Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

– commonly known as football (or soccer in the United States and Canada), french: Association de football) – is a popular sport in French Guiana. The

Ligue de Football de la Guyane The Ligue de Football de la Guyane (English language, English: Guyana Football League) is the governing body of Association football, football in French Guiana. Since 2013, it has been a member of CONCACAF. However, it is not a member of FIFA. S ...

– the region's national football governing body – runs the men's national team, organizes the annual Coupe Guyane tournament as well as administering the region's professional leagues the French Guiana Régional 1 and French Guiana Régional 2 divisions. As an overseas department of France and member of the French Football Federation, teams are eligible to participate in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

. As members of Caribbean Football Union teams are eligible for the

Caribbean Club Championship The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). T ...

and the region's membership in

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

allows teams to participate in that organizations club and national team competitions. French Guiana however is not a member of FIFA and is therefore ineligible to play in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

History

Football was introduced to the region during the early 20th Century. The men's national team played its first friendly against Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) in 1936 losing 1 to 3. They met Dutch Guiana again for their first competitive match in the Coupe des Caraibes, losing again 2:4. Known as Yana Dòkò, the team gained its first victory in a competitive match against British Guiana(now Guyana) in October 1948 with a score of 3:2. Despite being geographically in the subcontinent of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, the local authorities chose to participate in the competition where most of the countries and dependent territories of the Caribbean area are located. The

was founded in 1962 has been affiliated to the FFF since 1963 and a member of the Caribbean Football Union since 1978. French Guiana gained full membership to

in 2013 having been an associate member since 1978.

League system

The French Guiana football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football including the top two professional leagues in the department. The highest tier of men's football, the French Guiana Régional 1, is equivalent to the sixth tier of football in France. There are twelve participants in Régional 1, with teams finishing in the two bottom spots being relegated to the

Régional 2 The French football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France and Monaco, and includes one Spanish side. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Football Professionnel, which consists of two pro ...

Football stadiums in French Guiana

References

{{League systems Football in French Guiana