Despite embarking on a massive campaign to recruit players from overseas, and putting in a brave attempt to beat the USA in their second round home/away qualifiers, tiny Barbados ended well short of the mark.

With only a handful of professional players in the team, most notably Paul Ifill of Crystal Palace, the Bajan Braves skipped past Dominica in the first stage but could not reproduce the form in the second round. They lost their first leg against CONCACAF champions USA by a lopsided 8-0 score in Los Angeles. They improved in the second leg in Bridgetown, but still lost 1-0 to tumble out of contention for a place in South Africa.