Ballers Forever and Pele Masters left Saint Lucia with the two championships at the 2026 Saint Lucia International Masters Football Invitational after finals played on May 25 at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground. The United States sides swept the Over-40 and Over-50 titles on a day that settled six days of masters football and gave the tournament a clear ending.
The result put Ballers Forever over Trinidad & Tobago Defence Force Past Players in the Over-40 final, while Pele Masters finished the job in the later match. The finals mattered because the tournament had drawn teams and players from across the region and abroad, and the winners were decided in front of that wider masters football audience in Saint Lucia.
Ballers Forever earned its place in the Over-40 final with back-to-back 2-1 wins, first against SSC Bimshire and then against Hope International of St Vincent & the Grenadines. Trinidad & Tobago Defence Force Past Players arrived from a very different route, beating Vieux Fort South 8-1 and St Francois Masters 4-0. In the final, the defending champions struck first through Stern John before Kendel Jagdeosingh equalised 11 minutes into the second half. Ballers Forever then found the decisive goal from the penalty spot eight minutes from the end.
Pele Masters took a longer road to the Over-50 title. Masters Reloaded reached that final by edging Canada’s La Familia 3-2 behind an Earl Jean hat-trick, while Pele Masters beat Dennery United FC 5-1 to book its place. The final itself carried a sharper edge: the American Over-50 side entered under protest, saying Masters Reloaded had fielded an unregistered player. Even with that dispute hanging over the match, Basil Burke scored in the second half to secure the title, leaving the complaint unresolved in the public record after the whistle.
Veterans in Sport CEO Alvin Malaykhan said the competition ran from May 20 to May 25 and brought together football legends from across the region and internationally in Saint Lucia. He said the event continued to grow into one of the Caribbean’s leading masters football and sports tourism experiences, and this year’s finals backed up that claim with teams from Saint Lucia, the United States, Trinidad & Tobago, Canada and St Vincent & the Grenadines all part of the draw. For Kendall Velox, who was named the Over-50 tournament MVP, the closing night delivered a title and an individual honour; the only unanswered question is whether the protest that shadowed the final will be formally reviewed.
