Steady Progress – of the wrong kind

A lack of action on the field for our group of unfortunates hasn’t meant there is nothing to report from a Worst in the World perspective. On the contrary, that lack of action means that all seven teams currently ranked at the foot of the world rankings. have been steadily clocking up additional months in that position. As a consequence each nation is climbing up the all-time worst in the world rankings.

For the uninitiated, this list doesn’t imply that the current worst teams are any better or worse than their predecessors on the field – they have all spent time as officially the worst national teams in the world after all. What it does do, however, is log how many published world rankings each nation sat at the bottom of. And this current lack of action for certainly six of the seven nations means they are adding to their tally significantly.

Here’s a brief rundown of what this all means for each of our worst in the world nations.

Caribbean Cup: Anguilla 0-4 Puerto Rico

26th March 2016
Caribbean Cup Qualifier, First Round
Raymond E. Guishard Technical Centre, The Valley, Anguilla

Anguilla 0-4 Puerto Rico

Anguilla’s second and final Caribbean Cup qualifier saw the team taking on Puerto Rico in the home environs of The Valley in Anguilla. Technically, a win by seven or more would have kept Anguilla in with a chance of progressing to the next round. In reality, it was a final attempt for the time being to record a positive result for the first time in nearly five years.

But from the moment Juan Coca gave Puerto Rico the lead in the 16th minute, the writing was on the wall. And yet Anguilla fought bravely and contested rather better than they had in Guyana a few days earlier. However, any slant hopes of a revival were effectively snuffed out when Jorge Rivera made it 2-0 shortly before half-time.

Caribbean Cup Qualifier: Guyana 7-0 Anguilla

22nd March 2016
Caribbean Cup Qualifier, First Round
Providence Stadium, Providence, Guyana

Guyana 7-0 Anguilla

Anguilla were soundly beaten and outclassed in their opening Caribbean Cup qualifier in Guyana yesterday, struggling from the off against a Guyana side that kept them at arm’s length throughout.

Guyana are the team who inflicted Anguilla’s record defeat – a 14-0 thumping in 1998 – and at times during the first half in particular, it appeared as though the record books may be troubled again.

Caribbean Cup Qualifying: Anguilla

The qualification process for the Caribbean Cup is quite a laborious one. It involves several rounds of group stages as the field of tropical paradise specks in the ocean, plus one or two bigger hitters, is gradually whittled down to the lucky final four to play in the finals next year in the distinctly non-Caribbean nation of the United States.

Anguilla Set For Action – Bahamas Absent: Caribbean Cup Qualifiers

This week saw the announcement of the qualifying draw for the 2017 Caribbean Cup; a tournament that we have long had an interest in here at Worst in the World. The qualifying groups will be played in March 2016 ahead of the Finals tournament the following year.

Our interest this year focuses on Anguilla – one of world football’s smallest nations and current resident of the Worst in the World position in the world rankings. We should have had interest in two nations in this qualifying process as the Bahamas are also a current member of our club but they have declined entry to the Caribbean Cup on this occasion for reasons as yet unknown.

2015: Worst in the World Year in Review

2015 may not have been a year of many Worst in the World matches but it has seen a raft of changes to those struggling at the wrong end of the FIFA rankings. The year began with just Bhutan cut adrift from the other 208 members of FIFA as the lone, and therefore undisputed, worst national team in the world, with no ranking points and little hope.

Three New Members Confirmed: Worst in the World Club of Six

The release of a new set of FIFA world rankings is often a predictable day for the Worst in the World club. Frequently it’s merely a case of confirming another month added on to the tally of those stuck stranded at the bottom of the world. There is the occasional glorious escape confirmed, and the odd descent to the lowest rung decided.

Bahamas Sink to the foot of the World Rankings

Following on from Anguilla’s descent a couple of months ago, we once again welcome the arrival of a Caribbean nation to the Worst in the World, with Bahamas joining their near neighbours in this ignominious club. They have sunk to the foot of the FIFA rankings in the latest release.

Bahamas last remaining ranking points, dated back to the World Cup qualifiers for the 2014 tournament when the Bahamas beat the Turks and Caicos Islands 4-0 and 6-0 in their two preliminary round matches. The last of those was played in July 2011, and so the ranking points gained then have now lapsed.

Having won through to the first round proper on that occasion, Bahamas subsequently withdrew due to problems with the construction of their new national stadium. The 23,000 capacity Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, which was a gift from the People’s Republic of China to the Bahamas, had been completed in time, but work in the surrounding areas hadn’t. Approach roads, car parks and apparently sewerage, were still in need of completion, and were the official reason why the Bahams withdrew from a qualifying group containing Panama, Nicaragua and Dominica. The withdrawal came just a couple of weeks ahead of their first scheduled fixture in Panama.

World Rankings: Anguilla’s Points Expunged

The latest FIFA rankings were published today with the confirmation that Anguilla’s sole remaining ranking points – two point left over from a 0-0 draw in a 2011 friendly match with the US Virgin Islands – have withered away to nothing. That last non-defeat now dating back more than four years it’s points no longer count towards Anguilla’s total, which now stands at a magnificent zero.

Of course this doesn’t make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. Anguilla were already ranked last thanks to Bhutan’s rise so this hasn’t made any difference in terms of their labelling as the current worst in the world.

Richard Orlowski – Man on a Mission

The national team coach of Anguilla, newly installed as the official worst team in the world, has something of a story.  Born in Poland as Ryszard Orlowski, he fled his homeland in 1984 amidst the political repression of the communist era and escaped to Austria.  Subsequently, he was granted refugee status in the United States and made a new life for himself – with a new, anglicised first name – in New York City and then Pennsylvania.

As a player, he was a striker in his native Poland but has become more renowned as a coach being part of a Polish-American duo helping Nepal to a famous win over India.  ‘I am very happy and proud of this new chapter in my life,’ he said. ‘The country is surrounded by beautiful beaches, amazing weather, and best of all, friendly people.  The Anguillan team is decent, but it needs improvement.  This is why I was brought in as head coach.  My job and responsibility is to bring this country’s football to the next level.  I am always one to take a challenge head on and will not back down from achieving my goals.  I create a very good atmosphere and relationship between the players and myself.  In football this is very important.’