Bahamas

Bahamas 2014-15 Home
Bahamas 2022-23 Home

So, we start off with old enemies Forward. So yes, the shirt is cheap, yes the quality is poor, but there’s at least a little design involved. Everything is printed too, which is disappointing. But we have three colours involved, with the pale blue and black curves livening up the sides of the shirt and blue across the shoulders to prevent it just being yellow. There’s a little bit there, which is admirable in a way. But yes, it isn’t great.

Used very briefly across their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign, the Bahamas started off life in the very first round against Bermuda. That would also be where they ended their qualification campaign, as is often the case after 3 and 5-0 defeats and it was this style of campaign that persuaded CONCACAF to update their system finally.

Next up is much better. Hummel decided to get involved with the Bahamas and absolutely hit the nail on the head with this flag shirt. Of course, the home shirt has the inverted colours, but the titled flag design, the golden sandy colour throughout and the Hummel detail down the sides really works. It does mean that the sleeves and rear of the shirt are somewhat plain and with the details all still printed then it isn’t perfect by any means. But it is a great shirt nonetheless.

These shirts have seen a little more use, with a 2-0 loss to Guadeloupe in a 2021 Gold Cup play-off and their newly expanded 2022 World Cup qualification campaign. Drawn in a group with Trinidad & Tobago, St Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico and Guyana, the Bahamas weren’t expected to rock the boat and generally didn’t, with 3 heavy losses, until their stunning 0-0 draw against Trinidad & Tobago! This prevented the other islanders from progressing and was one of the great shocks of the 2022 qualifying campaign.

The losses are more in tune with the Bahamas’ typical performance, though they often have a result or two to tide them over. The 2018 campaign was their only World Cup qualification attempt without at least a draw and, while largely inactive, they progressed through a round on each of their 2 Caribbean Cup qualification attempts. The Nations League has even brought them some success with an immediate promotion from League C in their first season followed by a decent struggle to try and stay in League B. They may historically be one of the weakest sides, but in their tier never underestimate them.

Unsurprisingly, their women’s side has also not been very active, though they take things to even more of an extreme. They briefly tried to compete in the early 2000’s, with qualification attempts for the 2000 Caribbean Cup and the 2002 Women’s Gold Cup, but after those 5 losses they stopped. A handful of recent friendlies have proved they’re not completely gone, even bringing a victory over the Turks and Caicos Islands, but their women’s football remains very limited. As with many small countries, their men’s youth teams tend to trade participation between U17 and U20 level, with the U20s being rarer and dropping out of the picture since 2009. Entering Olympic qualifiers is very rare but they do also compete at U15 level and across youth football have ranked as high as pot 2 out of 4, but don’t trouble the nations that qualify and often struggle regardless. Their women’s youth teams have both been more active and more variable than the senior side. They played at all levels and have varied from disastrous, to really quite dangerous, particularly in the Caribbean. Active across the last 10 years, the highlight has to be their 2012 U17 CONCACAF Women’s Championship appearance. They qualified as one of the weakest of CFU, but managed a draw against Trinidad and Tobago despite being in a very tricky group (other teams were Mexico and the USA).

Not a futsal side, the Bahamas are more known for their beaches and thus their beach soccer. The first Caribbean side to ever compete in CONCACAF beach soccer, the Bahamas have played in the Championship since 2009 and are now regulars in the quarter-finals. They even hosted the 2013 and 2017 editions, along with the 2017 World Cup. The World Cup brought them a victory over Ecuador, but a heavy loss to Senegal and a narrow (2-1) loss to Switzerland sent them out in the groups. Nonetheless a dangerous side in the sport.

The Bahamas weren’t expected to do anything in 2022 qualifying, despite the expanded system. The likes of Puerto Rico and Guyana ended up too much for them and they would never be expected to take points from the top two. However, a stunning 0-0 draw against Trinidad & Tobago helped cement their WCQ record of generally scoring points, as well as upsetting the group entirely. Not what was expected, but very welcome.