Bonaire national football team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bonaire

Association	Federashon Futbòl Boneriano
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation	CFU (Caribbean)
Head coach	Rilove Janga
Most caps	Yurick Seinpaal (20)
Top scorer	Ayrton Cicilia Yurick Seinpaal (6)
Home stadium	Stadion Antonio Trenidat
FIFA code	BES BOE
First colours Second colours
Elo ranking
Current	193 1 (3 March 2019)
Highest	185 (February 2010)
Lowest	196 (November 2018)
First international
Aruba 4–0 Bonaire (Aruba; 4 February 1934) as modern Bonaire  Curaçao 4–0 Bonaire  (Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles; 28 February 2010)
Biggest win
Aruba 0–5 Bonaire  (Oranjestad, Netherlands Antilles; 6 July 1984) as modern Bonaire  Turks and Caicos Islands 1–4 Bonaire  (Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands; 3 June 2022)  Anguilla 0–3 Bonaire  (The Valley, Anguilla; 18 November 2023)
Biggest defeat
Curaçao 10–0 Bonaire (Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles; 9 August 1969) as modern Bonaire  Suriname 8–0 Bonaire  (Oranjestad, Aruba; 13 July 2012)

The Bonaire national football team (Dutch: Bonairiaans voetbalelftal; Papiamento: Selekshon Bonerianu di futbòl) is the national football team of the Caribbean island of Bonaire, a public body of the Netherlands. It is under the control of the Bonaire Football Federation. It became a member of the CFU and an associate member of CONCACAF on 19 April 2013. after which it became a full CONCACAF member on 10 June 2014 The team can participate in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Caribbean Cup because of their membership in the confederation and sub-confederation. However, Bonaire is not a member of FIFA and therefore can not compete in the FIFA World Cup or other FIFA events.

History

Between 1960 when the Bonaire Football Federation was founded and 1988, a Bonaire selection played over fifty unofficial interinsular matches against Curaçao and Aruba. The first such match was a 0–2 defeat to Curaçao on 7 March 1960. On 14 January 1987 and 16 January 1991, an amateur Dutch selection played matches against Bonaire on Bonaire while touring the Caribbean. The matches ended in 1–4 and 2–5 defeats, respectively. In June 2008, a Bonaire selection was assembled for a match against NEC Nijmegen as the club held a training camp on the Island. Approximately 1500 spectators attended the match at the Municipal Stadium. The match also marked Lasse Schöne's first appearance for the club.

Until 2010 people from Bonaire competed in confederated football as part of the Netherlands Antilles national football team. After the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved as a unified political entity (a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands) on 10 October 2010, the five constituent islands took on new constitutional statuses within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Antilles national team was succeeded by the Curaçao national football team and remained thus a CFU, CONCACAF and FIFA member, while Aruba was already a FIFA and CONCACAF member after registering their own association and leaving the Netherlands Antilles team in 1986. Sint Maarten was also already an independent member of CONCACAF. Before Bonaire was a member of the CFU or CONCACAF, they competed in the ABCS Tournament, a competition between the Dutch-speaking teams of the Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Suriname), since its inception in 2010 and were surprise champions in 2011. Bonaire assembled a squad for a match on 28 February 2010 for a friendly against Curaçao, months before the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved. The match ended in a 4–0 victory for Curaçao. Bonaire's first match after the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved was an eventual 2–4 defeat to Suriname in the 2010 ABCS Tournament on 29 October 2010,19 days after the islands gained their new status in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On 19 April 2013, Bonaire was accepted as an associate member of CONCACAF at CONCACAF's XXVIII Ordinary Congress held in Panama City, Panama, a process that took two years. The membership process was delayed when Bonaire's applications to join CONCACAF and the CFU went missing after being sent to president Jack Warner. Around the same time that Bonaire was named an associate member of CONCACAF, it was named a full member of the Caribbean Football Union as the subconfederation's 31st member. Previously, Bonaire was a provisional member before submitting the final paperwork and adjusting the federation's statutes to meet CFU requirements. Bonaire became a full member of CONCACAF at the confederation's next Ordinary Congress on 10 June 2014 in São Paulo, Brazil.

Although Bonaire is not a member, national team player Lacey Pauletta has expressed his desire that Bonaire becomes a FIFA member in the future. FIFA statutes allow only associations of internationally recognised independent countries to become members, as well as entities "which [have] not yet gained independence" provided the "association in the country on which it is dependent" authorizes membership. The requirements of independence or "gaining independence" did not apply to 17 out of the 18 members of FIFA that are not fully independent states, including all 10 Caribbean members, as they entered before the rules were changed. Although the KNVB supports the BFF with training courses, infrastructure, and with goal projects, no express authorization of such a move for Bonaire is reported. Any association seeking affiliation to FIFA must observe FIFA's further regulations related to the subject. In a 2007 independent report on the sports facilities of the BES islands, Bonaire's facilities were described as adequate in number but "substandard" and "hardly maintained", potentially providing a further hurdle to FIFA membership because of the governing body's lengthy stadium recommendations and requirements which include, "...surrounding a football field with a running track in a modern stadium should be avoided" as part of its stance against multi-purpose stadiums. In 2008, FIFA and the KNVB began a Goal Project on Bonaire, creating two full-sized and one small-sized football pitch with accommodation facilities. An extension of the existing facilities was also part of the project. Goal Projects are part of the Goal Programme which has enabled beneficiary member associations to implement projects designed to develop football in their countries.

It had been announced that Bonaire would host the 2013 ABCS tournament. However, because of financial difficulties, it was later announced that Curaçao would host the tournament between 16 and 18 November. After initially stating that they would not take part in the tournament at all, Bonaire later announced that they would compete in the tournament. Bonaire went on to play their first match after joining CONCACAF in the tournament, a 0–2 loss to Suriname on 14 November 2013. The tournament, in which they finished in 3rd place, also saw them record their first victory after joining, a 2–1 victory over Aruba on 16 November 2013, and score their first goal after joining, a 74th-minute strike from Ilfred Piar in the same match.

On 1 June 2014, Bonaire played their first match in a CONCACAF competition, a 2–1 victory over the US Virgin Islands during the preliminary round of 2014 Caribbean Cup qualification. Two days later, Bonaire held Montserrat to a scoreless draw to top their group and advance to face Martinique, Barbados, and Suriname in the second round of qualification. On 10 June 2014, only a few days after their success in the preliminary round of 2014 Caribbean Cup qualification, Bonaire became a full member of CONCACAF. After posting one win and two losses in the next round of qualifying, Bonaire was eliminated from their maiden Caribbean Cup qualifying campaign as Barbados and Martinique advanced from the group. Bonaire came close to qualifying for the next round of qualifying by being the top third place team but were topped by the Dominican Republic who had a superior goal difference of +8 to −8.

In March 2018 it was announced that FFB president Ludwig Balentin met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino to begin the process of gaining FIFA membership. As part of the new agreement, which was supported and facilitated by the KNVB, Bonaire would be invited to future FIFA conferences. Only a few days later, it was announced that Bonaire would take part in the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Nations League.

In September 2019, Bonaire's application for FIFA membership was denied. A year later, it was announced that the island's football federation was appealing the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport and that the proceedings had already begun. Ultimately the appeal was unsuccessful and the CIS ruled in favor of FIFA.

Stadium

Bonaire historically played their home matches at the Municipal Stadium, currently named Digicel Kralendijk Stadium for sponsorship reasons, located in Kralendijk, Bonaire's main city. The stadium has a capacity of 3,000 spectators. In 2006, the cellular phone service provider Digicel donated USD $240,000 to the Bonaire Football Association which was, in part, used to renovate the national stadium. Artificial turf was installed at the stadium, along with the Stadion Antonio Trenidat in Rincon, in 2012 with financial assistance from FIFA and the Dutch KNVB.

Following renovations to bring it up to FIFA international standards, including installing new artificial turf and lighting, the Stadion Antonio Trenidat hosted the first-ever official match of the Bonaire national team on home soil on 28 March 2023. The eventual 1–2 defeat to the Turks and Caicos closed out Bonaire's 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League C campaign.

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  Kralendijk Municipal Stadium, Prior to Renovations

• 

  Kralendijk Municipal Stadium, After Renovations (March 2014)

Kit

Bonaire's old kit provider is Dutch sportswear company Masita. Home kits are all yellow with blue piping on the jersey while the away kit is all white with blue piping on the jersey. Both jerseys include the flag of Bonaire on the left breast and the coat of arms of Bonaire on the right. Bonaire's current kit provider is Dutch sportwear company: Robey Sportwear

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

      Win       Draw       Loss       Fixture

2023

Nations League 25 March	Sint Maarten	6–1	Bonaire	Upper Bethlehem, US Virgin Islands
16:00	De Vries 5' Lake  9', 55', 84' (pen.) Amatkarijo  46' Illidge  62'	https://www.concacaf.com/en/nations-league/game-details?matchid=626366	Montero  69'	Stadium: Bethlehem Soccer Stadium Referee: Nima Saghafi (United States)

Nations League 28 March	Bonaire	1–2	Turks and Caicos Islands	Rincon, Bonaire
16:00	Montero  1'		Forbes  17', 40'	Stadium: Stadion Antonio Trenidat Referee: Kwinsi Williams (Trinidad and Tobago)

2023–24 Nations League 11 September	Saint Martin	2–1	Bonaire	Quartier-d'Orleans, Saint Martin
	Rigobert 75' Casper 87' (OG)		Martinus 67'	Stadium: Stade Thelbert Carti

2023–24 Nations League 12 October	Bonaire	2–0	Anguilla	Rincon, Bonaire
				Stadium: Stadion Antonio Trenidat

2023–24 Nations League 18 November	Anguilla	0–3	Bonaire	The Valley, Anguilla
				Stadium: Raymond E. Guishard Stadium

2023–24 Nations League 21 November	Bonaire	0–4	Saint Martin	Rincon, Bonaire
				Stadium: Stadion Antonio Trenidat

2024

Friendly 20 March	El Salvador	1–1	Bonaire	Washington, D.C., United States
	Punyed 70'		Fuentes 62'	Stadium: Audi Field

Coaching staff

Name	Nation	Position
Rilove Janga		Head coach
Celsio Mook		Assistant coach
Alsi Anthony		Assistant coach
Arviena Vis		Assistant coach
Danielo Quirindoongo		Physical therapist
Ludwig Balentin		Delegate

Manager history

Players

Current squad

• The following players were called up for the 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League matches.
• Match dates: 25 and 28 March 2023
• Opposition:  Sint Maarten and  Turks and Caicos Islands
• Caps and goals correct as of: 28 March 2023, after the match against  Turks and Caicos Islands

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Rishison Frans	(1990-03-28) 28 March 1990 (age 34)	15	0	Real Rincon
	1GK	Nathaniel Meyer	(1997-12-17) 17 December 1997 (age 26)	1	0	Jong Holland
	1GK	Rik Letteboer	(1985-08-18) 18 August 1985 (age 38)	0	0	Vitesse
	2DF	Christopher Isenia	(1993-10-29) 29 October 1993 (age 30)	8	1	Vespo
	2DF	Berry Sonnenschein	(1994-02-12) 12 February 1994 (age 30)	7	1	Vitesse
	2DF	Rachid Trenidad	(1994-07-06) 6 July 1994 (age 29)	6	0	Free agent
	2DF	Amir Winklaar	(2006-02-21) 21 February 2006 (age 18)	2	0	Real Rincon
	3MF	Yurick Seinpaal	(1995-11-12) 12 November 1995 (age 28)	18	6	Atlétiko Flamingo
	3MF	Robert Frans	(1991-03-21) 21 March 1991 (age 33)	14	0	Real Rincon
	3MF	Marnix Eustachia	(2001-08-08) 8 August 2001 (age 22)	12	0	Real Rincon
	3MF	Jurven Koffy	(1997-09-28) 28 September 1997 (age 26)	9	2	Atlétiko Flamingo
	3MF	Adrian Serberie	(1991-10-31) 31 October 1991 (age 32)	8	0	Estrellas
	3MF	Jonathan Libiana	(2001-05-08) 8 May 2001 (age 22)	7	2	Atlétiko Flamingo
	3MF	Rogyear Anita	(1999-09-12) 12 September 1999 (age 24)	6	0	Atlétiko Flamingo
	3MF	Levi Renjaan	(1997-06-03) 3 June 1997 (age 26)	4	0	Real Rincon
	3MF	Jurneth Clara	(2002-08-06) 6 August 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Uruguay
	3MF	Alexsander Piard	(2002-04-01) 1 April 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Vespo
	3MF	Milan Blanken	(2007-05-30) 30 May 2007 (age 16)	0	0	Uruguay
	4FW	Ayrton Cicilia	(2001-03-02) 2 March 2001 (age 23)	12	6	Real Rincon
	4FW	Jursten Trinidad	(2000-12-26) 26 December 2000 (age 23)	11	1	Vespo
	4FW	Guillermo Montero	(1997-01-12) 12 January 1997 (age 27)	9	2	SV Dakota
	4FW	Richajier Oleana	(2000-11-12) 12 November 2000 (age 23)	8	0	Atlétiko Flamingo
	4FW	Quincy Hoeve	(2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 21)	5	1	Volendam

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.

Player records

Players in bold are still active with Bonaire.

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

Key

      Champion       Runners-up       3rd Place

**Red border color indicates the tournament was held at home.

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Championship & CONCACAF Gold Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1963	Part of  Netherlands Antilles									Part of  Netherlands Antilles
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1991
1993
1996
1998
2000
2002
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011	Not a CONCACAF member									Not a CONCACAF member
2013
2015	Did not qualify									5	2	1	2	6	13
2017	Did not enter									Did not enter
2019	Did not qualify									4	1	0	3	3	14
2021										4	2	1	1	10	8
2023										6	3	1	2	12	11
Total	–	0/27	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	8	3	8	31	46

CONCACAF Nations League

CONCACAF Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	P/R	Rank
2019−20	C	B	4	2	1	1	10	8		34th
2022–23	C	A	6	3	1	2	12	11		33rd
2023−24	C	A	4	2	0	2	6	6		36th
Total			14	7	2	5	28	25	36th

Caribbean Cup

Caribbean Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1989 to 2012	Not a CFU member									Not a CFU member
2014	Did not qualify									5	2	1	2	6	13
2017	Did not enter									Did not enter
Total	-	0/19	0	0	0	0	0	0		5	2	1	2	6	13

ABCS Tournament

ABCS Tournament record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2010	Fourth place	2	0	1	1	5	7
2011	Champions	2	1	1	0	5	3
2012	Fourth place	2	0	0	2	2	17
2013	Third place	2	1	0	1	2	3
2015	Fourth place	2	0	0	2	1	7
2021	Runners-up	2	1	0	1	4	4
2022	Fourth place	2	0	0	2	1	5
Total	1 title	14	3	2	9	20	46

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Head-to-head record

As of 26 March 2019, includes matches after CONCACAF acceptance

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Anguilla	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5
Aruba	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Bahamas	2	0	1	1	2	3	–1
Barbados	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3
British Virgin Islands	3	3	0	0	10	6	+4
Curaçao	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3
Dominican Republic	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5
El Salvador	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Jamaica	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6
Martinique	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6
Montserrat	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Saint Martin	2	0	0	2	1	6	-5
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Suriname	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4
U.S. Virgin Islands	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Total	22	8	3	11	29	52	−23

See also

In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Bonaire para niños