The U.S. Virgin Islands national soccer team, nicknamed ''The Dashing Eagle'', is the national

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team of the U.S. Virgin Islands and is controlled by the U.S. Virgin Islands Soccer Federation.

History

Though FIFA did not officially recognize the USVI team as affiliated until 1992, the Virgin Islands federation was founded in the 1970s by Trinidad native Robert T. Wills who helped build the base of the USVI Soccer Federation as it is known today. The team played its first official international match on March 21, 1998, in a victory against the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

. In May 2011, the USVI soccer federation chief, Frederick Hillaren, began ambitious changes in the team and appointed Keith Griffith, former coach and captain of the Barbados national team and former coach of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

powerhouse club team Joe Public F.C., as technical director. Within two months of Griffith's appointment, the team shot up 51 places in the

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

. Soccer is the third most popular sport on the islands.

Stadium

Previously the team did not have a

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

and were forced to play their home matches at

Lionel Roberts Park Lionel Roberts Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands. It is currently used mostly for soccer matches, as well as baseball and American football. The stadium holds 9,000. References Soccer venue ...

, a baseball stadium in Charlotte Amalie. For their 2014 World Cup qualification matches, the team needed to bring in a new grass surface and make other special arrangements. In the past, the team has played at Paul E. Joseph Stadium in

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

. However, in February 2012, it was announced that the stadium was condemned and will be demolished to make way for a new sports complex that will cost at least $50 million. The complex will contain venues for

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and

aquatics Aquatics may refer to: *Aquatic sports in the Olympics and other international competitions, including the disciplines of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming *Water-related sports more broadly (including boa ...

. However, the plans did not include a new soccer stadium. For the 2018 World Cup qualification, the team played at the

Addelita Cancryn Junior High School Ground The Addelita Cancryn Junior High School Ground was a cricket ground located in Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the United States Virgin Islands. The ground belongs to the Addelita Cancryn Junior High School. History The first recorded cricket ...

where they suffered a 4–0 loss to the Barbados national team. In August 2019, the USVI Soccer Association officially opened the 1,200-seat

Bethlehem Soccer Stadium The Bethlehem Soccer Stadium is an association football stadium in Upper Bethlehem, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. The stadium is home to the US Virgin Islands national football team while the larger complex also includes the offices a ...

in Christiansted after an almost four-year construction process of the new complex.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2022

2023

Squad

Current squad

The following players have been named to the squad for 2022-23 CONCACAF Nations League matches against

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

, and

Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...

. :''Caps and goals updated on June 14, 2022, following the matches against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the United States Virgin Islands squad within the last twelve months. ^INJ Withdrew due to injury
^PRE Preliminary squad / standby
^RET Retired from the national team
^SUS Serving suspension
^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Records

:''Players in bold text are still active with US Virgin Islands.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Coaching history

* Paul Inurie (2000) * Glad Bugariu (2000–2002) * Francisco Williams Ramírez (2003–2004) * Carlton Freeman (2004–2008) * Craig Martin (2010) * Keith Griffith (2011) *

Terrence Jones Terrence Alexander Jones (born January 9, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Kaohsiung Steelers of the Taiwanese P. League+. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. High school career Jones was ranked ...

(2011) * Leonard Appleton (2014) * Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed (2015–2017) * Craig Martin (2017) * Marcelo Serrano (2017–2019) *

Gilberto Damiano Gilberto “Giba” Damiano Maciel, Jr. is a Brazilian football manager, formerly managing the US Virgin Islands team. Giba Damiano has started his coaching career in England which involved short spells at the academy system working with Cardiff ...

(2019–2022)

Technical directors

* Keith Griffith (2011–2013) * Kenadall Walkes (2013–)

Competitive record

World Cup record

Gold Cup record

CONCACAF Nations League record

Caribbean Cup record

Head-to-head record

References

External links

* {{National sports teams of the United States Virgin Islands Caribbean national association football teams