Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

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.

Qualification

On October 12 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, becoming the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup finals. [cite web | title=The World Cup's smallest team| work=BBC article | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2006/05/060511_tntleadpage.shtml| accessdate=June 11 | accessyear=2006 ]

2006 World Cup squad

Head coach of the Trinidad and Tobago 2006 World Cup squad was Leo Beenhakker

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 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/trinidad_and_tobago/5035518.stm] .

Matches in the World Cup

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. Captain Dwight Yorke won Man of the Match honors.

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

Trinidad and Tobago lost their third and final game of group B to Paraguay 2-0. An own goal by Brent Sancho put them behind early in the game, and Paraguay scored a second goal late in the game from Nelson Cuevas.

Trinidad and Tobago finished last in group B with 1 point, and were eliminated from the 2006 World Cup. They were the only team in this World Cup not to score a goal.

Final group table

upport during the tournament

*Many supporters of Scottish football lent their support to Trinidad and Tobago, partly because they were opponents to England and in part because six of the squad members played for Scottish clubs. Also many Scottish fans supported the Trinidad and Tobago player Jason Scotland (one of the players who plays in Scotland, for St. Johnstone and previously for Dundee United).

After the tournament

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). 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. [ [http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,40718.html Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt : ] ]

On 6 October 2006 thirteen of the players in the 2006 World Cup squad indicated their intention to retire from international football after the friendly matches against St Vincent and the Grenadines on 7 October and Panama on 11 October because they alleged that the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation had reneged on various contractual commitments to the team. "Vital Football", [http://www.stjohnstone.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=33406 Scotland quits international scene.] , retrieved on 7 October 2006] .

Notes