Montserrat national football team

The Montserrat national team is one of the newest in international football, having played its first senior match on 10 May 1991, during the 1991 Caribbean Cup tournament. The team suffered a 3–0 defeat against Saint Lucia. The team's next match was against Anguilla; securing a 1–1 draw. Montserrat once again entered the Caribbean Cup the following year, but were once more knocked out in the group stage, with heavy defeats against Saint Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda. They were drawn against the same two teams in the 1994 Caribbean Cup, again being eliminated in the tournament's group stage, conceding 17 goals in two matches. In 1994, the Montserrat Football Association (MFA) was formed. Like all other football teams based in the Caribbean, the MFA became a member of CONCACAF.

On 26 March 1995, Montserrat played their first ever home international match. They defeated Anguilla 3–2, thus achieving their first win. The team beat Anguilla again in the next fixture, to ensure progression to the Second Qualifying Round of the 1995 Caribbean Cup. The 1–0 win in the second leg, was their only clean sheet in international football, and their most recent victory for the next seventeen years. The side exited the competition in the next stage, losing 20–0 against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Soon afterwards, the Soufrière Hills volcano became active and the eruptions destroyed Plymouth, the capital of Montserrat, severely disrupting life on the island.^[3] Despite the lack of football action, the MFA became a member of FIFA in 1996. However, it was a further three years before the Montserrat team played another match. This was mostly because many of the island's footballers had emigrated from the area, many of them to England.^[3]

After a four-year hiatus, the team entered the 1999 Caribbean Nations Cup. They were knocked out in the preliminary round of the tournament, losing 6–1 to the British Virgin Islands. Due to the volcanic activity on the island, Montserrat had been unable to enter the FIFA World Cup 1998 tournament, so their entry to the 2002 World Cup was their first; but it was not a success as they were defeated 6–1 by the Dominican Republic. In 2001, the MFA visited The Football Association to raise money for a new stadium. Shortly after this the Blakes Estate Stadium was opened. The team's next match was on 30 June 2002, the day of the World Cup Final, when Montserrat played Bhutan in a game known as "The Other Final". The friendly match between the two lowest-ranked teams in the world ended with a 4–0 win for Bhutan in front of 15,000 fans in Thimphu.

Montserrat entered the World Cup qualifiers once more for the 2006 competition, but again lost in the first qualifying round, this time losing 20–0 against Bermuda. Montserrat then competed in the 2005 Caribbean Cup, but once more failed to progress past the preliminary round. In 2008, they were defeated 7–1 by Suriname in the first qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup.

The team played a friendly match against a Network Rail XI on May 19, 2012, ending in a 4–4 draw.

Montserrat achieved their first victory since 1995 and their first ever victory since joining FIFA, beating the British Virgin Islands 7–0 in a 2012 Caribbean Championship qualifying match.

Montserrat's fortunes changed dramatically in 2018 with the arrival of Willie Donachie and the launch of the CONCACAF Nations League.^[3] The side won three of their four qualifying games, but missed out on qualification for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup on goal difference. The team went on to take second place in their group in the inaugural season with two wins, draws, and losses each, thus keeping their place in the second tier.

Following Willie Donachie, in 2022 Matt Lockwood took over for a spell as head coach and technical director, supported in March 2023 by assistant coaches Craig Easton and David Preece.^[4][5] Just months later on September 8, Lee Bowyer took over as the Montserrat manager and Steve Gallen is the assistant. In their first game they beat Barbados with a 99th-minute winner to go second in their CONCACAF Nations League group.

Due to the team's poor results, they have often been at the lower end of the FIFA World Rankings. The loss to Bhutan in "The Other Final" saw them fall to 203rd in the rankings, becoming the worst-ranked side in the world. After the addition of another two teams to FIFA, Montserrat achieved a new low of 205th between July and October 2004. In July 2006, they achieved a record high rank of 196th, but then fell to 198th the following month. Success in the qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Nations League and the first edition of the league proper saw them rise to 184th.^[6]

The team have also languished in the lower reaches of the unofficial World Football Elo Ratings, which ranks teams directly based on their match results.

Since the team's first match in 1991, Montserrat have usually worn a first-choice kit of green, either plain green^[7] or green and white hoops.^[8] Currently, the away kit is a red jersey, shorts and socks.

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

Montserrat   v   Club Costa City

21 March Training Friendly	Montserrat	4–0	Club Costa City	La Nucia, Spain
17:00 (CET)	Barzey   Benjamin   Gordon   Clifton			Stadium: La Nucia Football Center

Nicaragua   v   Montserrat

5 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Nicaragua	4–1	Montserrat	Managua, Nicaragua
20:00 UTC−6	Moreno   3' Arteaga   23' Montes   69' Medina   90+3'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Barzey   9'	Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Fútbol Attendance: 14,320 Referee: Tori Penso (United States)

Montserrat   v   Panama

9 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Montserrat	1–3	Panama	Managua, Nicaragua
19:00 UTC−6	Strawbridge   48'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Welch   40' Fajardo   61' Rodríguez   70'	Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Fútbol Referee: Ismael Alexander Cornejo (El Salvador)

Montserrat   v   El Salvador

5 September 2024–25 Nations League	Montserrat	1–4	El Salvador	Rincon, Bonaire
16:00 UTC−4	Barzey   28'	Report	Landaverde   9' Mauricio   63' Benítez   68' Santamaría   84' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadion Antonio Trenidat Referee: Benjamín Pineda (Costa Rica)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines   v   Montserrat

8 September 2024–25 Nations League	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2–0	Montserrat	Rincon, Bonaire
16:00 UTC−4	Stewart   15' Spring   88'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Antonio Trenidat Referee: Rubiel Vázquez (United States)

Bonaire   v   Montserrat

10 October 2024–25 Nations League	Bonaire	v	Montserrat	Montserrat
--:-- UTC−6				Stadium: TBD

Montserrat   v   Bonaire

13 October 2024–25 Nations League	Montserrat	v	Bonaire	Montserrat
--:-- UTC−6				Stadium: TBD

Montserrat   v   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

14 November 2024–25 Nations League	Montserrat	v	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	El Salvador
--:-- UTC−6				Stadium: TBD

El Salvador   v   Montserrat

17 November 2024–25 Nations League	El Salvador	v	Montserrat	El Salvador
--:-- UTC−6				Stadium: TBD

Montserrat   v   Belize

4 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Montserrat

v

Belize

Guyana   v   Montserrat

10 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Guyana

v

Montserrat

The following players were called up to the squad for the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B matches against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on 14 November 2024 and El Salvador on 17 November 2024.^[11]

Caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2024, after the game against   El Salvador.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Trent Carter-Rogers	(2006-04-23) 23 April 2006 (age 18)	6	0	Hanwell Town
13	1GK	Corrin Brooks-Meade	(1988-03-19) 19 March 1988 (age 36)	23	0	Unattached
4	2DF	Nico Gordon	(2002-04-28) 28 April 2002 (age 22)	12	0	North Texas
5	2DF	Donervon Daniels	(1993-11-24) 24 November 1993 (age 30)	8	1	Walsall
6	2DF	Mackye Townsend-West	(2003-08-01) 1 August 2003 (age 21)	3	0	Ware
16	2DF	Jernade Meade	(1992-10-15) 15 October 1992 (age 32)	15	0	St Ives Town
21	2DF	Lucas Kirnon	(2003-10-25) 25 October 2003 (age 21)	12	0	Thompson Rivers WolfPack
22	2DF	Vashirn Roache	(2005-07-07) 7 July 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Hartpury College
3	3MF	Lewis Duberry	(2003-03-07) 7 March 2003 (age 21)	9	0	Kings Langley
8	3MF	Brandon Comley	(1995-11-18) 18 November 1995 (age 29)	22	0	Walsall
18	3MF	Alex Dyer	(1990-06-11) 11 June 1990 (age 34)	36	0	Wealdstone
20	3MF	Mylan Benjamin	(2004-09-21) 21 September 2004 (age 20)	8	0	Unattached
7	4FW	Brandon Barzey	(1999-07-27) 27 July 1999 (age 25)	17	4	Hemel Hempstead Town
11	4FW	Seigel Rodney	(2003-10-02) 2 October 2003 (age 21)	5	0	Pigotts SC
12	4FW	Dominic Richmond	(2006-03-18) 18 March 2006 (age 18)	10	1	Unattached
17	4FW	Ashley Boatswain	(2005-04-19) 19 April 2005 (age 19)	6	1	Ipswich Town
19	4FW	Josiah Dyer	(2004-09-24) 24 September 2004 (age 20)	9	1	Barnsley

The following players have been called up to the Montserrat squad in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Kymani Nelson	(2004-03-04) 4 March 2004 (age 20)	6	0	Unattached	v.   Panama, 9 June 2024
DF	Dean Mason	(1989-02-28) 28 February 1989 (age 35)	28	0	Free agent	v.   Bonaire, 10 October 2024
DF	Craig Braham-Barrett	(1988-09-01) 1 September 1988 (age 36)	29	0	AFC Whyteleafe	v.   Bonaire, 10 October 2024
DF	Lenni Cirino	(2003-01-25) 25 January 2003 (age 21)	4	0	Clitheroe	v.   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 8 September 2024
DF	Raff Cirino	(2007-02-03) 3 February 2007 (age 17)	2	0	Fleetwood Town	v.   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 8 September 2024
DF	Joey Taylor	(1997-08-18) 18 August 1997 (age 27)	23	1	Ashford United	v.   Panama, 9 June 2024
DF	Jeriel Dorsett	(2002-05-04) 4 May 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Reading	v.   Panama, 9 June 2024
MF	James Comley	(1991-01-24) 24 January 1991 (age 33)	23	1	Hampton & Richmond Borough	v.   Bonaire, 10 October 2024
MF	Kaleem Simon	(1996-07-08) 8 July 1996 (age 28)	18	3	Gulf United	v.   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 8 September 2024
MF	Sydney Mendes	(2003-07-02) 2 July 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Unattached	v.   Barbados, 24 November 2023
MF	Mark Rogers	(2002-05-06) 6 May 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Free agent	v.   Barbados, 24 November 2023
FW	Lyle Taylor	(1990-03-29) 29 March 1990 (age 34)	20	13	Cambridge United	v.   Bonaire, 10 October 2024
FW	Jamie Allen	(1995-05-25) 25 May 1995 (age 29)	15	0	Workington	v.   Bonaire, 10 October 2024
FW	Bradley Woods-Garness	(1986-06-26) 26 June 1986 (age 38)	19	4	Unattached	v.   Bonaire, 10 October 2024
FW	Adrian Clifton	(1988-12-12) 12 December 1988 (age 35)	23	6	Hayes & Yeading United	v.   Barbados, 24 November 2023

As of 17 November 2024^[12]

Players in bold are still active with Montserrat.

 

 

As of 14 November 2024^[13]

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Anguilla	4	2	1	1	6	7	−1	50%
Antigua and Barbuda	4	0	1	3	6	20	−14	0%
Aruba	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Barbados	3	2	0	1	7	9	−2	66%
Belize	3	1	0	2	4	8	−4	33%
Bermuda	2	0	0	2	0	20	−20	0%
Bhutan	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	0%
Bonaire	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	33.33%
British Virgin Islands	3	1	0	2	8	6	+2	33%
Cayman Islands	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	100%
Curaçao	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	0%
Dominican Republic	5	2	1	2	5	8	−3	40%
El Salvador	5	0	1	4	3	10	−7	0%
Guyana (will be played in June 2025)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Martinique	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	0%
Nicaragua	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	0%
Panama	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	0%
Saint Kitts and Nevis	4	0	0	4	2	29	−27	0%
Saint Lucia	3	1	1	1	2	4	−2	33%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	5	0	0	5	1	31	−30	0%
Suriname	2	0	0	2	2	14	−12	0%
U.S. Virgin Islands	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%
Total	55	13	7	35	59	188	−129	23.63%

Note: teams in italic are not FIFA members.

• RSSSF archive of Montserrat national team results
• National Football Teams
• Guardian article which refers to Montserrat's 2012 match against a Network Rail XI