Bodden Sports Complex Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador) |
v U.S. Virgin Islands
| 17 October 2023–24 Nations League | Cayman Islands | 2–1 | U.S. Virgin Islands | George Town, Cayman Islands |
| 15:30 UTC−5 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Truman Bodden Sports Complex Referee: Randy Encarnación (Dominican Republic) |
v Cayman Islands
| 20 November 2023–24 Nations League | Aruba | 5–1 | Cayman Islands | Oranjestad, Aruba |
| 15:00 UTC−4 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Trinidad Stadium Referee: Norberto da Silva (Curaçao) |
2024
v 
Moldova
| 26 March Friendly | Cayman Islands | 0–4 | Moldova | Antalya, Turkey |
| 17:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Mardan Sports Complex |
v 
Antigua and Barbuda
| 8 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cayman Islands | v | Antigua and Barbuda | George Town, Cayman Islands |
| --:-- UTC−5 | Stadium: Truman Bodden Sports Complex |
v Cayman Islands
| 11 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cuba | v | Cayman Islands | |
| --:-- UTC−5 |
2025
v Cayman Islands
| 4 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Bermuda | v | Cayman Islands | |
| --:-- UTC−4 |
v 
Honduras
| 7 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cayman Islands | v | Honduras | George Town, Cayman Islands |
| --:-- UTC−5 | Stadium: Truman Bodden Sports Complex |
Neider dos Santos (1993–1996)
Ken Fogarty (1996–1999)- Márcio Máximo (2000–2001)
- Marcos Tinoco (2001–2005)
Carl Brown (2006–2011)
David Braham (2011–2015)
Chandler González (2015–2018)- Charles McLean (2018)
- Chandler González (2018–2019)
- Benjamin Pugh (2019–2021)
Cláudio Garcia (2023–)
 |
Current squad
- The following players were called up for Nations League.[3]
- Match dates: 26 March 2023
- Opposition:
Puerto Rico - Caps and goals correct as of: 26 March 2023, after the match against Puerto Rico
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1GK | Johnathan Mclean-Giraud | (1997-12-11) 11 December 1997 (age 26) | 1 | 0 | East End United |
| 1GK | Devante Whittaker | (2005-01-20) 20 January 2005 (age 19) | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2DF | Joshewa Frederick-Charlery | (1997-01-24) 24 January 1997 (age 27) | 19 | 0 | Free agent | |
| 2DF | D'Andre Rowe | (2001-01-05) 5 January 2001 (age 23) | 10 | 0 | Scholars International | |
| 2DF | Trey Ebanks | (2000-06-05) 5 June 2000 (age 23) | 8 | 0 | Academy | |
| 2DF | Jah Dain Alexander | (1999-12-08) 8 December 1999 (age 24) | 1 | 0 | Elite | |
| 2DF | Andray Reynolds | (2000-11-28) 28 November 2000 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | ||
| 3MF | Barry-Dre Tibbetts | (2002-06-05) 5 June 2002 (age 21) | 6 | 0 |  Dakota Wesleyan University | |
| 3MF | Shakurn Silburn | (1999-08-12) 12 August 1999 (age 24) | 2 | 0 | Elite | |
| 3MF | Jordan Bonilla | (1997-02-28) 28 February 1997 (age 27) | 1 | 0 | Scholars International | |
| 3MF | Casey Mclaughlin | (1996-04-28) 28 April 1996 (age 27) | 1 | 0 | Bodden Town | |
| 3MF | Francisco Murillo | (1999-08-26) 26 August 1999 (age 24) | 1 | 0 | ||
| 4FW | Mark Ebanks | (1990-12-26) 26 December 1990 (age 33) | 23 | 7 | Academy | |
| 4FW | Mason Duval | (2001-08-24) 24 August 2001 (age 22) | 8 | 0 | Elon University | |
| 4FW | Martin Webb | (1995-09-07) 7 September 1995 (age 28) | 7 | 0 | Cayman Athletic | |
| 4FW | Elijah Seymour | (1998-11-05) 5 November 1998 (age 25) | 5 | 0 | Electric City | |
| 4FW | Anthony Nelson | (1997-07-31) 31 July 1997 (age 26) | 4 | 0 | Sunset | |
| 4FW | Gunnar Studenhofft | (2002-04-05) 5 April 2002 (age 22) | 2 | 1 | Manhattan College | |
| 4FW | Kailan Miller | (2000-10-07) 7 October 2000 (age 23) | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4FW | Jacobbi Tugman | (2004-10-03) 3 October 2004 (age 19) | 0 | 0 |  CSM Alexandria | |
Recent call-ups
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
- As of 20 November 2023[4]
- Players in bold are still active with Cayman Islands.
Most appearances
| Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Ebanks | 23 | 7 | 2010–present |
| Ian Lindo | 23 | 1 | 2001–2011 | |
| 3 | Theron Wood | 22 | 1 | 2008–2021 |
| 4 | Joshewa Frederick-Charlery | 21 | 0 | 2015–present |
| 5 | Garth Anderson | 20 | 2 | 1999–2008 |
| 6 | Erickson Brown-Morfy | 19 | 6 | 1998–2009 |
| 7 | Jonah Ebanks | 18 | 5 | 2018–present |
| 8 | Lee Ramoon | 17 | 12 | 1979–2002 |
| 9 | Phillip Berry | 16 | 1 | 2000–2008 |
| Wesley Robinson | 16 | 0 | 2015–present | |
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Ramoon | 12 | 17 | 0.71 | 1979–2002 |
| 2 | Mark Ebanks | 7 | 23 | 0.3 | 2010–present |
| 3 | Erickson Brown-Morfy | 6 | 19 | 0.32 | 1998–2009 |
| 4 | Jonah Ebanks | 5 | 18 | 0.28 | 2018–present |
| 5 | Gary Whittaker | 3 | 12 | 0.25 | 1993–2008 |
| Michael Martin | 3 | 13 | 0.23 | 2018–2020 | |
| 7 | Gunnar Studenhofft | 2 | 3 | 0.67 | 2021–present |
| Paul Brown | 2 | 4 | 0.5 | 2010–2015 | |
| Carlos Welcome | 2 | 4 | 0.5 | 1994–2004 | |
| Marshall Forbes | 2 | 6 | 0.33 | 2002–2008 | |
| Calvin Jefford | 2 | 7 | 0.29 | 2008–2009 | |
| Anthony Ramoon | 2 | 11 | 0.18 | 1993–2002 | |
| Garth Anderson | 2 | 20 | 0.1 | 1999–2008 | |
FIFA World Cup
| FIFA World Cup | Qualification | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | F | A | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | |
| 1930 to 1994 | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | |||||||||||||
 1998 |
Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
  2002 |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
 2006 |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
 2010 |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
 2014 |
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 15 | |||||||||
 2018 |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
 2022 |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 18 | |||||||||
 2026 |
To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
   2030 | |||||||||||||||
 2034 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | – | 0/7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 53 | |
CONCACAF Gold Cup
CONCACAF Nations League
| CONCACAF Nations League record | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Finals | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Division | Group | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | P/R | Finals | Result | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | |
| 2019–20 | C | A | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 |  |
2021 |
Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2022–23 | C | D | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 | |
2023 | |||||||||
| 2023–24 | C | B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | |
2024 | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | C | To be determined |  2025 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | — | — | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 29 | — | Total | 0 Titles | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Caribbean Cup
| Caribbean Cup record | Caribbean Cup qualification record | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D[decimal 1] | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D[decimal 1] | L | GF | GA | |
 1989 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||
 1990 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | |||||||
 1991 | Group stage | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1992 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | |||||||
| 1993 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 | ||||||||
| 1994 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | |
| 1995 | Fourth place | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14 | Qualified as hosts | ||||||
| 1996 | Did not qualify | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||||||
 1997 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||
| 1998 | Group stage | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Did not qualify | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | |||||||
| 2001 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2005 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||
| 2007 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | ||||||||
| 2008 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 13 | ||||||||
 2010 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2012 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 4/19 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 30 | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 56 | 92 | |
- Draws include knockout matches decided via a penalty shoot-out.
As of 26 March 2024 after match against Moldova[5]
Positive Record Neutral Recordp Negative Record
| Opponent |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Anguilla | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| Aruba | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -6 |
 Bahamas | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 |
| Barbados | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 11 | −7 |
 Belize | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Bermuda | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 15 | −7 |
| British Virgin Islands | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 |
| Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | −11 |
| Cuba | 15 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 46 | −42 |
 Dominica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 |
 Dominican Republic | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 14 | −12 |
 El Salvador | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 |
 French Guiana | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
 Grenada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 |
 Guadeloupe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | −6 |
 Guyana | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 |
 Haiti | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 |
| Jamaica | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 40 | −30 |
 Martinique | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 13 | −11 |
| Moldova | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | −4 |
 Montserrat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 |
 Netherlands Antilles | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
 Nicaragua | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 |
 Puerto Rico | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 14 | −13 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
 Saint Lucia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Saint Martin | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 | −4 |
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 |
| Sint Maarten | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 |
 Suriname | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | −7 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 19 | −17 |
 Turks and Caicos Islands | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | −7 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 |
| Total | 110 | 21 | 20 | 69 | 108 | 279 | −171 |
- "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- Footballers whose loved ones have told them who to play for Archived 30 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 5 March 2008
- "All the best to our Cayman Islands National Team playing against Puerto Rico in the Concacaf Nations League". instagram.com. Cayman Islands Football Association. 21 March 2023. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
- "Cayman Islands". National Football Teams.
- "World Football Elo Ratings: Cayman Islands". eloratings.net. Elo Ratings. Archived from the original on 13 June 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- Cayman Islands – FIFA.com (archived 2 June 2007)
- Cayman Islands Football Association. Archived 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine.