Puerto Rico national football team


The Puerto Rico national football team represents Puerto Rico in men's international football, and are governed by the Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol. The team's nickname is El Huracán Azul meaning The Blue Hurricane. They are members of the Caribbean Football Union, and part of CONCACAF. The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

History

1940–1990

Puerto Rico's first international match was against Cuba in 1940 in which they drew 1–1. They did not record a win until a 3–0 result in 1970 against the Bahamas. In 1972, Puerto Rico recorded a 1–0 win against Panama in a friendly. Wins between the 1980s and 1990s were mainly against the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Martinique.

Chris Armas years (1993–1994)

played for Puerto Rico in the 1993 Caribbean Cup. In the tournament, Puerto Rico established a 4-game win streak without conceding a goal. The competition was not then recognized by FIFA, and so his five matches were considered friendlies. As a result, he was later allowed to switch his allegiance to the United States of America, for whom he has since been capped over 50 times.

1995–2007

Puerto Rico did not record a win, and had only four draws. During this time, the team dropped down in the FIFA Rankings to 202nd.

2008–2015

Over the past few years, Puerto Rico has begun to emerge as a contender, like they were in the 1990s. In 2008, they drew with Trinidad and Tobago. They also won for the first time since 1994 when they beat the Dominican Republic in the first round of the World Cup qualifiers. Although they lost the first leg 4–0 to Honduras, they fought a 2–2 tie in the home leg in the second round. The Puerto Rican Football Federation has announced plans that would allow them to participate in the next editions of the Caribbean Cup and Gold Cup.
Puerto Rico were supposed to make their debut in the 21st Central American and Caribbean Games in 2010 on home soil in Mayagüez, but due to the controversy of CONCACAF not approving the stadiums, the team couldn't compete in the football event. The team was supposed to play in Venezuela instead but due to the lack of teams, the male event was canceled.
Puerto Rico faced World and European champion Spain in a friendly on 15 August 2012, losing 2–1 in the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
On 5 June 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against Bermuda, their last friendly before the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup ending in a 1–1 draw. After losing to Grenada 2–1 in the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico's Interim coach Jose 'Cukito' Martinez resigned and a few days later, the Uruguayan Carlos Avedissian solved his visa problems and could finally arrive as the head coach of the national team. On 11 December 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against MLS team New York City losing 2–1.

2016–2017

[Jack Stefanowski] era

On 22 May 2016, Puerto Rico played a friendly match against the United States for the first time ever ending in a 3–1 loss. They advanced for the first time to the third round of the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification when they defeated Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda in the second round, only two games away from reaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time. Stefanowski had to leave the technical director position because he was an assistant in Puerto Rico FC.

[Carlos García Cantarero] era

The team played three friendlies, two against the Dominican Republic and one against India, prior to the third round matches against Antigua and Barbuda and Curaçao. Puerto Rico lost the decisive match against Curaçao after being 2−0 up front for which Curaçao as head of group advanced to the Gold Cup.
Puerto Rico didn't play an international match until the summer of 2017 when they played to a scoreless draw against Indonesia.
After the devastation of Hurricane Maria in September that left the entire island powerless. On 7 October it was reported MLS club, Orlando City SC announced a Fuerza Puerto Rico’ Friendly for 4 November with all the net proceeds from the match going towards the United for Puerto Rico initiative to raise funds and aid recovery efforts for the island. Reactivating the national team for a 3rd time this year. The friendly marked Orlando City’s last game of 2017, as well team captain, Kaká with the lions. Puerto Rico lost the exhibition match 6-1.

2018

In May 2018, the Puerto Rican Football Federation announced that Carlos Cantarero would no longer continue as head coach of the national team, with former Honduran player Amado Guevara taking over as head coach.

Team image

Kit suppliers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Caribbean Cup

Pan American Games

Schedule and results

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2019

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the CONCACAF Nations League match against Grenada on 24 March 2018.
Caps and goals updated as of 16 November 2018 after the match against Belize.

Coaching staff

Records

Most capped players

#NameCareerCapsGoals
1Héctor Ramos2010–3318
1Andrés Cabrero2008–334
2Alexis Rivera2004–2016310
3Joseph Marrero2011–286
4Noah Delgado2008–2012233
5Cristian Arrieta2010–2015225
6Chris Megaloudis2008–2012206
7Andrés Pérez2011–2015190
8Richard Martinez2008–2012170
8Tyler Wilson2010–2012170
9John Krause2010–2012161

Top goalscorers

#NameCareerGoalsCaps
1Héctor Ramos2010–1833
2Joseph Marrero2011–628
2Chris Megaloudis2008–2012620
3Cristian Arrieta2010–2015522
4Andrés Cabrero2008–433
5Josh Hansen2010–201239
5Noah Delgado2008–2012322
5Petter Villegas2008–2011314
5Raphael Ortiz2000–2010311
6Juan Coca2012–216
6Alex Oikkonen2011–28
6Olvin Ortiz2016–27
6Isaac Nieves2004–201029

Historical list of coaches