Honduras national football team

The Honduras national football team (Spanish:Selección de fútbol de Honduras) represents Honduras in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación de Fútbol de Honduras (English:Federation of Football of Honduras) founded in 1935. It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1946 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of UNCAF in the Central American Zone. From 1938 to 1961, it was a member of CCCF, the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean and a predecessor confederation of CONCACAF, and also a member of PFC, the unified confederation of the Americas, from 1946 to 1961.

Honduras has qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times (1982, 2010 and 2014).

Honduras has participated twenty-three times in CONCACAF's premier continental competition, it is one of three Central American teams to have won the competition, winning the CONCACAF Championship in 1981 as hosts. The team's best performance under the CONCACAF Gold Cup format was finishing as runners-up in 1991. It has participated four times in League A of the CONCACAF Nations League, finishing in third place in the 2021 Finals. It has also participated once in the Copa América, finishing in third place in 2001.

Regionally, the team won 4 Copa Centroamericana titles and also finished as runners-up in the CCCF Championship in 1953.

History

The national team made its debut in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City in September 1921, losing 9–0 to Guatemala.

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

1970 World Cup and the Football War

Prior to the qualification stages leading up to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador found themselves in what was called the Football War. This nickname was given to the situation after a play-off game was played between the two countries to decide which would qualify for the Finals. This political crisis eventually turned into a footballwar that lasted approximately 100 hours.

Honduras had begun qualifying by defeating Costa Rica and Jamaica. Against Jamaica, they easily won both games, 5–1 on aggregate. They beat Costa Rica 1–0 in Tegucigalpa and drew 1–1 away. This set up a final match between Honduras and El Salvador, who had eliminated Guyana and the Netherlands Antilles.

In the first game against El Salvador, Honduras won 1–0 in Tegucigalpa on 8 June 1969. Honduras were coached by Carlos Padilla Velásquez and the only goal of the game was scored by Leonard Welch. Honduras lost the second game 3–0 in San Salvador, and a play-off was required in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on 27 June. El Salvador won 3–2 to qualify and eliminate Honduras from the qualifications.

1982 World Cup

Honduras won the 1981 CONCACAF Championship and qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1982. Despite drawing against the hosts Spain and Northern Ireland, both 1–1, they were eliminated in the first round after losing their last match to Yugoslavia 1–0.

Honduras finished second in the 1985 CONCACAF Championship, losing their final match 2–1 against Canada, who went on to qualify for the 1986 World Cup. Their next major accomplishment was being runners-up at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing against the host nation, the United States.

For the 1998 World Cup, Jamaica and Mexico eliminated Honduras at the third round stage. Despite Honduras's overwhelming 11–3 victory against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica defeated Mexico at Independence Park, Kingston, allowing the Reggae Boys to advance to the next round.

2001 Copa América

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

Honduras advanced to the final round in the qualifying competition for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but again failed to qualify after losing at home to Trinidad & Tobago, and away against Mexico in their final two matches. The match against Trinidad, and Tobago saw Honduras hit the goal post eight times.[citation needed]

2010 World Cup

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

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

2014 World Cup

In the qualifying competition for the 2014 World Cup, Honduras were given a bye to the third round because of their third-place position among CONCACAF teams in the March 2011 FIFA World Rankings. They qualified for the final round by finishing first in their group, which included Panama, Canada and Cuba. After beginning with a home defeat against Panama, Honduras recovered and beat Canada 8–1 in their final match, allowing them to win the group ahead of Panama.

In the final round of qualifying, the Hexagonal, six teams faced each other in a home-and-away format. In their first two games, Honduras defeated the United States 2–1 and came back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2–2 with Mexico. They lost three of their next four matches before traveling to Mexico City to face Mexico in the Azteca. Honduras again trailed but scored twice in the second half for a stunning 2–1 win. They returned to Tegucigalpa, where they drew 2–2 against Panama, who escaped defeat with a last-minute goal by Roberto Chen. In the final two games, Honduras beat Costa Rica 1–0 at home and qualified with a 2–2 draw against Jamaica in Kingston.

In the tournament in Brazil, Honduras again finished bottom of their first-round group, after 3–0 defeats against France and Switzerland, and a 2–1 defeat to Ecuador. The match against France featured the first use of goal-line technology to award a goal at the World Cup: an own-goal by Honduras' goalkeeper, Noel Valladares. The goal scored by Carlo Costly against Ecuador was Honduras' first goal in the World Cup in 32 years.

Decline

In 2017, Honduras failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. In the Hexagonal stage, they had mixed run of results which included draws against Costa Rica and Panama. On the final matchday, however, Honduras defeated Mexico 3–2 in San Pedro Sula, and coupled with a 2–1 Panamanian victory against Costa Rica and a United States loss to Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras finished in the fourth position to advance to a play-off against Australia. Following a 0–0 draw at home, Honduras were eliminated in the second leg in Sydney with a 3–1 loss. This defeat resulted in the departure of head coach Jorge Luis Pinto, and would be the final involvement of national team veterans Mario Martínez, Johnny Palacios, Donis Escober, and Carlo Costly.

Heading into the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Uruguayan manager Fabián Coito was appointed as the new head coach of Honduras. Drawn in Group C with expectations to advance to the next round, Honduras finished last in the group, following an opening loss to Jamaica and an upset defeat to Curaçao. Despite a 4–0 win over El Salvador in their final group stage match, Honduras finished last in the group. Heading into the tournament with a newer pool of players, this was the final involvement for veteran full-back duo Emilio Izaguirre and Brayan Beckeles.

In the summer of 2021, Honduras had a strong showing in the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League Finals, defeating rivals Costa Rica in a penalty-shootout in the third place play-off, having been eliminated by the United States 1–0 in the semi-finals. In the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Honduras would perform better in the group stage largely in part to the offensive contributions of forward duo Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto, but after the pair both suffered injuries in the group stage, Honduras was eliminated by Mexico 3–0 in the quarter-finals.

Heading into 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in the new "Octagonal" format, Honduras was expected to contend in the qualification spots, however they did considerably worse, as for the first time ever in a World Cup qualification cycle, the team had failed to register a win, with just four draws and ten losses. Despite an initial draw against the eventual first-placed nation Canada, Honduras spiraled in form after suffering a 4–1 loss to the United States in San Pedro Sula, despite leading at half-time. After a string of poor results, head coach Coito was sacked and replaced by Hernán Darío Gómez. Despite the managerial change, the poor run of form would continue as Gómez would experiment with different players, leading to the inability to properly replace past veterans and develop a cohesive squad.

The team's poor showing in qualifying highlighted the main issues within Honduran football, with some pundits bringing attention to said issues, which included poor leadership and direction from FENAFUTH, poor technical staff, and a negligence from the federation towards player infrastructure. The lack of support for proper youth leagues and player development, as well as outdated and limited training facilities were key points in regards to the poor player infrastructure, which also contributed to the poor quality of the national league, leading to the stagnation in Honduran football. After FENAFUTH released a statement in regards to the team's failure, former player and top all-time goalscorer for the national team Carlos Pavón criticized the federation, proclaiming, "Are you serious? How easy it is to be a leader in Honduras, to justify an eight-year failure in a communiqué. The ideal thing would be for the famous committee to show their faces at a press conference and explain what they wrote, wouldn't they?."

At the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Honduras made a group stage exit, missing out on qualification into the next round due to a lesser goal difference against invited guests Qatar.

In late 2023, Honduras began its journey in the 2023–24 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League. The team was placed in Group B of League A and finished in second, qualifying alongside Jamaica to the quarter-finals, where a spot at the 2024 Copa América was at stake against Mexico. In a two-legged affair, Honduras pulled off an upset in the first leg, defeating Mexico 2–0 in Tegucigalpa with goals from Anthony Lozano and Bryan Róchez. In the return leg in Mexico City, El Tri leveled the aggregate score with a 2–0 win and took the tie to a penalty-shootout, where Mexico were victorious 4–2 and secured a spot in the Copa América. The match became infamous, especially in Honduras, due to referring decisions made by Salvadoran referee Iván Barton. The most notable instances that were highlighted was the equalizing goal scored by Edson Álvarez, which came two minutes after the 9 minutes of added time had already exceeded, and the second instance was during the penalty-shootout when César Huerta was allowed to retake his penalty three times because the Honduran goalkeeper Edrick Menjívar had been off his line the first two times. Honduras later advanced to the Copa América play-in against Costa Rica for a last opportunity to qualify, but were defeated 3–1.

In late 2024, during the 2024–25 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, Honduras encountered Mexico once again in the quarter-finals, with a spot in the finals and a place in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup on the line. In San Pedro Sula, Honduras would once again emerge victorious in the first leg, 2–0, thanks to a brace from Luis Palma. Mexico overturned the deficit with a 4–0 win in the second leg, qualifying to the Finals and sending Honduras to a Gold Cup qualification tie against Bermuda.

After defeating Bermuda 7–3 on aggregate over two legs, Honduras opened their 2025 Gold Cup campaign with a 6–0 loss to Canada. Despite the initial setback, La H recorded wins against El Salvador and Curaçao, finishing second in their group. In what was seen a surprise and upset by some, Honduras would prevail over Panama in the quarter-finals. After finishing 1–1 in regulatory time, Honduras advanced 5–4 on penalties. Los Catrachos would then face Mexico in the semifinals, where they lost 1–0.

In late 2025, Honduras entered the third round of World Cup qualifying. With the expansion to a 48-team World Cup and the automatic qualification of the hosts United States, Mexico, and Canada, this cycle was seen as an opportunity to for Honduras and other Central American nations to carve an easy path to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but several factors turned this cycle into a drastic failure. Drawn into Group C with Costa Rica, Haiti, and Nicaragua, Honduras recorded 8 points after four fixtures with two games remaining, and Los Catrachos needed just one win to secure direct qualification to the World Cup, but in a shock upset, Honduras lost to Nicaragua 2–0 in Managua. Despite the setback, Honduras still sat in the first position of Group C, but still needed to secure a win against Costa Rica in San José. In a must-win for both nations, the final score on matchday six was 0–0, effectively eliminating both Honduras and Costa Rica from World Cup contention. Both teams required a win to control their own destiny, in Honduras' case, they needed at least a 1–0 win to still advance automatically. While Honduras finished second in their group and tied with Suriname for the final inter-confederation playoff spot, they were eliminated because Suriname scored more goals (9 vs. 5) throughout the qualifying round. Honduras drew heavy criticism from supporters and analysts alike for what was seen as "tactical suicide" because they actively wasted time during the final minutes of their 0–0 draw with Costa Rica, seemingly unaware that a draw would eliminate them both. Instead of pushing for a winning goal which they needed to stay ahead of Suriname in the tiebreaker, Honduran players continued to run down the clock as if the draw were a favorable result.

Home stadium

Honduras plays the majority of its home games at Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés in Tegucigalpa.

The national team formerly played at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, which stopped being the home stadium due to declining facilities. Estadio Francisco Morazán also occasionally hosts home games.[citation needed]

Estadio Nilmo Edwards in La Ceiba has also hosted friendly exhibition matches since 2007.[citation needed]

Team image

Kit sponsorship

Results and fixtures

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

Win Draw Loss Fixture

2025

2026

Coaching staff

As of 1 March 2026

Coaching history

• Honduras Aristides Raudales (1921)
• Honduras Octavio Arriola (1930)
• Honduras Jacobo de Fuenquinos (1935)
• Hungary István Kovács (1946)
• Honduras Lurio Martinez (1953)
• Brazil Otto Bumbel (1955–1956)
• Honduras Mario Grifffin Cubas (1961)
• Honduras Carlos Padilla (1960–1962)
• Brazil Elsy Núñez (1962–1966)
• Honduras Marinho Rodríguez (1966–1967)
• Chile Sergio Lecea (1967–1968)
• Honduras Carlos Padilla (1968–1973)
• Germany Peter Lange (1974–1976)
• Honduras José Herrera (1980–1986)
• Netherlands Ger Blok (1987–1988)
• Honduras José Herrera (1988)
• Brazil Flavio Ortega (1991–1992)
• Uruguay Estanislao Malinowski (1992–1993)
• Uruguay Julio González (1993)
• Honduras Carlos Cruz (1995)
• Brazil Ernesto Rosa (1996)
• Honduras Ramón Maradiaga (1996)
• Peru Miguel Company (1997–1998)
• Honduras Ramón Maradiaga (1998–2002)
• Uruguay Ernesto Luzardo (2002)
• Honduras Edwin Pavón (2003)
• Honduras José Herrera (2003)
• Brazil René Simões (2003)
• Serbia and Montenegro Bora Milutinović (2003–2004)
• Honduras José Herrera (2005)
• Honduras Raúl Martínez (2006)
• Brazil Flavio Ortega (2006–2007)
• Colombia Reinaldo Rueda (2007–2010)
• Mexico Juan Castillo (2010–2011)
• Colombia Luis Suárez (2011–2014)
• Costa Rica Hernán Medford (2014)
• Colombia Jorge Pinto (2014–2017)
• Honduras Carlos Tábora (2018)
• Honduras Jorge Jimenez (2018)
• Uruguay Fabián Coito (2019–2021)
• Colombia Hernán Darío Gómez (2021–2022)
• Argentina Diego Vásquez (2022–2023)
• Colombia Reinaldo Rueda (2023–2025)
• Spain Francisco Molina (2026–present)

Players

Current squad

The following 24 players were called up for the friendly match against Argentina on 6 June 2026. Caps and goals updated as of 6 June 2026, after the match against Argentina.

Recent call-ups

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

Records

As of 19 November 2025

Players in bold are still active with Honduras.

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Nations League

Copa América

Copa Centroamericana

CCCF Championship

Pan American Games

Central American and Caribbean Games

Head-to-head record

As of 6 June 2026.

Positive Record Neutral Record Negative Record

Honours

Continental

• CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup Champions (1): 1981 Runners-up (2): 1985, 1991 Third place (1): 1967
• CONCACAF Nations League Third place (1): 2019–20
• CONMEBOL Copa América Third place (1): 2001

Subregional

• CCCF Championship1 Runners-up (1): 1953 Third place (4): 1955, 1957, 1960, 1961
• Copa de Naciones UNCAF / Copa Centroamericana Champions (4): 1993, 1995, 2011, 2017 Runners-up (3): 1991, 2005, 2013 Third place (2): 1999, 2009
• Central American and Caribbean Games Silver medal (1): 1986 Bronze medal (1): 1930

Friendly

• Lunar New Year Cup (1): 2002
• Copa Independencia (1): 2010

Summary

Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).

Notes

1. Official subregional competition organized by CCCF, direct predecessor confederation of CONCACAF and the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean (1938–1961).

FIFA World Ranking

Last update was on 30 March 2026 Source:

Best Ranking Worst Ranking Best Mover Worst Mover

See also

• Football in Honduras
• Honduras national under-23 football team
• Honduras national under-20 football team
• Honduras national under-17 football team
• Clásico centroamericano

Notes

External links

• (in Spanish)