The Antigua and Barbuda national football team is the national team of

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two majo ...

and is controlled by the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association, a member of the

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

and the

Caribbean Football Union The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the representative organization for football associations in the Caribbean. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated to FIFA. The Union was established in January ...

(CFU).

History

First international match

On November 10th, 1972, Antigua and Barbuda's first match was a 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifying match versus Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain. The match was a 11-1 thrashing which to this day is this national team's worst defeat.

Friendlies against European teams

On 17 December 2005, the Antigua and Barbuda national team played their first match against a European opponent after the Hungarian Football Federation invited "the Benna Boys" to play

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

in an international friendly at Lockhart Stadium in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...

, Florida. This was the first match coached by former national striker Derrick Edwards. Hungary defeated Antigua and Barbuda 3–0. On 2 May 2016, the

Estonian Football Association The Estonian Football Association (EJL; et, Eesti Jalgpalli Liit) is the governing body of football, beach soccer and futsal in Estonia, established on 14 December 1921. It organizes the football league, including the championship which is calle ...

announced that their national team would play Antigua and Barbuda in an international friendly on 22 November. It was the team's second match against a European opponent. Estonia won the game 1–0.

2018 drug bust in Jamaica

During the March 2018

FIFA Calendar The FIFA International Match Calendar (sometimes abbreviated as the FIFA Calendar or FIFA Days) is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental football confederations, the European Club Association, and FIFPro, which sets out which d ...

Antigua and Barbuda played Jamaica, drawing 1–1 away at Sabina Park, levelling in the last seconds of match from a header from

Peter Byers Peter Byers (born 20 October 1984) is an Antiguan footballer who plays professionally for SAP FC and the Antigua and Barbuda national team as a striker. Club career Born in Bolans Village, Byers spent his early career in his native Antigu ...

. Upon the team's preparation for their departure back to Antigua, assistant coach Derrick Edwards and equipment manager Danny Benjamin were arrested and charged with possession of, dealing in, and taking steps to export

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...

, and conspiracy at the Norman Manley International Airport. Initially, Edwards was awarded

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

and Benjamin was held without bail; after a month, both Edwards and Benjamin were placed under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if al ...

and

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

and gave up their travel documents. Both men were acquitted of the crime on 14 June, citing there was not enough evidence to prove their involvement in the carrying the drugs with the intention of smuggling them out of Jamaica.

Team image

Nicknames

The official nickname of the Antigua and Barbuda national football team is "the Benna Boys", due to the indigenous music of the country. The name was selected in a contest with the fanbase in 2012 after the team advanced to the third round of the

2014 World Cup qualifiers The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

. "The Benna Boys" beat out other entries in the contest such as "Beach Boys", "Iron Bandits", "Rhythm Warriors" and "Party Crashers". In the past, the national team was unofficially known as "the Wadadli Boys", another name that was in the contest but did not win.

Kit suppliers

The kit of the national team has been manufactured by Spanish-based Joma since March 2021, ahead of the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

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

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Manager history

The following is a list of head coaches of the Antigua and Barbuda national team throughout the years.

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the

2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League The 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League is the second season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The group phase of the tour ...

matches against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

(twice) on 2, 5, 9 and 12 June 2022, respectively. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 12 June 2022, after the match against

.''

Individual records

:''Players in bold are still active with Antigua and Barbuda.'' Peter-Byers-09-05-27

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CFU Caribbean Cup

:***''Red border color indicates that Antigua and Barbuda was the host nation.'' ;Key

CONCACAF Nations League

;Key

Head-to-head record

The following table shows Antigua and Barbuda's all-time official international record per opponent: ;Key

Honours

* CFU Caribbean Championship & Caribbean Cup: ** Runners-up (1): 1988 ** Fourth place (3):

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

, 1983,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

References

External links

* {{National sports teams of Antigua and Barbuda Caribbean national association football teams