Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA) President Lyndon Cooper spoke about the progress being made to develop football in the Caribbean nation and the importance of the FIFA Forward development programme when he met FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Miami, United States. The two leaders also discussed the importance of women's football and the challenges faced by nations such as Saint Lucia, which has a population of around 180,000.

The SLFA opened its first Technical Centre in 2019 which Gianni Infantino visited during a trip to the country that year. FIFA Forward funds were used to install the artificial turf pitch at the centre and are now financing the addition of floodlights which will extend playing hours and provide more opportunities for the football community.

FIFA Forward funds have also been used to support Saint Lucia’s youth and senior national teams’ preparation for competitions, as well as the testing of new methodologies such as GPS tracking devices, heart rate monitors, video analysis and employing a sports psychologist for high performance and data gathering.

In a further sign of progress, this year has seen the inaugural season of the Saint Lucia Semi-Professional Football League, a two-tier competition which finished in October.

“Saint Lucia Football Association President, Lyndon Cooper, and I met to discuss how we can continue to develop football in the country, focusing on the women's game, educating coaches, infrastructure and the development of youth players,” said the FIFA President, who previously met Mr Cooper in Paris, France, in March 2023.

“I was glad to learn about the positive impacts of the FIFA Forward programme and the FIFA Talent Development Scheme. While the fund from the former is helping build structures - including the Technical Centre - and invest in technology, the latter is assisting in recognising a pool of youngsters for the future,” Mr Infantino added.

“We also spoke about the implementation of the FIFA Football for Schools programme, and I wished President Cooper luck for the FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifiers. Everyone in Saint Lucia can be assured of FIFA's full support as we look to make football more accessible to girls and boys at all levels.”

There have been some promising results recently and the men’s national team made a strong start to the qualifying campaign for the Concacaf Gold Cup 2025 by winning their opening three games, but they missed out on a place after losing their subsequent three matches.

The Piton Boyz are third in Group C in the second round of Concacaf qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and have two more matches, against Curaçao and Barbados, both in June 2025.

FIFA's Talent Development Scheme is helping the SLFA identify and coach talented girls and boys and set up technical centres in four zones of the country where the best players receive high-level training.