Montserrat national football team

History

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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

A campaign was started by The Sweeper, a podcast on world football, to bring together the least-populated FIFA member Montserrat with India, the most-populated FIFA member for a friendly match. Montserrat governor Harriet Cross has endorsed the campaign.

World rankings

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.

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.

Colours

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

Results and fixtures

Main article: Montserrat national football team results

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

2025

• Rogers Report (CONCACAF)
• Ferguson
• De Rosario
• Glasgow Report (CONCACAF)

Coaching staff

Coaching history

• England Paul Morris (2000–2002)
• Antigua and Barbuda William Lewis (2002–2004)
• England Scott Cooper (2004)
• Montserrat Ruel Fox (2004)
• Montserrat Cecil Lake (2008)
• Montserrat Kenny Dyer (2008–2013)
• Antigua & Barbuda Lenny Hewlett (2013–2015)
• Scotland Willie Donachie (2018–2022)
• England Matt Lockwood (2023)
• England Lee Bowyer (2023–2025)
• Trinidad Angus Eve (2025- )

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Belize on 4 June 2025 and Guyana on 10 June.

Caps and goals correct as of 10 June 2025, after the game against Guyana.

Recent call-ups

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

Player records

|19 |4

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Nations League

Caribbean Cup

Head-to-head record

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References

References

1. (20 September 2022). "The world's worst team reinvented after disaster". BBC Sport.
2. (23 March 2023). "'It's stripping football right back to what everyone fell in love with, taking it back to its roots.'".
3. Temple, Alan. (7 April 2023). "EXCLUSIVE: Former Dundee United ace Craig Easton opens up on shock international adventure in the Caribbean — alongside ex-Dens Park hero".
4. Bureau, O. B.. (2025-09-21). "Is An International Friendly Football Match Between India And Montserrat In The Offing? Know Why It Would Be Interesting".
5. "". link
6. FIFA.com. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Ranking Table".
7. "The Montserrat Miracle Men March On".
8. FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – Teams – Montserrat – Profile".
9. "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan ™". FIFA.com.
10. (2002-06-30). "CNNSI.com – CNNSI.com's complete coverage of the FIFA World Cup – Bhutan routs Montserrat in 'other final' – Sunday June 30, 2002 05:39 AM". Sports Illustrated.
11. "Final Squad". Montserrat Football Association.
12. "Montserrat".
13. "World Football Elo Ratings".