

Trinidad & Tobago made a quarter-million dollars (USD) off the World Cup qualifying playoff game in Port of Spain. (USA Today Images)
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association says the Dec. 2 Women’s World Cup qualifying intercontinental playoff it hosted generated over $250,000 in profit. Trinidad and Tobago failed to qualify for the 2015 World Cup, losing on a last-minute goal to Ecuador in that match — the second leg of the series, at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain — to fall short of qualification.
A crowd of 20,071 turned out for the match, hoping to see Trinidad and Tobago become the first Caribbean nation to qualify for a Women’s World Cup. The TTFA says the match generated a profit of $1,629,077 Trinidad and Tobago dollars, which equates to $256,429.13 in U.S. dollars.
The federation said in a statement that it is “committed to applying a significant part of the earnings from this event towards the development of women’s football.”
That news is a far cry from just two months ago, when T&T’s women’s national team arrived in the Unteid States with only $500 for the lot of them. Fundraising came together quickly to get the Soca Warriors food, water and gear before CONCACAF picked up the bill for the World Cup qualifying tournament in October.
Despite their struggles off the field, the Soca Warriors advanced from group play to the semifinals, losing to Costa Rica in their first attempt to qualify for the World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago lost to Mexico in the third-place match of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, again failing to qualify. The loss to Ecuador in the playoff was their last shot for 2015.
