TheBelize national football team representsBelize in men's internationalfootball, which is governed by theFootball Federation of Belize founded in 1980. It has been a member ofFIFA since 1986 and a member ofCONCACAF since 1992. Regionally, it is a member ofUNCAF in the Central American Zone.
Belize's debut in international competitions was in the1995 UNCAF Nations Cup. Their first appearance in World Cup qualifiers was in the1998 CONCACAF qualification. The team asBritish Honduras achieved its first victory in 1928, defeatingHonduras 1–0, which was also the first match in the team's history. As Belize, it achieved its first victory in 2001, defeatingNicaragua 2–0.
NamedBritish Honduras whilst under British colonial rule, the country's first international match was in 1928, beatingHonduras 1–0. Following independence, Belize's first game came on 8 December 1983, in a 2–0 loss againstCanada in Belize.[3] Although Belize gained independence from theUnited Kingdom in 1981 (and many of the UK's current colonies have international teams), Belize did not begin to regularly play international football until 1995. It made its debut at the1995 UNCAF Nations Cup and was eliminated in the first round after losing toEl Salvador andCosta Rica.
Belize has never qualified for theWorld Cup but finished fourth in the2013 Copa Centroamericana. Their fourth-place finish in the 2013 Copa Centroamericana gave Belize its first qualification to a major international competition, that being the2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
On 15 June 2011, Belize kicked off its2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign against minnowsMontserrat, winning 2–5 away in a match played in theAto Boldon Stadium inCouva,Trinidad. However, the return which was scheduled for June 19 was postponed by FIFA when theysuspended the FFB due to governmental interference.[4]
In February 2023 the Football Federation of Belize unveiled a new logo that would represent Belize’s national teams. Created by Rolando Ramirez, the new logo prominently features a Jaguar, the nickname of the team. The FFB hoped that the new image would promote unity and pride in the Belize football community.[5]
FFB Stadium inBelmopan is the home stadium for the Belize national football team. Prior to this stadium, Belize had no facilities that met FIFA specifications. Apart from this Belize has many fields to play on but with no facilities for the players.
Since the creation of the national team in 1995, several coaches have been in charge of managing Belize. From 1995 to 1996,Winston Michael was appointed as Belize's first ever manager.