Honduras national football team

History

The national team made its debut in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City in September 1921, losing 10–1 to Guatemala.

During their first appearance at the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1930, Honduras posted a record of two wins and three losses. Their only wins came against Jamaica (5–1) and El Salvador (4–1), while they lost two games to Cuba and Costa Rica.

Honduras won the 1981, and 1982 CONCACAF Championship and qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1982. They finished second in the 1985 CONCACAF Championship losing their final match 2 to 1 against Canada, who would eventually qualify to the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Their next major accomplishment was being runners-up at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup losing against host nation, United States. For the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Jamaica's merits left Honduras out of the final round of qualification. Despite Honduras' overwhelming victory 11 to 3 against St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica defeated Mexico in Kingston. The scoreless draw from Jamaica's visit to Honduras ultimately allowed the Reggae Boys to advance to the next round. Hopes changed for 2002 as Honduras advanced to the hexagonal round. Despite Honduras' effort, they were left at the edge of the 2002 FIFA World Cup losing at home against Trinidad & Tobago, and at the Azteca against Mexico, in their final two games of the qualifiers. The match against Trinidad saw Honduras hit the goal post seven times, but despite their effort they lost by the minimum amount. The second World Cup appearance was in the 2010 FIFA World Cup when Honduras strikingly qualified by their victory away at El Salvador and Costa Rica's tie against the USA. Their third and most recent World Cup appearance was the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where they defeated Mexico at Azteca on their way on qualifying. Honduras has won the UNCAF Nations Cup three times in 1993, 1995 and 2011.

Mexico 1970 and the Football War

Prior to the qualification stages leading up to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador found themselves in what was called the Football(Soccer) War. This nickname was given to the situation after an elimination game was played between the two countries which ended in a draw. The end of this important soccer game coincided with a political crisis involving both countries. This crisis eventually turned into a war which lasted approximately 100 hours. 

The Honduran Men's National team qualified for the second round after defeating the national teams of the countries of Costa Rica and Jamaica. Against the Jamaican squad the Honduran team easily won both games by a combined score of 5:1. Both games were played in Honduras. The Honduran team defeated Costa Rica in the first game 1:0 which was played in Tegucigalpa(the capitol of Honduras). The second game resulted in a 1:1 tie meaning that Honduras would emerge victorious. El Salvador on the other hand eliminated the teams of Guyana and that of the Netherland Antilles. This set up a final match up between Honduras and El Salvador. 

In the first game of the aggregate Honduras won by a score of 1:0 in a game which was played in the capital city of Tegucigalpa on the 8th of June. The Honduran squad was coached by Carlos Padilla Velásquez and the lone goal of the game was scored by Leonard Welch. The second game was played in San Salvador and ended in a 3:0 victory for the home nation of El Salvador. This result led the two teams into a winner-take-all final match. On the 27th of June the final match was played in Mexico City in Estadio Azteca. By the end of the match the team of El Salvador emerged victorious  with a score of 3:2. This result left Honduras home and helped El Salvador punch their ticket into the 1970 World Cup. 

1982 FIFA World Cup

Honduras qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in 1982. Despite getting draws against host Spain, 1–1, and Northern Ireland, 1–1, they could not come up with a win against Yugoslavia losing 0–1.

2001 Copa América

Since 1993, CONMEBOL has invited teams from other confederations to participate in their confederation championship, Copa América. Honduras took part as one of the last minute teams added for 2001 Copa América. (Argentina dropped out one day before kickoff.) The team arrived only a few hours before the tournament's first game and with barely enough players. Despite the odds, Honduras progressed onto the quarter-final stage where they faced and defeated Brazil 2–0. In the semi-finals however, it was Colombia that knocked out Honduras, 0–2.

2010 FIFA World Cup

On October 14, 2009, Honduras qualified to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, after a 1–0 win against El Salvador gave them the third automatic qualifying spot from the Fourth Round of CONCACAF Qualifying.

Honduras faced Chile, Spain, and Switzerland, respectively. In their first match they lost to Chile 0–1 by a goal from Jean Beausejour. They faced Spain in the second match and lost 0–2 by 2 goals from David Villa. In their last match against Switzerland they got a draw and finished the World Cup with 1 point.

2014 World Cup Qualification

Honduras' World Cup journey began with an automatic bye to the third round of the qualification because of their third-place position in the FIFA World Ranking. The Honduras team qualified for the final round by finishing first in their third-round group, which included Panama, Canada, and Cuba. The first game began with an upsetting loss against Panama at home. Honduras managed to keep composure despite their tie in the second game in Canada. They went ahead to win both of their matches against Cuba and left with a tie from Panama. In their last match, Honduras recorded an 8–1 win over Canada, allowing them to finish first in their group ahead of Panama.

Honduras disputed the fourth and final round of CONCACAF qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The final round, sometimes referred as the hexagonal, is composed of six teams in which each team faces every opponent in a home-and-away format. In their first two games, Honduras faced regional giants USA and Mexico at home. Honduras successfully defeated USA 2 to 1 in their opening hexagonal match. Following the USA match, Honduras hosted Mexico only to come back from a 0–2 trail to a 2–2 draw. Los Catrachos would then travel to Panama losing to the host team 2–0. Honduras would then lose to Costa Rica and United States 1–0. Following the 2–0 Jamaica win and the 1–0 USA loss, Honduras traveled to Mexico City to face Mexico. Honduras came back from a 1–0 trail to a stunning 1–2 win in the Azteca. They returned to Tegucigalpa only to draw 2–2 due to a last minute goal from Chen. In the final two games Honduras beat Costa Rica 1–0 and qualified by means of a tie at Kingston against Jamaica.

Stadium

Honduras plays the majority of its home games at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula.

The national team also plays at Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa. In the past, Honduras played their games in San Pedro Sula at Estadio Francisco Morazán.

Estadio Nilmo Edwards in La Ceiba has also hosted friendly exhibition matches since 2007.

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

Copa América

Since 1993, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) has invited two non-CONMEBOL nations to each Copa América tournament.

Central American Games

Youth team records

Honours

Current squad

The following 18 players were called in for an International Friendly vs. Ecuador on February 22, 2017.
Caps and goals current as of February 22, 2017 after the match against Ecuador.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Honduran squad in the last 12 months.

Previous Squads

Record versus other nations