Introduction
The
West Indies were the first ever multi-national team to compete in World Cup Qualifying. The original squad featured 15 players from five different countries and participated for the first time in
World Cup VI Qualifying. The countries represented in the squad were Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Montserrat, and St. Lucia.
Creation
The West Indies team came about as a way to fill the void that was created in
CONCACAF when
Canada joined the confederation for the
World Cup VI campaign, increasing membership to nine (9) nations. This addition meant that the only way for the confederation to maintain balanced groups would be to break down into groups of three. That is what
Asia did in the first two World Cups and it had not been done since
World Cup II as the WEFA governing body had since ruled that groups of three were "inadequate" in order to produce a direct qualifier into the
World Cup. Therefore, CONCACAF needed another member in order to balance groups, to set up two groups of five. Several Caribbean nations bid to become the tenth member, but none had an adequate player base to be admitted.
Eventually an idea was brought forth. In cricket, the Caribbean competes as one squad, the West Indies, against other international powers such as
England and
Australia. However, in cricket both
Jamaica and
Trinidad & Tobago are members of the West Indies, so initial suggestions of doing this in soccer were quickly shot down.
As CONCACAF continued to search for a tenth member,
Antigua & Barbuda and
Barbados eventually emerged as the top contenders for the spot. Both sides submitted bids for 5 guaranteed players with 2 more to be "easily created", needing only to find 3 more outfield players and a goalkeeper to complete the squads.
St. Lucia also had a smaller bid, though they had only come up with 3 guaranteed players with 1 "easily created", needing 6 more players plus a goalie. Other Caribbean nations submitted bids with less.
As the process wore on, Antigua & Barbuda and Barbados each jockeyed for position in anticipation of becoming the tenth member of CONCACAF and competing in the World Cup for the first time. Barbados took the lead when Antigua & Barbuda was found to not actually have Kazim-Richards as an "easily created" player, though he had been found on forums. Barbados suffered their own blow when it was then discovered that Tom Soares, who was expected to be already in the game, was nowhere to be found. With both bids weakened, and no one else emerging from the pack, CONCACAF explored the West Indies option again.
It was discovered that five nations who are part of the West Indies in cricket could pool their resources to come up with a 15 man squad in soccer, without needing to create any players (a big bonus as World Cup Qualifying had already begun in other regions and CONCACAF was dragging its feet searching for its tenth member).
Antigua & Barbuda,
Barbados,
Grenada,
Montserrat, and
St. Lucia all agreed to temporarily drop their individual bids for membership and join together to play as the West Indies in
World Cup VI qualifying. Other bidding nations such as
Curacao,
French Guiana,
Haiti, and
Martinique were excluded from the squad, despite the fact that they could provide players, because they are not members of the West Indies in cricket.
CONCACAF now had to get the West Indies approved for
World Cup participation. Previously, other multi-national teams such as
Scandinavia,
Soviet Union, and
Yugoslavia had been declared ineligible to participate in the
World Cup because the nations they were made up of already had teams in the competition. However, since none of the Caribbean islands making up the West Indies were competing individually, and since
Jamaica and
Trinidad & Tobago were left out of the squad, the West Indies were allowed to compete in qualifying for
World Cup VI.
World Cup VI
The
West Indies were drawn into CONCACAF Group A for
World Cup VI qualifying, a spot reserved for the "tenth member" during the draw.
Canada, the other debutantes, were also in the pot from which the West Indies were drawn. The opponents in the group were
Costa Rica,
Honduras,
Trinidad & Tobago, and
United States. Only the top two teams would qualify automatically to the
World Cup and there were not any play-off spots available.
The West Indies started out strong, winning their first two matches against USA and Honduras. The team then suffered a huge setback with back-to-back 2-0 defeats against Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago that sent them into a tailspin. For the next four matches, the West Indies drew 3 and lost once to finish the campaign on 9 points and third place in the group. Although they were only two points behind the United States, the West Indies had failed to qualify for the World Cup.
The team was broken up shortly after and have not attempted to qualify for any further
World Cups.
Aftermath
The
West Indies squad had served their purpose of providing a tenth member to balance the qualification groups in
CONCACAF and had been competitive in doing so. However,
World Cup VI would be the last World Cup in the "Winning Eleven" era.
World Cup VII would be played on PES9, and with the new platform came new eligibility rules. Numerous nations that had fielded teams in the past were no longer able to do so in this new era. As such, CONCACAF members
Honduras,
Jamaica,
Trinidad & Tobago,
Suriname, and
Guadeloupe were not able to participate in qualifying. With only four eligible nations left, CONCACAF no longer needed the West Indies to balance the confederation and they were not invited to participate again.
Upon moving to PES10 for
World Cup VIII and beyond,
CONCACAF slowly began to regain membership.
Honduras,
Jamaica, and
Trinidad & Tobago resumed participation, bumping CONCACAF back up to 7 members. This lead to talk about bringing back the West Indies as the eighth member, but
Curacao had finally put together a sufficient roster and was accepted as the newest member instead. Since then, CONCACAF has continued to add new members while remaining balanced, leaving the West Indies defunct as a result.
Roster
CF -
Heskey (Antigua & Barbuda)
CF -
Defoe (Dominica, St. Lucia)
CF -
Blackstock (Antigua & Barbuda)
CF -
Les Ferdinand (St. Lucia)
CF -
Facey (Grenada)
SMF -
Dyer (Antigua & Barbuda)
SMF -
Wright-Phillips (Grenada)
CBT -
Ledley King (Antigua & Barbuda)
CBT -
Rio Ferdinand (St. Lucia)
CBT -
Leigertwood (Antigua & Barbuda)
CBT -
Fitz Hall (Barbados)
CBT -
Bramble (Montserrat)
SB -
Ashley Cole (Barbados)
SB -
Boyce (Barbados)
SB -
Leacock (Barbados)
Competitions
Honors
Competitive Matches
vs
Costa Rica: 0 W 0 D 2 L 0 GF 4 GA
Costa Rica 2 - 0 West Indies (World Cup VI Qualifying)
West Indies 0 - 2 Costa Rica (World Cup VI Qualifying)
vs
Honduras: 1 W 1 D 0 L 3 GF 1 GA
West Indies 3 - 1 Honduras (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Honduras 0 - 0 West Indies (World Cup VI Qualifying)
vs
Trinidad & Tobago: 0 W 1 D 1 L 0 GF 2 GA
Trinidad & Tobago 2 - 0 West Indies (World Cup VI Qualifying)
West Indies 0 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago (World Cup VI Qualifying)
vs
United States: 1 W 1 D 0 L 2 GF 1 GA
West Indies 1 - 0 United States (World Cup VI Qualifying)
United States 1 - 1 West Indies (World Cup VI Qualifying)