Honduras national football team


The Honduras national football team represents Honduras in men's international football. The team is governed by the Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras. They are nicknamed Los Catrachos, La Bicolor or La H.
Honduras has qualified for the World Cup three times, in 1982, 2010 and 2014. Outside of the FIFA World Cup tournament, Honduras has competed in several other international competitions, like the CONCACAF Championship which they won in 1981, and the Copa América which their best result was third place in 2001. Apart from that Honduras has also won the Central American Cup championship four times, having won the final edition in 2017.

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 and El Salvador, while they lost two games to Cuba and Costa Rica.
The national association, the National Autonomous Federation of Football of Honduras was founded in 1935. It joined FIFA in 1946 and co-founded CONCACAF in 1961.

1970 World Cup 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 War. This nickname was given to the situation after an play-off game was played between the two countries to decide which would qualify for the Finals. This political crisis eventually turned into a war that lasted approximately 100 hours.
Honduras had begun qualifying by defeating Costa Rica and Jamaica. Against Jamaica, they easily won both games, 5–1 on aggregate. They beat Costa Rica 1–0 in Tegucigalpa and drew 1–1 away. This set up a final match between Honduras and El Salvador, who had eliminated Guyana and the Netherlands Antilles.
In the first game against El Salvador, Honduras won 1–0 in Tegucigalpa on 8 June 1969. Honduras were coached by Carlos Padilla Velásquez and the only goal of the game was scored by Leonard Welch. Honduras lost the second game 3–0 in San Salvador, and a play-off was required in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on 27 June. El Salvador won 3–2 to qualify and eliminate Honduras.

1982 World Cup

Honduras won the 1981 CONCACAF Championship and qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1982. Despite drawing against the hosts Spain and Northern Ireland, both 1–1, they were eliminated in the first round after losing their last match to Yugoslavia 1–0.
Honduras finished second in the 1985 CONCACAF Championship, losing their final match 2–1 against Canada, who went on to qualify for the 1986 World Cup. Their next major accomplishment was being runners-up at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing against the host nation, the United States.
For the 1998 World Cup, Jamaica and Mexico eliminated Honduras at the third round stage. Despite Honduras's overwhelming 11–3 victory against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica defeated Mexico at Independence Park, Kingston, allowing the Reggae Boys to advance to the next round.

2001 Copa América

Since 1993, CONMEBOL has invited teams from other confederations to participate in their confederation championship, the Copa América. Honduras took part as one of the last-minute teams added for the 2001 tournament, as Argentina dropped out one day before the start. The team arrived only a few hours before the tournament's first game and with barely enough players. Despite the odds, Honduras progressed into the quarter-finals, where they defeated Brazil 2–0. In the semi-finals, Colombia knocked out Honduras 2–0.
Honduras advanced to the final round in the qualifying competition for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but again failed to qualify after losing at home to Trinidad & Tobago, and away against Mexico in their final two matches. The match against Trinidad and Tobago saw Honduras hit the goal post seven times.

2010 World Cup

On 14 October 2009, Honduras qualified for the 2010 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 in their first round group. In their first match they lost to Chile 1–0, to a goal from Jean Beausejour. They then lost 2–0 to Spain, with both goals scored by David Villa. In their last match they drew 0–0 against Switzerland and were eliminated in last place in the group.

2014 World Cup

In the qualifying competition for the 2014 World Cup, Honduras were given a bye to the third round because of their third-place position among CONCACAF teams in the March 2011 FIFA World Rankings. They qualified for the final round by finishing first in their group, which included Panama, Canada and Cuba. After beginning with a home defeat against Panama, Honduras recovered and beat Canada 8–1 in their final match, allowing them to win the group ahead of Panama.
In the final round of qualifying, the Hexagonal, six teams faced each other in a home-and-away format. In their first two games, Honduras defeated the United States 2–1 and came back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2–2 with Mexico. They lost three of their next four matches before travelling to Mexico City to face Mexico in the Azteca. Honduras again trailed but scored twice in the second half for a stunning 2–1 win. They returned to Tegucigalpa, where they drew 2–2 against Panama, who escaped defeat with a last-minute goal by Roberto Chen. In the final two games, Honduras beat Costa Rica 1–0 at home and qualified with a 2–2 draw against Jamaica in Kingston.
In the Finals in Brazil, Honduras again finished bottom of their first round group, after 3–0 defeats against France and Switzerland, and a 2–1 defeat to Ecuador. The match against France featured the first use of goal-line technology to award a goal at the World Cup: an own-goal by Honduras's goalkeeper, Noel Valladares. Against Ecuador, Carlo Costly scored Honduras's first goal in the Finals for 32 years.
Honduras failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. In the Hexagonal stage they dropped into fourth place after Panama scored an 88th-minute winning goal in their last match against Costa Rica. Honduras had themselves dropped points by conceding late goals in their two previous games, against Costa Rica and the United States. They entered a play-off against Australia, and after a 0–0 draw at home, Honduras were eliminated when they lost the second leg in Sydney 3–1.
Honduras have won the UNCAF Nations Cup four times: in 1993, 1995, 2011 and 2017.

Home 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.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Copa América

Pan American Games

Central American and Caribbean Games

Central American Games

All-time head-to-head record

As of 17 November 2019 after the match against.
Opponents
110010+1
200214-3
2020440
201113-2
1010000
1010220
9900243+21
512234-1
8116629-23
2411674028+12
83051317-4
513113-2
136341412+2
6519222480107-27
158252723+4
125342422+2
311124-2
110020+2
183961722-5
7437191812275+48
1010000
100112-1
100103-3
421173+4
100113-2
2200111+10
100112-1
441618105040+10
1712053413+21
110010+1
200226-4
2512584628+18
3012714-7
110021+1
321063+3
4189243574-39
301213-2
2421217915+64
1010110
100113-2
482511127035+35
8143611-5
925210100
3210102+8
403136-3
6600364+32
210121+1
110051+4
1010110
300309-9
201113-2
312043+1
201103-3
2011633519+16
300305-5
312021+1
2958162749-22
220032+1
124261514+1
110071+6
Total 608247163198907757+150

Results and fixtures

The tables below include matches from the past 12 months as well as any future scheduled matches.

2019

2020

Players

Current squad

The following 33 players were called up for CONCACAF Nations League matches against Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago on 14 and 17 November respectively.
Caps and goals updated as of 17 November 2019 after the match against Trinidad and Tobago.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Honduran squad in the last 12 months.
INJ = Withdrew due to injury

PRE = Preliminary squad

WD = Withdrew for personal reasons

Records

Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
#NameCareerCapsGoals
1Maynor Figueroa2003–1635
2Amado Guevara1994–201013827
3Noel Valladares2000–20161350
4Boniek García2005–1253
5Emilio Izaguirre2007–1095
6Carlos Pavón1993–201010157
7Wilson Palacios2003–2014976
8Milton Núñez1994–20088633
8Víctor Bernárdez2004–2014864
8Danilo Turcios1999–2010867

#PlayerCareerGoalsCaps
1Carlos Pavón1993–201057101
2Wilmer Velásquez1994–20073547
3Milton Núñez1994–20083486
4Carlo Costly2007–20163277
5Nicolás Suazo1991–19982851
6Amado Guevara1994–201027138
7Jerry Bengtson2010–2155
8Eduardo Bennett1991–20001936
9David Suazo1999–20121758
10Saul Martínez2001–20091635

Previous squads

;FIFA World Cup
;CONCACAF Gold Cup
;Copa América

Honours