The El Salvador national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de El Salvador) represents

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

in international football, and is governed by the

Salvadoran Football Federation The Salvadoran Football Federation ( es, Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol or ) is the official governing football organization in El Salvador and is in charge of the El Salvador national football team, and El Salvador national beach soccer tea ...

(FESFUT). In 1899, two teams from Santa Ana and

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

met for the first known football game in El Salvador. The national team's first match was played in September 1921, when they were invited to participate in a tournament to celebrate 100 years of Central American Independence. El Salvador has made two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

appearances: first in 1970 and again in 1982, but have never progressed beyond the first stage of a finals tournament. They were the 1943 CCCF champions, and finished in second-place in the

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

and 1961 championships. They have competed in the CONCACAF regional tournaments fourteen times, finishing as runners-up in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. ''La Selecta'' also competes in the biennial

UNCAF Nations Cup The Copa Centroamericana (, Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' (UNCAF), the sport's Central Am ...

, the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, and have won two gold medals in the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

. The

Estadio Cuscatlán The Estadio Cuscatlán is a football stadium located in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador. It was inaugurated in 1976. It can hold 53,400 spectators, making it the stadium with the largest spectator capacity in Central America and the Cari ...

, also known as "El Coloso de Montserrat" and "La Catedral del Espectáculo", is the official home stadium of the El Salvador national football team. Since 2017, the national team has had a kit sponsorship contract with England-based supplier

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 100 c ...

Raúl Díaz Arce Raúl Díaz Arce (born February 1, 1970 in San Miguel, El Salvador) is a Salvadoran former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is El Salvador's most prolific goal scorer, with 39 goals in just 68 appearances. Playing career 1 ...

is the all-time top-scorer for the national team, with 39 goals, while

Alfredo Pacheco Alfredo Alberto Pacheco (December 1, 1982 – December 27, 2015) was a Salvadoran footballer who had the record for most appearances on the El Salvador national football team when he was banned for life in 2013, for match-fixing while playing fo ...

has the most caps, with 85 appearances.

History

Beginnings

Salvadoran football had its origins in the city of Santa Ana, on a field called "Campo Marte". The first recorded game took place on 16 July 1899 between players from Santa Ana and

. Both teams had several foreign players from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

who are credited with introducing football to El Salvador. The home team won the game 2–0. Independence Centenary Games, Costa Rica vs El Salvador

Although El Salvador played a few games in the early part of the twentieth century, they did not form an official national team until 1921, when players such as José Pablo Huezo, Carlos Escobar Leiva or Santiago Barrachina revolutionised football in the country. In September 1921, El Salvador were invited to

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

to take part in the

Independence Centenary Games The Independence Centenary Games of Central America (Spanish language, Spanish: ) was a association football, football tournament organized to celebrate History of Central America, 100 years of Central American Independence from Spain. The tournam ...

, to celebrate 100 years of Central American Independence. The tournament was between

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, and El Salvador. The Guatemalans and Costa Ricans had more experience than the Salvadorans and Hondurans. It was a

knockout tournament A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking ...

with Guatemala playing Honduras and El Salvador playing Costa Rica. El Salvador, wearing white shorts and black shirts, used a classic 2–3–5 scheme with their team consisting of Carlos Escobar Leyva; Spanish resident Santiago Barrachina, José Pablo Huezo; Benjamín Sandoval, Emilio Dawson, and Frenchman Emilio Detruit; Víctor Recinos, brothers Guillermo and José E. Alcaine, Guillermo Sandoval and Enrique Lindo. By half-time Costa Rica led 3–0, and at the final whistle, after two 40-minute halves, won 7–0. El Salvador's other matches in the 1920s were friendlies against Costa Rica and Honduras. They lost their first friendly 3–0 against the national football team of Costa Rica, while the second and third ended in a 1–0 loss and 0–0 draw against Honduras. On 7 December 1928, El Salvador recorded their first ever win, 5–0 over Honduras, the team that would become their traditional rivals, with Gustavo "Taviche" Marroquín scoring every goal. The game was played at Campo Marte, San Salvador, and was also the first time the team had scored in an international match.

1930s

In the early 1930s, El Salvador appointed their first official national coach, the American

Mark Scott Thompson Mack Scott Thompson was manager of the El Salvador national team from 1930 until 1935. He was the first person to be given the job, making him the first and, for 91 years, the only American to coach El Salvador.1930 Central American and Caribbean Games The 2nd Central American and Caribbean Games ( es, Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos) were held in Havana, Cuba from 15 March to 5 April 1930. The event featured 596 athletes from nine nations ( Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hondur ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. El Salvador finished in fourth place at the games. The

was founded in 1935. By this time, El Salvador were coached by the Spaniard, Pablo Ferre Elías. The 1935 Central American and Caribbean Games took place in El Salvador's new government-funded Estadio Flor Blanca, at that time the biggest stadium in the country. The Salvadoran squad consisted of Edmundo Majano as goalkeeper; Tobias Rivera and Raúl Castro in defence; Américo Gonzalez and Napoleon Cañas as midfielders; and Álex Morales, Rogelio Aviles, Fidel Quintanilla, Miguel "Americano" Cruz, and Andrés Hernández as strikers. Previously the national team had worn black and white striped jerseys and this was the first time they turned out in a blue strip. The team finished in third place as bronze medal winners. In 1938, the Salvadoran Football Federation became affiliates of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

. El Salvador participated in the

1938 Central American and Caribbean Games The 4th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Panama City, the capital city of Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanni ...

, hosted in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, which were won by

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, with Costa Rica in second place. El Salvador won two and lost three of their five matches. A match for third place against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

was cancelled because of the bad state of the players, and El Salvador finished in fourth place.

1940s

On 26 April 1940, the first national football federation was approved, with Dr. Luis Rivas Palacios as president. In 1941, the first Central American and Caribbean Championship (CCCF) took place in

, organised by

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

, the international governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. El Salvador competed alongside

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

and

. El Salvador were runners-up, recording two wins, one draw and one loss. The 1943 CCCF Championship took place in San Salvador with the participation of Costa Rica,

and Nicaragua. El Salvador were coached by the former national player Américo González. El Salvador and Guatemala finished with the same number of points, Guatemala failed to attend a deciding play-off, resulting in El Salvador winning their first international title. El Salvador's 10‒1 win over Nicaragua set the team's record for the most goals scored in a single game. It was also the second time a Salvadoran player ( Miguel "Americano" Cruz) had scored five goals in a match. El Salvador defended their title in the 1946 CCCF Championship in Costa Rica alongside six other participants and finished in third place, winning three matches and losing two. In the 1948 CCCF Championship, hosted in

, Costa Rica won the championship for the third time, with El Salvador finishing in fifth place.

1950s

El Salvador did not participate in qualification for the World Cups in

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, 1962 and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. During these years El Salvador had a good squad, including goalkeeper Manuel "Tamalón" Garay, Rafael "Chapuda" Reyes, Conrado Miranda, Miguel "Americano" Cruz, Rafael Corado and Mando Rivas. In the group stage of the

1950 Central American and Caribbean Games The 6th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, from February 28 to March 12, 1950. The games included 1,390 athletes from fourteen nations, competing in nineteen sports. Sports * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

in Mexico, El Salvador recorded two wins, one draw and one loss. They began the final round by beating Curaçao 3–1, but lost their other two matches, leaving them in fifth place. In 1953, El Salvador took part in their fifth

CCCF Championship The CCCF Championship was an association football (soccer) tournament made for teams in the area of Central America and the Caribbean between the years of 1941 and 1961. It was founded in 1938 and the precursor of the CONCACAF, that was formed wh ...

. The hosts, Costa Rica, became champions for the fourth time, and El Salvador finished in fifth place again. At the

1954 Central American and Caribbean Games The 7th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Mexico City, the capital city of Mexico. The games were held from the 5 March to the 20 March 1954, and included 1,356 athletes from twelve nations. Sports * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

, El Salvador won their second international title under the

Carbilio Tomasino José Carbilio Tomasino, (born - died 7 February 1960) was a Salvadoran footballer coach. Tomasino led the El Salvador team to the Central American and Caribbean titles in 1954. he is the father of salvadoran football coach Ricardo Tomasino. In ...

, with a team consisting of Yohalmo Aurora, Manuel "Tamalón" Garay, Hugo Moreno, Armando Larín, Luis Regalado, Conrado Miranda, Fernando Barrios, Ramón "Pezote" Chávez, José Hernández, Mario Montoya, Juan Francisco "Cariota" Barraza, Ricardo "Chilenito" Valencia, Alfredo "Baiza" Ruano, and Obdulio Hernández. They began with a 2–2 draw against Colombia, and then beat

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

3–1, Mexico 3–2 and Panama 1–0 with a goal by Barraza. The win against Mexico, with two goals from Montoya and one from Valencia, was the first by a Central American team against Mexico. In the

1955 CCCF Championship The seventh edition of the CCCF Championship was held in Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially ...

, hosted in Honduras, Costa Rica became champions for the fifth time, with El Salvador finishing fourth. El Salvador did not participate in the

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

CCCF Championships.

1960s

El Salvador returned to participate in the

1961 CCCF Championship The 1961 CCCF Championship was played in March 1961 in San José, Costa Rica. Costa Rica emerged as champion. It was the final edition of the tournament, as shortly afterward the CCCF was subsumed into CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Ce ...

, hosted in Costa Rica, alongside nine other national teams. El Salvador were placed in a four-team first group with Honduras, the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

, and Nicaragua, which they topped with two wins and a draw. In the final round they finished in second place behind Costa Rica, who won their seventh CCCF Championship. Afterwards the tournament was dissolved and replaced with the

CONCACAF Championship The CONCACAF Championship was an association football tournament that took place between 1963 and 1989. The competition is sometimes referred to as CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones. The first Championship took place in 1963 and was CONCACAF's firs ...

. In the first

, in 1963, El Salvador hosted both the qualification round and the final tournament. Costa Rica became the first champions, and El Salvador finished as runners-up. In 1964, the Chilean

Hernán Carrasco Vivanco Hernán is a Spanish masculine given name, originating from Germanic Hernan in the Visigoth culture in Spain. It is the Latinized version of the compound name ''Fard-nanth'', which seems to mean "gentle traveler" or "spiritual traveler". The House ...

, who would later revolutionize Salvadoran football, became the coach of the national team. He led the national team for the first time at the

1965 CONCACAF Championship The 1965 CONCACAF Championship, the second edition of the CONCACAF Championship, was held in Guatemala from 28 March to 11 April. Qualifying Tournament Caribbean zone Jamaica, Trinidad, Dominican Republic withdrew from qualifying due to a schedu ...

, hosted in Guatemala, where they won two games, drew one and lost two, finishing in fourth place. In 1966, El Salvador took part in the

for the sixth time, in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. They finished in fourth place. In 1968, El Salvador qualified for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

for the first time. They lost 4–0 to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, 3–1 to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and drew 1–1 with

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. The coach at this time was Rigoberto Guzmán. Gregorio Bundio and his assistant José Santacolomba coached the team in the qualifying stages for the 1970 World Cup. This was the first time that El Salvador participated in World Cup qualifying. As hosts, Mexico qualified automatically, leaving one further qualification spot available for the CONCACAF region. El Salvador won

Group 3 Group 3 may refer to: *Group 3 element, chemical element classification *Group 3 (racing), FIA classification for auto racing * Group 3, the third tier of races in worldwide Thoroughbred horse racing * Group 3 image format, Group 3 & Group 4 are ...

, winning three and losing one. They qualified for a play-off against their traditional rivals, the Group 2 winners Honduras. The first game, on 8 June 1969 in the Honduran capital of

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

, was won 1–0 by the home team and was followed by crowd violence. El Salvador won the second game 3–0 a week later in San Salvador, which was followed by even greater violence. A play-off match took place in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

on 26 June, which El Salvador won 3–2 after extra time. On 14 July, as a result of existing tensions being exacerbated by these matches, the two countries began the hundred-hour-long conflict known as the

Football War The Football War ( es, La guerra del fútbol; colloquial: Soccer War), also known as the Hundred Hours' War or 100 Hour War, was a brief military conflict fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countr ...

. As a result, El Salvador and Honduras were both disqualified from entering 1969 CONCACAF Championship qualification. In the deciding World Cup qualifier, El Salvador faced

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. El Salvador won the away leg 2–1, with goals from

Elmer Acevedo Élmer Ángel Acevedo Aguilar (27 January 1949 – 30 August 2017) was a footballer from El Salvador. Club career Born in La Libertad Department, he moved to study in Santa Ana and joined the youth team of local club FAS, aged 16. After si ...

and Mauricio "Pipo" Rodríguez, but lost the second leg 3–0 at home. El Salvador finally won the play-off on 8 October with a goal by Juan Ramón "Mon" Martínez in extra time, allowing them to qualify for the World Cup finals at the first attempt. "El Pajaro Picón Picón" was a Colombian song written by Eliseo Herrera which was very popular in El Salvador during the World Cup qualifying stages. During a radio show, Mauricio Bojórquez parodied the song, which he named "Arriba con la Selección". That parody became so famous that it became the official anthem of the El Salvador national football team.

1970s

In the World Cup finals El Salvador were drawn into a group with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, Mexico and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. El Salvador lost their first game 3–0 to Belgium in Mexico City on 3 June. The second match, against Mexico on 7 June, was marred by a controversial call near the end of the first half, with the score still at 0–0. The Egyptian referee

Ali Kandil Ali Hussein Kandil ( ''ʿAlī Qandīl'') is an Egyptian former football referee. He directed the match between Korea DPR and Chile in the 1966 FIFA World Cup which ended in a 1-all draw. He was also the referee for the controversial Mexico ...

appeared to signal for a free kick to El Salvador in their own half. However, a Mexican player took the kick, passing to

Javier Valdivia Javier Valdivia Huerta (born 4 December 1941) is a Mexican former professional footballer. Career Valdivia began playing football with local side Guadalajara in 1960. He made his debut with the Mexico national team The Mexico national f ...

, who scored. The Salvadoran players protested vigorously, to the extent of physically jostling the Bermudan linesman, Keith Dunstan, but the goal was allowed to stand. El Salvador restarted the game by kicking the ball into the crowd in protest. They eventually lost 4–0. The team's third game took place on 10 June, with El Salvador losing 2–0 to the Soviet Union to finish at the bottom of Group A. El Salvador advanced from the first round of 1971 CONCACAF Championship qualification by beating

4–2 on aggregate. In the second round, they withdrew from their play-off against Honduras, allowing their opponents to qualify by default. The national team also took part in the 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification, which doubled as qualification for the 1974 World Cup, but they did not advance to the

final stage Final stage or The Final Stage may refer to: * '' The Final Stage'', 1995 film directed by Frank Howson * Fifth stage of a bill's passage through a legislative chamber * In a multi-stage tournament: ** knockout stage ** playoffs The playoffs, p ...

after they were eliminated by Guatemala 2–0 on aggregate (1–0, 1–0). The team was managed by

Hector D'Angelo Hector Alfredo D'Angelo is a former Argentina football player and manager. He has managed El Salvador national football team, Banfield, Lanus, Talleres (RE) and Temperley Temperley is a district in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, locat ...

. El Salvador participated at the

for the first time in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

in Mexico. They began with a 4–1 win against Nicaragua on 14 October, with a hat-trick from "Pajarito" Huezo, on the début of Francisco "Paco" Jovel. They then lost 2–0 to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and drew 0–0 against Costa Rica, with "Pelé" Zapata missing a penalty. They finished in third place in Group D and failed to advance to the next round. In 1977 CONCACAF Championship qualification, El Salvador finished second in their group, behind Guatemala and ahead of Costa Rica and Panama, to qualify for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, hosted in Mexico. They finished in third place, behind Haiti and Mexico, with the hosts winning the tournament. El Salvador participated in the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games, hosted in

. Cuba were crowned champions for the fourth time and El Salvador finished ninth.

1980s

El Salvador played Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama in 1981 CONCACAF Championship qualification, in a home-and-away round-robin group with the top two teams advancing to the

. El Salvador and Honduras finished with equal points at the top of the group, with Honduras winning the group on goal difference. Once again the finals doubled up as World Cup qualification, this time for the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

, with the top two of the six teams qualifying. Going into the final matches, El Salvador had four points and were in third place on goal difference, with Mexico and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

both also having four points, behind Honduras with seven. On 19 November 1981, El Salvador beat Haiti 1–0, with a penalty by

Norberto Huezo José Norberto Huezo Montoya (born 6 June 1956) is a retired football player from El Salvador who represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Club career Huezo started his career at UES and played for ANTEL before joining A ...

. On 21 November, Canada drew 2–2 with Cuba and were eliminated. In the decisive match the following day, Honduras and Mexico drew 0–0, meaning El Salvador qualified for the World Cup for the second time. El Salvador took a 20-man squad to Spain, two players short of the maximum number allowed, as a controversial cost–saving measure. They were coached by "Pipo" Rodríguez. In their first match on 15 June in

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants, A silver lining was that Luis Ramírez Zapata scored the country's first World Cup goal during the game, albeit when the Salvadorans were already 5–0 down. When Zapata scored, some Salvadorans cried out not to celebrate the goal because it might make the Hungarians angry and encourage them to score more. Displaying much-improved levels of organisation and commitment, El Salvador lost 1–0 to

on 19 June in Elche and 2–0 to the world champions,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, on 23 June in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

. There were several reasons the tournament went so badly for El Salvador. First of all, their reduced squad meant that they omitted Gilberto Quinteros and Miguel González. According to

Luis Guevara Mora Luis Ricardo Guevara Mora (born 2 September 1961) is a Salvadoran former association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Nicknamed ''el Negro'', he became a member of the El Salvador national foo ...

, the 20-year-old goalkeeper, the

decided to take members of the Federation, as well as their friends and family, and spent so much money they could not afford to bring a full squad. The team took many stops throughout Europe under the direction of the Federation, taking three days to arrive in Spain and were the last team to do so. Once they arrived, there was more trouble.

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

sent four white and three blue uniforms for each player, but only three white and one blue arrived. The remaining uniforms were said to have been taken away by the association. They decided to play with the white uniform and keep the blue as a keepsake. Next, someone stole the balls that the team needed to train with. The day before the match against Hungary, the Hungarians had the 25 balls the organization had given them while El Salvador had none and were unable to train. To make things even worse, El Salvador had never seen Hungary play, and the only knowledge that they had about the team was an outdated video that they had bought. On the field there were more problems. Hungary's fourth goal was caused by Francisco Jovel's sudden deafness after he had received a heavy blow on the cheek. When Guevara Mora called to him to stop a ball, the defender did not hear him, and the ball went past Jovel in front of the net. After the match, the Salvadoran squad had a tense meeting with the coaching staff and Federation. The coach was dismissed immediately and the matches against Belgium and Argentina were managed by players Jovel, Huezo and Fagoaga. Although the tournament overall was a big disappointment, Jorge "Mágico" González was considered by the national and international press as the best player, and he stayed in Spain to play for

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

and

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

. In 1985 CONCACAF Championship qualification, El Salvador beat

8–0 on aggregate (5–0, 3–0) to qualify for the

. They were placed in a group with Honduras and

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, with the top team advancing. They finished second in the group with five points, one point behind Honduras. In 1989 CONCACAF Championship qualification they eliminated the

6–0 on aggregate (1–0, 5–0). El Salvador finished last, with just two points, in the round-robin

1990s

At a CONCACAF congress, held in Guatemala on 26 January 1991, a new tournament, called the

, was conceived for Central American teams. The inaugural tournament was hosted in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, hosted by Costa Rica. The tournament also doubled as qualification for the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

, a new tournament which replaced the

. In qualification, ''La Selecta'' defeated Nicaragua 5–2 on aggregate (3–2, 2–0) and advanced to the final tournament. In the finals, they played three games, drawing one and losing two, finishing in last place and failing to advance to the

1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the first edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the eleventh overall CONCACAF tournament. The last time the CONCACAF Championship was he ...

. The 1993 UNCAF Nations Cup once again served as qualification to the Gold Cup, this time for the

1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the second edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The format of the tournament stayed the same as in 1991: eight teams were broken up into ...

. Coached by Jorge Vieira, ''La Selecta'' advanced to the final tournament automatically. There they played three games, once again drawing one and losing two to finish last and fail to advance to the Gold Cup. In

1994 World Cup qualification File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, El Salvador eliminated Nicaragua 10–1 on aggregate (5–0, 5–1) in the first round, then finished first in a group composed of

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

(0–1, 4–1), Canada (1–1, 3–2), and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

(2–0, 2–1) in the second round. In the third round, El Salvador began with a win against Mexico at home, but lost their next four games, including two defeats against Canada. They beat Honduras 2–1 at home in their final game, but finished third in the group and were eliminated. El Salvador hosted the

1995 UNCAF Nations Cup Six national football teams from Central America competed in the 1995 UNCAF Nations Cup (''Copa Centroamericana''). The winning team was Honduras, defeating Guatemala in the final. Squads Preliminary round Stadium First round Group A ' ...

. In their first round, they topped a group containing Costa Rica and

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, and lost 1–0 to Guatemala in the knockout round. They won the third place match 2–1 against Costa Rica and advanced to the

1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament returned to the United States and California; the games were hosted by Los ...

alongside Guatemala and the tournament winners, Honduras. This was their first appearance at the Gold Cup. At the finals of the 1996 Gold Cup, El Salvador defeated

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

3–2, with goals from

(2) and

Ronald Cerritos Ronald Osvaldo Cerritos Flores (born January 3, 1975, in San Salvador) is a Salvadoran former professional footballer who played as a striker. Cerritos is the all-time leader in assists of the Major League Soccer team, the San Jose Earthquakes ...

in their first game, but then lost 2–0 to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and did not advance from the first round. At the 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup, hosted in Guatemala, El Salvador lost 3–0 to Honduras in their first match but defeated Panama 2–0 in their second. In the second group stage they finished in third place, losing 1–0 to both Guatemala and Costa Rica, and drawing 0–0 against Honduras. They advanced to the

1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Los Angeles, Miami, and O ...

, hosted in the

. El Salvador were coached by

Kiril Dojcinovski The male name Kiril (or Кирил or Кирилл) is a common first name in the Orthodox Slavic world, in particular in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Russia. It is also well known in Greece but in different forms like Kyriakos. (Note that in m ...

. In the group stage, they drew 0–0 with Guatemala, and lost to Brazil (4–0) and Jamaica (2–0). In 1998 World Cup qualification, El Salvador received a bye to the third round, where they were drawn into a group with Canada, Cuba, and Panama. They finished second behind Canada and advanced to the six-team final round. El Salvador finished in fifth place with two wins, four draws, and four defeats. This was the closest they had come to qualifying for a World Cup since 1982. At the 1999 UNCAF Nations Cup, hosted in Costa Rica, El Salvador drew 1–1 with Guatemala and defeated Nicaragua 1–0 in the first round, with Magdonio Corrales scoring in both games. In the second group stage, they lost 3–1 to Honduras, 1–0 Guatemala and 4–0 to Costa Rica to finish bottom of the group, and failed to advance to the

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

. They were coached by Mario Peres Ulibarri.

2000s

In 2002 World Cup qualification, El Salvador topped a first round group ahead of Belize and Guatemala, but finished third behind and Jamaica in the second round, and were eliminated. In the 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup in Honduras, El Salvador topped their first-round group, defeating Nicaragua 3–0, Panama 2–1, and drawing 1–1 with the hosts. In the final round they drew all their games to finish third and advance to the

2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Miami and Pasadena. The format ...

. They were coached by

Carlos Recinos Carlos Humberto Recinos Ortíz (born 30 June 1950) is a retired football player from El Salvador. Playing years Club career Nicknamed ''Imacasa'' after the company he worked for, Recinos began his professional football career at FAS where ...

. In the Gold Cup, El Salvador lost their first match in Group A to Mexico (1–0), but defeated Guatemala by the same score, with a goal from Santos Cabrera. This allowed them to advance to the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup for the first time, but they lost 4–0 at that stage to the eventual champions, the United States. At the 2003 UNCAF Nations Cup in Panama, El Salvador finished third again, with

Juan Ramón Paredes Juan Ramón Paredes Zelaya (born 23 May 1950) is a former Salvadoran professional football player and currently manager. Coaching career Alianza He became the coach of Alianza at the beginning of 2000 season, he went on to win the Apertura 2 ...

as head coach. In the tournament, they won 2–1 against Panama, lost 1–0 to Costa Rica, beat Nicaragua 3–0 and Honduras 1–0, and lost 2–0 against Guatemala. They qualified for the

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one c ...

, where they were drawn into Group C with

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

and the United States. El Salvador 2–0 lost to the United States but beat Martinique 1–0 with a goal from

Marvin González Marvin René González Leiva (born April 17, 1982) is a Salvadoran former footballer who played as a left-back. Club career Born in El Refugio, González came through the reserves of FAS in 2001 to claim his place in the senior team and to st ...

. In the quarter-finals, they were beaten 5–2 by Costa Rica, with three of the seven goals coming from penalty kicks. The 2006 World Cup qualifiers and 2005 UNCAF Nations Cup, hosted in Guatemala, were both huge disasters for El Salvador. In the former they received a bye to the second round, where they inched past Bermuda 4–3 on aggregate (2–1, 2–2). In the third round they finished last in a group that contained Jamaica, Panama and the United States, with just four points from six games. In the 2005 UNCAF Nations Cup they went out in the first round after losing against Panama (1–0) and Costa Rica (2–1), which meant they also failed to qualify for the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious ...

. They were coached by

Carlos Cavagnaro Carlos Albert Cavagnaro (born 9 April 1946 in Necochea, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football manager. He became the youngest football manager in the history of the Argentine Primera when he took charge of Argentinos Juniors in 1969 aged 22. C ...

. Coached by

Carlos de los Cobos Carlos de los Cobos Martínez (born 10 December 1958) is a Mexican former professional football player and manager who last managed El Salvador. Playing career As a player, de los Cobos spent the majority of his playing career in his native Me ...

, El Salvador hosted the 2007 UNCAF Nations Cup, and won their first-round group after 2–1 wins over Belize and Nicaragua, and a 0–0 draw with Guatemala. In the semi-finals, they lost 1–0 to the eventual champions, Costa Rica, and finished the tournament in fourth after Guatemala beat them by the same scored in the third place play-off. This allowed them to qualify for the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States from ...

, where they began with a 2–1 win against Trinidad and Tobago 2–1, with goals from

Ramón Sánchez Ramón Alfredo Sánchez Paredes (born May 25, 1982 in San Juan Opico) is a Salvadoran football player. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team. Career Club Sánchez has playe ...

and

Dennis Alas Dennis Jonathan Alas Morales (born 10 January 1985 in San Salvador) is a Salvadoran former association football player. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team. He is the olde ...

. They lost their next two matches against Guatemala (1–0) and the United States (4–0) and exited the tournament. On 16 June 2007, El Salvador met Hungary at the

in a repeat of their match at the 1982 World Cup. Many of the same players that had played the original World Cup match played again. The match was drawn 2–2, with goals from Lázár Szentes and Ferenc Csongrádi for Hungary and two goals from Luis Ramírez Zapata for El Salvador. At the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup in

, El Salvador finished second in their group after Belize 4–1, drawing 1–1 with Nicaragua and losing 2–0 to Honduras, and Nicaragua. Their semi-final against Costa Rica was called off after 60 minutes, with Costa Rica leading 1–0, when El Salvador were reduced to six players.

Alexander Escobar Alexander Escobar Rosales (born April 4, 1984) is a Salvadoran footballer. Club career He played in the C.D. San Francisco Junior youth teams and has played all of his professional career at A.D. Isidro Metapán, since making his debut in 2001 ...

and

Eliseo Quintanilla Eliseo Antonio Quintanilla Ortíz (born 5 February 1983) is a former Salvadoran professional footballer. Club career Nicknamed ''Cheyo'', Quintanilla started his professional career at Salvadorian giants FAS, making his professional debut in ...

were sent off in the first half, while

Deris Umanzor Deris Ariel Umanzor Guevara (born 7 January 1980) is a retired Salvadoran professional footballer. Club career Deris Umanzor began his career in the youth system of Municipal Limeño and eventually moved up to the first team in 1998. After s ...

Rodolfo Zelaya Rodolfo Antonio Zelaya García (born 3 July 1988) is a Salvadoran professional footballer who plays as a second striker for Salvadoran club Alianza and the El Salvador national team. In October 2013, Zelaya was given a one-year ban from foot ...

and their goalkeeper

Juan José Gómez Juan José Gómez (born November 8, 1980 in San Miguel, El Salvador) is a Salvadoran retired professional goalkeeper. He is currently working as part of a sports narration staff for the private sports channel Tigo Sports based in El Salvador. C ...

were injured and had to leave the field after El Salvador had already used their three substitutions. The game was awarded as a 3–0 win to Costa Rica. In the third place play-off, they lost 1–0 to Honduras after a goal by Roger Espinoza. At the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United States ...

, El Salvador began by beating Costa Rica 2–1, with two goals by

Osael Romero William Osael Romero Castillo (born 18 April 1986) is a Salvadoran former footballer. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team. Career Club Romero started his career at Atl� ...

. However, they lost 1–0 against Canada and Jamaica and were eliminated.

2010s

2010 World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oce ...

El Salvador beat

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territo ...

16–0 on aggregate and Panama 3–2 on aggregate in the first two rounds. In their third round group, they finished second in the group behind Costa Rica, ahead of Haiti and Suriname, to advance to the ''Hexagonal'' round. Despite drawing against the United States and beating Mexico, El Salvador finished in fifth place and were eliminated.

Rudis Corrales Rudis Alberto Corrales Rivera (born November 6, 1979) is a retired Salvadoran footballer. Club career Corrales' professional career began in 1997, when he signed a contract with Municipal Limeño. He officially made his debut that same year ...

was their top scorer in qualification with 8 goals. On 11 May 2010, the

FIFA Emergency Committee FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was founded ...

suspended the

(FESFUT) on account of government interference, as the statutes ratified by the FESFUT general assembly in August 2009 had not been entered in the country's official register, and that the government had failed to acknowledge the authority of the Normalisation Committee set up to represent FESFUT. The suspension was lifted by 28 May, allowing ''La Selecta'' to participate in international tournaments. El Salvador's under-21 team qualified for the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. However, CONCACAF decided to suspend football at the 2010 CAC shortly after. El Salvador were also able to participate in the

qualifying tournament Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In the 2011 Copa Centroamericana, the new version of the reorganized UNCAF Nations Cup, El Salvador qualified from their first-round group in second place after defeating Nicaragua 2–0 and Belize 5–2, and losing 2–0 against Panama. In the semi-finals they lost 2–0 to Honduras, and lost 5–4 in a penalty shootout to Panama, after a 0–0 draw. This performance qualified El Salvador for the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on June ...

. The team was coached by

José Luis Rugamas José Luis Rugamas Portillo (born 5 June 1953 in San Salvador) is a Salvadoran football manager and former professional player. He was interim manager of the El Salvador national team. As a player, he represented his country at the 1982 F ...

. Forward

Rafael Burgos Rafael Edgardo Burgos (born June 3, 1988 in La Paz, El Salvador) is a Salvadoran professional footballer who plays as a forward for Independiente. Club career Burgos started his career at Alianza F.C., but moved to Segunda División club ...

jointly received the Golden Boot with Costa Rica's

Marco Ureña Marcos Danilo Ureña Porras, known as Marco Ureña (born 5 March 1990), is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a striker for C.S. Cartaginés. He has also played for the Costa Rica national team. Club career Born in San Jos ...

, with three goals. In April 2011, two months before the start of the Gold Cup, José Luis Rugamas was replaced as coach by

Rubén Israel Rubén Jorge Israel Yelen (8 December 1955 – 5 July 2021) was a Uruguayan footballer and a football team manager. Coaching career Libertad In the Paraguayan championships, since the start of the Clausura 2007 tournament, Israel coached Cl ...

. At the Gold Cup, El Salvador began with a 5–0 defeat to Mexico. They drew 1–1 with Costa Rica, with

's 25-yard free-kick opener being equalised by a Costa Rican goal in injury time, and beat Cuba 6–1 to reach the knockout stage for the first time since 2003. In the quarter-finals they drew 1–1 with Panama, with Panama scoring a controversial equaliser through

Luis Tejada Luis Carlos "Matador" Tejada Hansell (born 28 March 1982) is a Panamanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Molinos El Pirata. Club career Tejada's debut in professional soccer was with Tauro in the local league, where he ma ...

one minute from the end. Their coach Israel called the decision an "error of haste." Panama won the penalty shoot-out 5–3. In 2014 World Cup qualification, El Salvador received a bye to the second round, where they began with a 3–2 win against the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, with goals scored by

(2) and

Christian Javier Bautista Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. They then beat the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

4–1 with goals from Bautista,

Luis Anaya Luis Alonso Anaya Merino (born May 19, 1981) is a Salvadoran former professional football player. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team. Club career Anaya started his senior ...

(2) and Xavier García before winning the return against the Dominican Republic 2–1. They beat the Cayman Islands 4–0 at home, with goals by Víctor Turcios, Steve Purdy,

Jaime Alas Jaime Enrique Alas Morales (born 30 July 1989) is a Salvadoran professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga Nacional club Municipal and the El Salvador national team. Club career Alas' professional career began in July 2006, ...

and

Herbert Sosa Herbert Arnoldo Sosa Burgos (born January 11, 1990 in San Salvador) is a Salvadoran professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Sosa's professional career began in July 2007, when he signed a contract with Chalatenango. He ...

. The last of these was the thousandth goal scored by the national team. Two comfortable wins over Suriname gave them a perfect record of six wins in six matches. In the next round, El Salvador snatched a draw against Costa Rica in San José after being 2–0 down, but a home defeat against Mexico four days later precipitated the departure of Israel, whose poor relations with

Jaime Rodríguez Jaime Alberto Rodríguez Jiménez (born 17 January 1959) is a former football player from El Salvador. He represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Playing career Club career From a very early age on, Rodríguez showed ...

, the president of the National Institute of Sport Salvador (INDES) were widely known. The

Salvadoran Football Association The Salvadoran Football Federation ( es, Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol or ) is the official governing football organization in El Salvador and is in charge of the El Salvador national football team, and El Salvador national beach soccer tea ...

(FESFUT) named the Mexican

Juan de Dios Castillo Juan de Dios Castillo González (31 January 1951 – 1 May 2014) was a Mexican Association football, footballer and coach (sport), coach, last with F.C. Motagua of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras, the top tier of the Football in Hondur ...

as his replacement. Despite a good start, a 1–0 win in a friendly match against

, a 2–2 draw at the Estadio Cuscatlán in a qualifier against modest

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

earned him the wrath of the public. A 3–2 victory in Georgetown, with a penalty saved by El Salvador's goalkeeper

Dagoberto Portillo Dagoberto Portillo Gamero (born November 16, 1979) is a Salvadoran former football goalkeeper. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team. Career Club He began his football career ...

in additional time, kept their qualifying hopes alive, but these were ended by a 1–0 home defeat against Costa Rica. Juan de Dios Castillo was sacked in November 2012 and replaced on 17 December by the Peruvian

Agustín Castillo Alberto Agustín Castillo Gallardo (born May 5, 1963) is a former Peruvian professional footballer and currently manager. Playing career Alianza Lima He started his career with Alianza Lima in 1973. He was part of the squad that won the 19 ...

, a five-time national champion with

C.D. FAS Club Deportivo Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos, commonly known as FAS (pronounced "fas"), is a professional Salvadoran football club based in Santa Ana. It competes in Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador, the country's top professiona ...

. El Salvador finished third in the 2013 Copa Centroamericana, allowing them to qualify for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States. In that tournament, a 1–0 win over Haiti allowed them to qualify from the group stages in third place, but they lost 5–1 to the host nation in the quarter-finals. In 2018 World Cup qualification, El Salvador won knockout ties against

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

and Curaçao to reach the fourth round group stage, but they finished bottom of a group containing Mexico, Honduras and Canada with two draws and four defeats from their six matches.

2020s

After

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

restrictions had loosened up a bit, El Salvador organized a friendly match against the US in December 2020 to start things off again. However, they lost 6–0 to the CONCACAF giants. 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification were soon on the horizon and El Salvador had to play against Grenada and Montserrat in the March 2021 calendar. El Salvador won at home against Grenada in a 2–0 victory and tied with Montserrat in a grueling 1–1 match. This was when El Salvador needed a change fast and they soon sacked

. They hired a Hugo Pérez as their new coach, who was also coaching the El Salvador Sub-23s in the Olympic Qualifiers in the same year. Hugo Perez made radical changes to the team and called up more newer players to help represent El Salvador. When June rolled by, El Salvador's next opponents were the US Virgin Islands and Antigua & Barbudas. El Salvador crushed the Virgin Islands with a 7–0 victory away and won again at home against Antigua in a 3–0 win; El Salvador were on their way to the second round of qualifications. El Salvador then faced off against Saint Kitts & Nevis in a round robin format. El Salvador managed to pull off a 0–4 victory away and a 2–0 victory at home, which got them to the final round of qualifications for the first time in over 10 years. In preparation for the upcoming 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, El Salvador organized three friendlies. On June 26, El Salvador played against Guatemala to a 0–0 standstill. However, Hugo Perez was trying to experiment with more younger and less or known players at the time to form an underwhelming B Team. El Salvador then flew to Croatia to face their next opponents. On July 2, La Selecta faced off against

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 ( en, Istra 1961 Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra 1961, or simply Istra 1961 or Istra, is a Croatian professional football club from Pula, currently playing in the Croatian First League. It is a common ...

to a 2–1 defeat. On July 4, El Salvador faced the Asian Cup winners,

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, to a 1–0 defeat. On July 11, El Salvador played their first game in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup against their Central American rivals,

, to a 2–0 victory. On July 14, El Salvador faced

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

to another 2–0 victory to land El Salvador to the Quarter-Finals and gaining 6 points for the first time in the Gold Cup. On July 18, El Salvador played their last game against

to prove how much they've grown or not. El Salvador lost to Mexico in a tense 1–0 defeat. In the quarter-finals, El Salvador faced off against

and lost once again in a 3–2 defeat, ending their Gold Cup run.

Match fixing

The national team has had accusations of several players losing matches on purpose in exchange for monetary rewards. Some of these allegations involved games against

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, Mexico, USA, and Costa Rica. Fourteen players were handed lifetime bans from football on 20 September 2013:

, Christian Castillo, Miguel Granadino, Miguel Montes,

Darwin Bonilla Darwin Doronis Bonilla Salgado (born August 6, 1990 in Chirilagua, El Salvador) is a former Salvadoran footballer. He was banned for life in 2013, for match-fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team. Club career Bonilla ...

, Ramón Flores,

, José Mardoqueo Henríquez,

, and Reynaldo Hernández.

Carlos Monteagudo Carlos Romeo Monteagudo Alfaro (born April 29, 1985) is a Salvadoran professional footballer. Club career Independiente Nacional 1906 Monteagudo started his professional career at hometown club Independiente Nacional 1906 in 2004. However, for ...

received a ban of 18 months.

and Víctor Turcios received six-month bans.

, Christian Sánchez, and under-20 goalkeeper Yimmy Cuellar received bans of 30 days. After a further 20-day investigation, Rodrigo Martínez was sentenced to a ban of five years,

to a ban of one year, and

Benji Villalobos Benji Oldai Villalobos Segovia (born 15 July 1988 in El Salvador) is a Salvadoran professional goalkeeper. Club career UDET After starting his career at UDET in 2004. Universidad Gerardo Barrios Villalobos played for Segunda Divisió ...

to a ban of six months. On 6 September 2016, the team revealed that they had turned down an offer to ensure that their result against Canada saw Honduras progress to the next round of World Cup qualification. Their coach Ramon Maradiaga was later fined 20,000 Swiss francs and banned from football for two years for not disclosing the approach.

Stadium

El Salvador's

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

is the

, which saw its first game in 1976. During the national team's early history, the national stadium was the Campo Marte, 16 acres of land that housed a small stadium, now known as ''Parque Infantil'', between 1928 and 1934. Succeeding, El Salvador played at the Estadio Nacional de la Flor Blanca, now known as Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González, also in San Salvador. It was opened on 19 April 1932 during the presidency of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez in preparation for the 1935 Central American and Caribbean Games. On 24 March 1935 El Salvador played its first game at the Flor Blanca against

and won 4–1. El Salvador played at this stadium during qualification for the 1970 World Cup. On 15 November 2000, a one-off game was played at the stadium, to commemorate a major refurbishment, against

in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. In 1969, EDESSA (Estadios Deportivos de El Salvador Sociedad Anónima) proposed the idea of a new national stadium. This resulted in construction of the Estadio Cuscatlán, with the president of El Salvador, General Fidel Sánchez Hernández, breaking ground on 24 March 1971. The stadium held its first game on 24 July 1976, a friendly between El Salvador and the

German Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

champions,

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

. It ended in a 2–0 victory to the German side. The Borussia squad featured players from their 1974 World Cup winning squad, including

Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup wi ...

, Rainer Bonhof,

Wolfgang Kleff Wolfgang Kleff (born 16 November 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Kleff was born in Schwerte, North Rhine-Westphalia. He joined Borussia Mönchengladbach from amateur outfit VfL Schwerte, ...

and Jupp Heynckes, alongside

Allan Simonsen Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a Danish former footballer and manager. He most prominently played as a striker for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcel ...

, who later won the 1977

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

and joined

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. El Salvador's team was Tomás Pineda (Mauricio "Tarzán" Alvarenga), Guillermo "Billy" Rodríguez Bou, Ramón Fagoaga, Humberto "Imacasa" Recinos, Eduardo "Conejo" Valdés, Víctor "Pato" Valencia, Warner Solís, Félix "Garrobita" Pineda (César "Piscucha" Acevedo), Luis "Pelé" Ramírez Zapata ( Abraham Coreas) & Ismael "Cisco" Díaz ( David Cabrera). Borussia also fielded

Wolfgang Kneib Wolfgang Kneib (born 20 November 1952 in Zornheim) is a retired German football player. He spent eight seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach and Arminia Bielefeld. He scored two goals for Arminia from penalty kicks. Honou ...

Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp (born 23 July 1947) is a German former football player. He spent 11 seasons in the Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association ...

Horst Wohlers Horst Wohlers (born 6 August 1949) is a German former football player and manager, who played as a defender or midfielder. Playing career Wohlers was born in Brunsbüttel, Schleswig-Holstein. He joined first teams of SC Brunsbüttelkoog and ...

Dietmar Danner Dietmar Danner (born 29 November 1950) is a German former professional footballer. Club career Danner won three German championships and one DFB-Pokal title, as well as two UEFA Cup titles with Borussia Mönchengladbach, with whom he spent t ...

Hans Klinkhammer Hans Klinkhammer (born 23 August 1953) is a retired German football player. He spent nine seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach and TSV 1860 München. Honours * European Cup finalist: 1976–77 * UEFA Cup winner: 1974–7 ...

Carsten Nielsen Carsten Nielsen (born 12 August 1955) is a Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denm ...

and

Uli Stielike Ulrich "Uli" Stielike (born 15 November 1954) is a German former footballer and manager. Usually a central midfielder or sweeper, Stielike was well known for his stamina and footballing intelligence.Radnedge, Keir. (2004). The Complete Encyclope ...

. Since that match, El Salvador has used the stadium for almost every major home game, and it is also the home ground of Alianza. On 25 May 1978, EDESSA agreed to sign a 99-year lease of the stadium to CLIMA (Asociación de Clubes de Liga Mayor A) to operate and control which events are held there.

Team image

El Salvador's traditional first kit colour is blue with white trim, their second kit being white with blue trim. The current home and away kit features the traditional colours with the exception of bold curved trims that run from the center of the neck and open to the sides, forming two panels on the chest that contain the Umbro logo and emblem of the Salvadoran Football Federation. At the center of the kit the Salvadoran national emblem, once again, is shown. The right sleeve shows the national flag. El Salvador and

Mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

announced a new partnership in 2008 that saw them supply the

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

n national football team with home and away kits, training, and bench wear until August 2010. Mitre, and their Panamanian partner, The Harari Group, designed the kit that El Salvador used. The kit was showcased by the team on February 11, 2009, as they started their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against

in the

(Central-American Football Union) Hexagonal Cup. On October 22, 2010, the FESFUT extended the contract with Mitre by four years. The first home and away kit made by Mitre feature a

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

of the country's national shield on the center of the shirt and some horizontal stripes along the kit. The current kit featured white remains along the neck, at the bottom of the kit, and over the shoulders. When this kit was introduced in 2009 it also introduced a new

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

that replaced the typical logo of an "E" and an "S" surrounded by a circle. Umbro has become the new kit supplier of the El Salvador national football team. Replacing Mitre, the first Umbro El Salvador football kits were released June 15, 2017 and were debuted in the 2017 Gold Cup.

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.

2021

2022

2023

Coaching staff

Coaching history

Since the creation of the national team in 1921, several coaches have been in charge of managing El Salvador. From 1930 to 1935,

Mark Scott Thompson Mack Scott Thompson was manager of the El Salvador national team from 1930 until 1935. He was the first person to be given the job, making him the first and, for 91 years, the only American to coach El Salvador.1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

) have been won by Salvadoran born managers.

Conrado Miranda José Conrado Miranda Sasso (14 October 1928 – 13 October 2021) was a Salvadoran football player and coach who created a legacy in El Salvador. He and longtime partner Juan Francisco Barraza helped evolve football in El Salvador. He was known ...

has managed in 4 different occasions and

Armando Contreras Palma Armando Contreras Palma (born April 14, 1947) is a Salvadoran football manager who created a legacy in El Salvador by winning three Primera División titles with Atlético Marte Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, ma ...

in 3. Chilean Hernán Vivanco was manager when El Salvador competed at their first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. Mauricio Rodríguez managed to qualify El Salvador to another

. Rodiguez participated at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. *

Charlie Slade Howard Charles Slade (29 January 1891 – 7 April 1971) was a professional footballer, who played for Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough and Darlington. While at Huddersfield he won the 1921–22 FA Cup and the 1922 FA Charity Shiel ...

(1941–1943) * Américo González (1943–1948) *

Rodolfo Orlandini Rodolfo Orlando Orlandini (1 January 1905 – 24 December 1990) was an Argentine football (soccer) midfielder who played for the Argentina national team between 1927 and 1930. Club career Orlandini played club football in Argentina for Sp ...

(1949–1951) *

Marcelo Estrada Marcelo Estrada (died 29 March 2002) was a Salvadoran football player and coach. References Year of birth missing 2002 deaths People from La Libertad Department (El Salvador) Salvadoran men's footballers Salvadoran football managers ...

(1953) *

(1954–1959) *

Emilio Guardado Emilio Guardado also known as ''Milo'', was a former Salvadoran football coach. Honours El Salvador *Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship e ...

(1959–1960) *

(1961) *

Luis Comitante Luis Comitante (born 16 June 1912, date of death unknown) was a Uruguayan-Brazilian football player and manager. Teams that he has managed include ABC in Brazil and the El Salvador national team. Comitante is deceased. References External l ...

(1963) *

(1965–1967) * Rigoberto Guzmán (1968) *

Gregorio Bundio Gregorio Bundio Nuñez (14 May 1928 − 7 March 2015) was a football player and manager. Nicknamed ''Goyo'', Bundio coached El Salvador from 1968 to 1970 and qualified them for their first ever FIFA World Cup Finals in 1970. Alianza Gregor ...

(1968–1970) *

(1970) *

(1971) *

Hector Alfredo D'Angelo Hector Alfredo D'Angelo is a former Argentina football (soccer), football player and manager. He has managed El Salvador national football team, Club Atlético Banfield, Banfield, Club Atlético Lanús, Lanus, Talleres de Remedios de Escalada, T ...

(1972) * Jorge Tupinambá (1973) * Mauricio Rodríguez (1973–1974) *

(1975) *

(1975–1976) *

Raúl Magaña Raúl Alfredo Magaña Monzón (24 February 1940 – 30 September 2009) was a Salvadoran footballer and manager. He is regarded as one of the greats of Salvadoran football. Club career Magaña made his debut aged 18 against Deportivo Saprissa ...

(1976) * Pinto Beltrao (1976) *

Juan Ricardo Faccio Juan Ricardo Faccio Porta (born 1936) is a former Uruguayan football player and manager. Career Born in the Jacinto Vera neighborhood of Montevideo, Faccio began playing football as a defender with Club Nacional de Football in the late 1950s ...

(1977) *

Julio Contreras Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to: *Julio (given name) *Julio (surname) *Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 compilation albu ...

(1977) *

Ricardo Tomasino Ricardo Arturo Tomasino (TBA) was a former Salvadoran professional football coach. He is the son of Salvadoran football Player and coach Carbilio Tomasino José Carbilio Tomasino, (born - died 7 February 1960) was a Salvadoran footballer coac ...

(1978) *

(1979) * Salvador Mariona (1979) * Mauricio Rodríguez (1979–1982) * Armando Palma (1983) *

(1984) *

Juan Quarterone Juan Quartarone Carbone (28 May 1935 – 23 November 2015) was an Argentine football midfielder. Nickname El Brujo (The Wizard) he played in Argentina and El Salvador. After retiring as a player, he coached a number of teams in El Salvador an ...

(1984–1985) *

Paulo Roberto Cabrera Paulo is a Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, and Italian masculine given name equivalent to English Paul. Notable people with the name include: * Paulo Jr. * Paulo Jr. (footballer) *Paulo Almeida, Brazilian footballer *Paulo André Cren Benini (born 19 ...

(1986) *

(1987) *

Milovan Đorić Milovan Đorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милован Ђорић; born 6 August 1945) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is often referred to by his nickname Bata Đora. Đorić last coached in 2011 when he was head coach of the S ...

(1988) *

Miroslav Vukašinović Miroslav Vukašinović (; born 29 August 1948) is a Serbian former football manager and player. Playing career Born in Užička Požega, Vukašinović started out at his hometown club Sloga. He subsequently played for Sloboda Titovo Užice, be ...

(1988–1989) *

(1989) *

Kiril Dojčinovski Kiril "Kiro" Dojčinovski (Macedonian: Kиpил Kиpo Дojчинoвcки; 17 October 1943 – 10 August 2022) was a Macedonian football player and manager who played as a defender. Club career Dojčinovski started playing in the youth team of ...

(1989) * Óscar Benítez (1991) *

Jorge Aude Jorge Aude (born 22 September 1946) is a former Uruguayan football player and coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual t ...

(1991) *

Aníbal Ruiz Aníbal Ruiz Leites (30 December 1942 – 10 March 2017) was a Uruguayan association football coach. Death On March 10, 2017, while serving as assistant manager to lead manager José Cardozo at Puebla, Ruiz collapsed on the pitch of the Luis ...

(1992) * Jorge Vieira (1993) * Néstor Matamala (1993) * Ricardo Tenorio (1993) *

(1994) *

José Pastoriza José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

(1995–1996) * Armando Palma (1996) *

(1997) *

(1998) *

Julio Escobar Julio del Carmen Escobar Ortiz is a former Chilean professional football (soccer) player and manager. He created a legacy in El Salvador by winning four Primera División titles with Luis Ángel Firpo Luis Ángel Firpo (October 11, 1894 � ...

(1998) *

Marinho Peres Mário Peres Ulibarri, (born March 19, 1947 in Sorocaba), known as Marinho Peres, is a former association footballer. He played centre-back, in particular with Sport Club Internacional and the Brazil national team. He captained the Brazil Te ...

(1999) * Ricardo Tenorio (1999) * Óscar Benítez (1999–2000) *

(2000–2002) *

(2002–2004) * Armando Palma (2004) *

(2005) * Miguel Aguilar (2005–2006) *

(2006–2009) *

(2010–2011) *

(2011–2012) *

(2012) *

(2012–2013) *

Mauricio Alfaro Mauricio Alberto Alfaro Valladares (born 13 February 1956) is a former soccer professional player from El Salvador, who represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Club career Nicknamed ''El Tuco'', Alfaro started his career ...

(2014) *

Albert Roca Albert Roca Pujol (born 20 October 1962) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Granollers, Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca spent most of his career with clubs in his native regi ...

(2014–2015) * Jorge Rodríguez (2015) *

Ramón Maradiaga Ramón Enrique Maradiaga Chávez (born 30 October 1954) is a retired Honduran football player and manager. Club career Nicknamed ''Primitivo'', Maradiaga has played as a midfielder amongst others for F.C. Motagua as well as Salvadoran giant ...

(2015–2016) *

Eduardo Lara Eduardo Lara Lozano (born 4 September 1959 in Cali) is a Colombian football manager. Lara has coached all levels of the Colombian national youth team. 2023 Alianza FC Career He led the Colombian under-20s (U20s) in 2005 to win the Sudamerica ...

(2016–2017) *

(2018–2021) * Hugo Pérez (2021–present)

Players

Current squad

The following 24 players were called up for the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

on 16 November 2022. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 14 June 2022, after the match against

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months. ^INJ Player withdrew from the current squad due to injury.
^COV Player withdrew due to testing positively for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

or having to self-isolate because of it.
^PRE Preliminary squad.
^RET Player had announced retirement from international football.
^SUS Player is serving a suspension.
^WD Withdrawn.

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with El Salvador.''

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

El Salvador has never advanced beyond the first round of the finals competition. El Salvador declined to participate at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Nations League

Copa Centroamericana

CCCF Championship

Olympic Games

Pan American Games

Central American and Caribbean Games

Central American Games

Head-to-head record

''As of 16 November 2022 after the match against ''.

FIFA ranking history

The following is a chart of the yearly averages of El Salvador's

FIFA ranking The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

Honours

Major competitions *

** Runners-up (2):

** Third place (1):

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

Minor competitions *

Copa Centroamericana The Copa Centroamericana (, Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' (UNCAF), the sport's Central Am ...

** Third place (6):

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

** Champions (1):

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

** Runners-up (2):

, 1961 ** Third place (1):

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

** Champions (1):

** Third place (1):

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

Marlboro Cup The Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap was a Thoroughbred horse race first run in September 1973 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. A Grade 1 race for horses 3 years old and up, it was raced over a distance of miles on a dirt track. The race ...

** Third place (1):

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Facts

* El Salvador were the first Central American team to qualify for a

, in 1970, and the first Central American team to qualify twice which they achieved with entry into the 1982 World Cup. They were the first Central American team to ever score a goal in a

on June 15, 1982. * They were the first Central American country to qualify their football team to the Olympic Games (

Mexico 1968 The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

). * They were the first Central American team to sign up for a World Cup qualifier (France 1938). * They were the first Central American team to be champions of the

(Mexico 1954). * They were also the first Central American team to organize the

(1935) and the first ever

(1963). * El Salvador were also the first Central American team to beat

in Mexico City; by a score of 3–2 at the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games. Scorers of that game are as follows: Mario Montoya 16' (0–1), Antonio Jasso 27' (1–1), Mario Montoya 36' (1–2), Ricardo Valencia 37' (1–3), Rafael Gutierrez 64' (2–3). The 1st goal in a World Cup qualifier was scored by Joel Estada on 12 December 1968 against Dutch Guiana. * The 50th goal in a World Cup qualifier was scored by

Ever Hernández Ever Francisco Hernández (born December 11, 1958) is a retired football player from El Salvador who represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Club career Hernández began his career playing for hometown club C.D Santiagueño ...

in a 1–0 victory—on 2 December 1981—against Mexico. The 100th goal in a World Cup qualifier was scored by Jorge "Mágico" González on 2 May 1993 against

. * The 150th goal in a World Cup qualifier was scored by

Víctor Velásquez Víctor Manuel Velásquez Molina (born April 12, 1976) is a retired Salvadoran football player. Club career Velásquez started his career at Dragón in 1996 and left them after five years for Salvadoran giants FAS with whom he won five leag ...

in a 2–1 victory—on 13 June 2004—against

. The 200th goal in a World Cup qualifier was scored by defender Xavier García in a 4–1 victory—on 6 September 2011—against the

Notes

References

External links

Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol Official site

El Salvador national football team (Non-Official site)

El Salvador FIFA profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:El Salvador National Football Team Central American national association football teams

History

Beginnings

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Match fixing

Stadium

Team image

Schedule and results

2021

2022

2023

Coaching staff

Coaching history

Players

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Player records

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Nations League

Copa Centroamericana

CCCF Championship

Olympic Games

Pan American Games

Central American and Caribbean Games

Central American Games

Head-to-head record

FIFA ranking history

Honours

Facts

See also

Notes

References

External links