Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

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The only participation of Trinidad and Tobago in the final stages of the FIFA World Cup came in 2006, when they qualified for the tournament in Germany, but failed to win any match and were eliminated at the group stage. Trinidad and Tobago became the smallest nation in terms of population to reach the finals of a World Cup tournament, [1] a feat previously held by Northern Ireland since their first World Cup appearance at the 1958 World Cup. This record was held until Iceland qualified for the first time in 2018. [2]

Contents

Qualification

On 12 October 2005, Trinidad and Tobago secured fourth place in the CONCACAF final qualification round, and therefore participated in a playoff with the fifth place Asian team Bahrain for a chance to enter the 2006 World Cup. After a 1–1 draw in Port of Spain, the team beat Bahrain 1–0, with a Dennis Lawrence header in Manama, to clinch their first ever qualification for the World Cup finals.

Squad

No.Pos.PlayerDate of birth (age)CapsClub
11 GK Shaka Hislop 22 February 196926 Flag of England.svg West Ham United
22 DF Ian Cox 25 March 197116 Flag of England.svg Gillingham
32 DF Avery John 18 June 197558 Flag of the United States.svg New England Revolution
42 DF Marvin Andrews 22 December 197598 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers
52 DF Brent Sancho 13 March 197742 Flag of England.svg Gillingham
62 DF Dennis Lawrence 1 August 197465 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wrexham
73 MF Chris Birchall 5 May 198421 Flag of England.svg Port Vale
82 DF Cyd Gray 21 November 197641 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg San Juan Jabloteh
93 MF Aurtis Whitley 1 May 197726 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg San Juan Jabloteh
104 FW Russell Latapy 2 August 196866 Flag of Scotland.svg Falkirk
113 MF Carlos Edwards 24 October 197853 Flag of England.svg Luton Town
124 FW Collin Samuel 27 August 198119 Flag of Scotland.svg Dundee United
134 FW Cornell Glen 21 October 198037 Flag of the United States.svg Los Angeles Galaxy
144 FW Stern John 30 October 197697 Flag of England.svg Coventry City
154 FW Kenwyne Jones 5 October 198430 Flag of England.svg Southampton
163 MF Evans Wise 23 November 197317 Flag of Germany.svg Waldhof Mannheim
172 DF Atiba Charles 29 September 197719 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg W Connection
183 MF Densill Theobald 27 June 198240 Flag of Scotland.svg Falkirk
194 FW Dwight Yorke (c)3 November 197156 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sydney FC
204 FW Jason Scotland 18 February 197925 Flag of Scotland.svg St Johnstone
211 GK Kelvin Jack 29 April 197632 Flag of Scotland.svg Dundee
221 GK Clayton Ince 13 July 197263 Flag of England.svg Coventry City
233 MF Anthony Wolfe 23 December 19834 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg San Juan Jabloteh

Silvio Spann was originally in the squad, but had to drop-out after sustaining a hamstring injury in the run-up to the tournament. He was replaced by Evans Wise.
Head coach of Trinidad and Tobago's 2006 World Cup squad was Leo Beenhakker.

Finals Matches

Trinidad and Tobago were drawn in Group B along with England, Sweden, and Paraguay.

In their first match, Trinidad and Tobago held a strong Swedish side to a 0–0 draw, despite having Avery John sent off less than 30 seconds into the second half. Team captain Dwight Yorke won Man of the Match honours. [3]

Trinidad and Tobago lost their second game of the group stage to England 2–0. Late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard secured England a place in the second round. [4] Trinidad and Tobago had hoped for a draw between Paraguay and Sweden for their best chances of getting second place but Sweden defeated Paraguay 1–0. [5]

Trinidad and Tobago lost their third and final game of Group B to Paraguay 2–0. An own goal from Brent Sancho put them behind early in the game, and Paraguay scored a second goal late in the match from Nelson Cuevas. [6]

Trinidad and Tobago finished last in Group B with one point, and were eliminated from the 2006 World Cup. They were the only team in the 2006 World Cup not to score a goal. [7]

Group B

TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Flag of England.svg  England 321052+37
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 312032+15
Flag of Paraguay (1990-2013).svg  Paraguay 31022203
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 301204−41
Team  Score  Team
Trinidad and Tobago  Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg 0–0 Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
England  Flag of England.svg 2–0 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago
Paraguay  Flag of Paraguay (1990-2013).svg 2–0 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago

Support

The Tartan Army, supporters of Scottish football, lent their support to Trinidad and Tobago, partly since they were opponents to England and in part six of the squad members played for Scottish clubs.

Aftermath

On their return from Germany, the government awarded Leo Beenhakker and each member of the squad the country's second highest honour, the Chaconia Medal, Gold, plus TT$1,000,000 (one quarter in cash, the rest in unit trusts). [8] As captain, Dwight Yorke was awarded TT$1,250,000, while players who had participated in qualification but not in Germany were awarded TT$250,000. Ten members of the teams' technical staff were also later awarded TT$250,000. [9]

On 6 October 2006, thirteen of the players in the 2006 World Cup squad indicated their intention to retire from international football after friendly matches against St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Panama on 7 October and 11 October, respectively. The players alleged that the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation had reneged on various contractual commitments to the team. [10] This was upheld by the Trinidadian High Court in March 2011, who ordered that an interim payment of $1.14m should be made. [11]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shot heard round the world (soccer)</span> Association football goal

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References

  1. ↑ "The World Cup's smallest team". BBC article. Retrieved June 11, 2006.
  2. ↑ T.A.W. (12 November 2017). "How Iceland (population: 330,000) qualified for the World Cup". The Economist . Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "Trinidad and Tobago 0-0 Sweden". BBC Sport. 2006-06-10. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  4. ↑ "England 2-0 Trinidad and Tobago". BBC Sport. 2006-06-15. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  5. ↑ "Sweden 1-0 Paraguay". BBC Sport. 2006-06-15. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  6. ↑ "Paraguay 2-0 Trinidad and Tobago". BBC Sport. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  7. ↑ "Beenhakker admits defeat was fair". BBC Sport. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  8. ↑ "Birchall and Bell up for award". BBC Sport . Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  9. ↑ Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt :
  10. ↑ Vital Football, Scotland quits international scene., retrieved on 7 October 2006.
  11. ↑ Trinidad & Tobago players to get 2006 World Cup cash (BBC)
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