US Virgin Islands National Football Team

US Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands

Nickname (s)

The Dashing Eagle

Association

US Virgin Islands Soccer Federation

confederacy

CONCACAF

Head coach

Gilberto Damiano (since 2019)

Record scorer

Jamie Browne ,
Reid Klopp ,
Bryce Pierre ,
Kevin Sheppard and
Trevor Wrensford (2 each)

Record player

Dwight Ferguson

Home stadium

Lionel Roberts Park , Charlotte Amalie
Paul E. Joseph Stadium , Frederiksted

FIFA code

VIR

FIFA rank

207. (844 points)
(as of July 16, 2020)

First jersey

Second jersey

statistics

First international USVI 1-0 BVI (US Virgin Islands; March 21, 1998)

Biggest win USVI 3-0 BVI ( The Valley , Anguilla; March 22, 2019)

Biggest defeat St. Lucia 14: 1 USVI ( Port-au-Prince , Haiti ; April 14, 2001)

(As of April 17, 2019)

The US Virgin Islands national soccer team , known as The Dashing Eagle , is the national team for the US island group in the Caribbean.

The small Caribbean island only founded its association in 1998 and joined FIFA in the same year . Also in 1998, they played their first international match against the British Virgin Islands .

In 31 games up to October 2011, the national team could only win three times and draw six times. The total goal ratio is 17: 160 goals. After a long time at the bottom of the FIFA world rankings (worst ranking 202), the team improved from winter 2008/09 and in July 2011 achieved its highest ranking with 149th place. It is one of the weakest teams in the continental association CONCACAF . So far, the team has not yet managed to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup or the World Cup.

Gold Cup qualification

The first official tournament to select the US Virgin Islands was the qualification for the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2000 . In Group 1 of the 1999 Caribbean Football Championship , they played in Nassau against the national teams of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands . Against the latter it was enough after 90 minutes to a 2-2 draw, against the Bahamas they also played a draw (0-0). Ultimately, the team finished second behind the Bahamas and was eliminated.

The 2001 Caribbean Cup began for the US Virgin Islands in Group 3 with a 1:12 defeat in Port-au-Prince ( Haiti ) against Haiti . Two days later, Guadeloupe was also clearly defeated with 0:11 and the game against St. Lucia was also lost 1:14. Thus, the team finished last in the table with a goal difference of 2:37.

In qualifying for the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 , the US Virgin Islands played two games against the Dominican national football team in Santo Domingo , but both games were lost 6-1 and 5-1.

In the 2005 Caribbean Football Championship , the selection of the Caribbean island played against Jamaica , Haiti and Saint-Martin . They lost against Haiti on November 24, 2004 with 0:11, against Jamaica two days later with 1:11. Finally, the qualification ended with a goalless draw against Saint-Martin and a fourth place in the table.

As part of the qualification for the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007 , they played two games in their home town of St. Thomas . On September 27, 2006, the team lost 6-0 to Bermuda and 6-1 to the Dominican Republic.

Tournaments

World Championship

1930 to 1998 - did not participate (not a FIFA member)

2002 - The team first took part in qualifying for a soccer world championship in 2002 . However, both games against St. Vincent and the Grenadines were lost by a total of 1:14. The only goal scored by Joaquim Santos .

2006 - In the qualifying round for the 2006 World Cup , the team lost to St. Kitts and Nevis 7-0 and 4-0.

2010 - As part of qualifying for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, the team met the Grenada national team in the first round of the CONCACAF zone . The game in St. George’s (Grenada) was lost 10-0 on March 26, 2008. A second leg was not played. The American Virgin Islands were thus eliminated.

2014 - As part of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the US Virgin Islands created a big surprise and beat the British Virgin Islands 2-0, making it their highest international win to date. With a 2-1 win in the second leg on the British Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands reached the second round of CONCACAF qualification for the World Cup for the first time.