Martinique the French Republic. As part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union, and its currency is the euro. The official language is French, and virtually the entire population also speaks Antillean Creole ("Créole Martiniquais"). Christopher Columbus landed on 15 June 1502, after a 21-day trade wind passage, his fastest ocean voyage. He spent three days there refilling his water casks, bathing and washing laundry. The island was then called "Jouanacaëra-Matinino", which came from a mythical island described by the Taínos of Hispaniola. According to historian Sydney Daney, the island was called "Jouanacaëra" by the Caribs, which means "the
Martinique at the CONCACAF Gold Cup Championship was rebranded under that name. Since then, they have qualified for five tournaments, which puts them among the more successful Caribbean teams in tournament history. They qualified for the Knockout Stage once, in 2002, after a 1-0 victory against Trinidad & Tobago. In their first tournament match in 1993, Martinique was on the receiving end of a 9-0 win for Mexico, still the highest victory in tournament history. Seven of those goals were scored by striker Zague, another unique record. Kévin Parsemain, who captained the Martinique national team in 2013 and 2017, is the only Martinican player to score