For the first time in the island nation’s history, a Barbados national football team bound for a FIFA World Cup has set off for competition, carrying the hopes of local football fans to the inaugural FIFA Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan.
The young Under-15 squad left Barbados just after 2 p.m. Monday, with an itinerary that first takes the team to Panama, followed by a connecting leg through Turkey, with their arrival in Azerbaijan scheduled for the early hours of Wednesday. Ahead of their departure, Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Minister Michael Lashley was in attendance to send off his son, Brent Lashley, one of the squad members, extending personal and official well wishes to the whole team.
Hosted in Baku from October 24 to 30, the groundbreaking tournament will welcome young talent from across the globe, with roughly 1,000 total matches played across the competition in an eight-a-side format. As part of FIFA’s ongoing global initiative to grow access to football and nurture emerging talent across all member regions, every one of football governing body’s 211 member associations was invited to field a team for the historic event.
The tournament’s group stage is structured into 31 groups of six teams and one additional group of five, with Barbados slotted into Group E. The Caribbean side will face off against youth squads from Spain, Chile, Congo, Kuwait and Tajikistan across group play.
Randy Harris, president of the Barbados Football Association, called the squad’s qualification and participation a watershed moment for football development on the island. “We can say now that we are participating in the World Cup — it’s the Under-15’s, but it is the same thing as playing in the senior men’s World Cup,” Harris emphasized. The BFA leader expressed overwhelming enthusiasm for the opportunity extended to Barbados, adding: “I just want the players to be themselves and enjoy themselves, because it is more than a World Cup. It’s a rally for 190 plus countries in the world and it is a great opportunity to make friends and build bridges.”
Stefan King, head coach of the Under-15 squad, shared Harris’s optimistic outlook ahead of the team’s first match. “The players are very excited, we’ve done the work, we’ve done all the planning and at this point the only thing left to do is to do it,” King said. Calling the appearance a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for every young player on the roster, King noted that the team has no intention of simply participating for the experience. “We want to go and compete and let our young athletes show what the Caribbean and specifically Barbados, can do,” he said.
Leading the historic squad onto the pitch will be 15-year-old captain Danari Griffith, a student at Queen’s College who has already become a trailblazer as the first player to captain a Barbados team at any FIFA World Cup. Griffith said he is relishing the once-in-a-lifetime chance to lead his country’s first World Cup squad. “It’s a very exciting feeling and I’m prepared for this opportunity and grateful for it. It’s our first World Cup and I think everyone’s excited, especially me. I worked hard for this and I just trust in my work,” Griffith explained.
The captain added that months of consistent daily training have left the full squad prepared for the challenging competition ahead. “The boys have been putting in the work, getting to the training ground every day and working hard. We’re prepared and just looking forward to it,” he said. Acknowledging that some younger players may feel nerves ahead of their first global appearance, Griffith emphasized that the team’s preparation has left them ready to compete and showcase Barbadian football talent on the world stage.