Nicaragua national football team

Nicaragua
Nickname(s)	La Azul y Blanco (The Blue and White); Los Pinoleros; Albiazules;
Association	Nicaraguan Football Federation
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation	UNCAF (Central America)
Head coach	Henry Duarte
Captain	Juan Barrera
Most caps	Josué Quijano (52)
Top scorer	Juan Barrera (12)
Home stadium	Nicaragua National Football Stadium
FIFA code	NCA
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	128 4 (20 September 2018)
Highest	92 (December 2015)
Lowest	193 (May 2001)
Elo ranking
Current	141 (6 September 2018)
Highest	126 (3 July 2017)
Lowest	204 (May – November 2001)
First international
	El Salvador 9–0 Nicaragua ; (San Salvador, El Salvador; 1 May 1929)
Biggest win
	Nicaragua 5–0 Anguilla ; (Managua, Nicaragua; 23 March 2015); Nicaragua 5–0 Cuba ; (Managua, Nicaragua; 8 December 2015)
Biggest defeat
	Brazil 14–0 Nicaragua ; (Mexico City, Mexico; 17 October 1975)[1]
CONCACAF Championship; & Gold Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1963)
Best result	6th place, 1967

The Nicaragua national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Nicaragua) is controlled by the Nicaraguan Football Federation. Nicaragua achieved its first qualification to a major international competition in 2009, when it qualified for the 2009 Gold Cup as the last entrant from Central America, after a 2–0 win over Guatemala of the fifth place match in the 2009 Nations Cup.^[2]

Due to American influence throughout the country's history, baseball has more of a following as both a pursuit and spectator event in Nicaragua than football.

History

Nicaragua travelled to El Salvador for their first ever international, losing 9–0 to the hosts on 1 May 1929. They did not play another match for over twelve years, until the qualifying group for the 1941 CCCF Championship in Costa Rica. They lost all 4 games: 7–2 to the hosts Costa Rica on 10 May, 8–0 to El Salvador on 13 May, 9–1 to the Netherlands Antilles on 15 May and 5–2 to Panama on 18 May. Therefore, Nicaragua finished bottom of the group and did not make the final group.^[3]

FIFA World Cup record

The Nicaraguan national football team has never qualified for the World Cup. Their last attempt was for the 2018 World Cup, when they lost 3–4 on aggregate in the third round to Jamaica, despite winning the away leg 2-3.

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter								Declined participation
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994	Did not qualify								2	0	0	2	1	10
1998									2	0	0	2	1	3
2002									4	0	0	4	0	10
2006									2	0	1	1	3	6
2010									2	0	0	2	0	3
2014									4	2	0	2	5	7
2018									6	5	0	1	15	5
2022	To be determined								To be determined
2026	To be determined								To be determined
Total		0/21							22	7	1	14	25	44

CONCACAF Championship record

In 1963, Nicaragua participated in the first CONCACAF Championship which included all countries of the region, North America, Central America and the Caribbean. During 1963 to 1971, only five championships were played. Nicaragua achieving only a sixth-place finish in 1967. From 1973 to 1989, no championship was played. The CONCACAF proclaimed champion of the region for the country that achieved the first place in the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. In 1990, the CONCACAF again created a tournament as its showpiece event to crown the regional champion of the CONCACAF. The event was named the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the United States hosting the first competition in 1991. Nicaragua has qualified twice since the Gold Cup format started with a group stage finish in 2009, and 2017.

Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1963	Round 1	4	0	0	4	2	15
1965	Did not qualify
1967	Sixth place	5	0	1	4	3	12
1969	Did not enter
1971	Did not qualify
1973	Did not qualify
1977	Did not enter
1981
1985
1989
1991	Did not qualify
1993
1996
1998
2000
2002
2003
2005
2007
2009	Round 1	3	0	0	3	0	8
2011	Did not qualify
2013
2015
2017	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	7
Total	4/24	15	0	1	14	6	42

Other tournament records

Copa Centroamericana

The tournament has been held since 1991 as the UNCAF Nations Cup and serves as a qualifying event for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The competition was re-branded as the Copa Centroamericana from the 2011 edition. Nicaragua has participated in all of the tournaments and has managed to get up to Fifth place in 2009.

Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1991	Preliminary round	2	0	0	2	2	5
1993	Preliminary round	2	0	0	2	0	8
1995	Preliminary round	2	0	0	2	0	7
1997	First round	2	0	0	2	2	11
1999	First round	2	0	0	2	0	2
2001	First round	3	0	0	3	2	19
2003	Sixth Place	5	1	0	4	1	11
2005	Fifth Place	3	1	0	2	2	9
2007	Sixth Place	4	1	0	3	6	14
2009	Fifth Place	4	1	2	1	5	6
2011	Sixth Place	4	0	1	3	2	7
2013	Seventh Place	3	0	1	2	2	5
2014	Sixth Place	3	0	0	3	0	6
2017	Fifth Place	5	1	1	3	5	6
Total	Fifth Place	44	5	5	34	29	116

Central American and Caribbean Games

1930 – Did not qualify
1935 – Did not qualify
1938 – Did not qualify
1946 – Did not qualify
1950 – Group Stage
1954 – Did not qualify
1959 – Did not qualify
1962 – Did not qualify
1966 – Did not qualify
1970 – Group Stage
1974 – Quarter Final
1978 – Group Stage
1982 – Group Stage
1986 – Did not qualify
1990 – Did not qualify
1993 – Did not qualify
1998 – Quarter Final
2002 –Quarter Final
2006 – Did not qualify
2010 – Did not qualify
2014– Did not qualify
2018– Did not qualify

CCCF Championship record

The Nicaragua national football team have competed in the CCCF Championship in six occasions. Nicaragua won third place at the 1951 CCCF Championship.

Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1941	Fifth place	4	0	0	4	5	29
1943	Fourth Place	6	0	0	6	7	39
1946	Sixth Place	5	1	0	4	5	31
1948	Did not enter
1951	Third Place	4	0	0	4	4	22
1953	Sixth Place	6	1	0	5	4	18
1955	Did not enter
1957	Did not enter
1960	Did not enter
1961	Ninth Place	3	0	0	3	3	18
Total	6/10	28	2	0	26	28	157

Pan American Games record

1951 to 1971 – Did not enter
1975 – Round 1
1979 to 1987 – Did not enter
1991 – Round 1
1995 to 2015 – Did not Qualify

Central American Games

1973 – Silver Medal
1977 – Bronze Medal
1986 – Bronze Medal
1990 – Bronze Medal
1994 – Round 1
1997 – Round 1
2001 – Round 1
2013 – Round 1
2017 – Fourth Place

Personnel

Current staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Henry Duarte
Assistant Coach	Mario Alfaro Mercado
Goalkeeping coach	Carlos Mendieta
Physical Coordinator	Jaime Ruiz
Doctor	Dr. Cupertino Borrell
Physiotherapist	Zamir Cerna
Team Coordinator	Cesar Castro Trinidad
Team Coordinator	Nestor Diaz

Schedule and results

The following is Nicaragua's schedule and results for the 2017 season.

Key

Win Draw Loss

2017

8 November Friendly	Nicaragua	0–3	Dominican Republic	Diriamba, Nicaragua
18:30 (UTC-6)		Report	Rodríguez 19' L. Espinal 48' Rodríguez 76'	Stadium: Estadio Cacique Diriangén Referee: Jaime Herrera (El Salvador)

11 November Friendly	Dominican Republic	1–0	Nicaragua	San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
21:00 (UTC-4)	Rodríguez 85'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Panamericano Referee: Juan Carlos Hidalgo (Dominican Republic)

2018

22 March Friendly	Nicaragua	3–1	Cuba	Managua, Nicaragua
18:30 (UTC−6)	Chavarría 35' Moreno 40' Barrera 72'	Report	Santa Cruz 12'	Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Nitzar Sandoval (Nicaragua)

25 March Friendly	Nicaragua	3–3	Cuba	Managua, Nicaragua
17:30 (UTC−6)	Barrera 9' Galeano 14' Moreno 47'	Report	Sanamé 40' Olivares 81' Caballero 90+2'	Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Referee: Tatiana Guzman (Nicaragua)

8 September 2019-20 CNLQ	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0–2	Nicaragua	Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
15:00 (UTC-4)		Report	Niño 27' Barrera 39'	Stadium: Arnos Vale Stadium Referee: Reon Radix (Grenada)

14 October 2019-20 CNLQ	Nicaragua	v	Anguilla
17:00 (UTC-6)

17 November 2019-20 CNLQ	Nicaragua	v	Haiti
18:00 (UTC-6)

2019

24 March 2019-20 CNLQ	Barbados	v	Nicaragua
20:00 (UTC-4)

Players

Current squad

The following 25 players were selected for the Friendlies against Cuba on March 22 and 25, 2018.
Caps and goals updated as of March 25, 2018 after the match against Cuba.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Justo Lorente	(1987-02-27) February 27, 1987	26	0	UNAN Managua

2DF	Cyril Errington	(1992-03-30) March 30, 1992	13	0	Club Always Ready
2DF	Luis Fernando Copete	(1989-12-03) December 3, 1989	28	3	Deportivo Pasto
2DF	Josué Quijano	(1991-03-10) March 10, 1991	52	1	Real Estelí F.C.
2DF	Manuel Rosas	(1983-10-14) October 14, 1983	37	2	Real Estelí F.C.
2DF	Bismarck Veliz	(1993-09-10) September 10, 1993	14	0	Managua F.C.
2DF	Francisco Flores	(1988-04-02) April 2, 1988	0	0	Santos de Guápiles

3MF	Juan Barrera (Captain)	(1989-03-02) March 2, 1989	46	12	Boyacá Chicó F.C.
3MF	Marlon López	(1992-11-02) November 2, 1992	33	0	Real Estelí F.C.
3MF	Maykel Montiel	(1993-01-27) January 27, 1993	11	0	UNAN Managua
3MF	Alexis Somarriba	(1994-05-11) May 11, 1994	6	0	Juventus Managua
3MF	Pablo Rodriguez	(1999-01-23) January 23, 1999	0	0	AD San Carlos

4FW	Daniel Cadena	(1987-02-09) February 9, 1987	25	3	Mérida AD
4FW	Ariagner Smith	(1999-09-11) September 11, 1999	4	0	FK Spartaks Jūrmala
4FW	Carlos Chavarría	(1994-05-02) May 2, 1994	26	7	Birkirkara F.C.
4FW	Luis Galeano	(1991-10-15) October 15, 1991	21	4	Real Estelí F.C.
4FW	Jaime Moreno	(1995-03-30) March 30, 1995	7	2	Internacional de Madrid

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Nicaragua squad in the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Denver Fox	(1996-04-24) April 24, 1996	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017
GK	Diedrich Téllez	(1984-10-31) October 31, 1984	15	0	Diriangén FC	CONCACAF Gold Cup

DF	Oscar Acevedo	(1997-03-18) March 18, 1997	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017
DF	Jason Casco	(1990-02-13) February 13, 1990	27	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Curaçao, June 17, 2017^INJ
DF	Luis Copete	(1989-02-12) February 12, 1989	28	3	C.D. Sonsonate	CONCACAF Gold Cup
DF	Jason Ingram	(1997-08-20) August 20, 1997	1	0	Juventus Managua	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017
DF	Oscar López	(1992-02-27) February 27, 1992	10	0	Juventus Managua	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017
DF	Erick Téllez	(1989-01-28) January 28, 1989	26	0	Diriangén FC	CONCACAF Gold Cup

MF	Jason Coronel	(1993-10-06) October 6, 1993	8	0	UNAN Managua	v. Haiti, March 28, 2017
MF	Bryan García	(1995-05-25) May 25, 1995	22	3	Real Estelí F.C.	CONCACAF Gold Cup
MF	Allan Mercado		2	0	Juventus Managua	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017
MF	Jonathan Moncada	(1998-01-03) January 3, 1998	0	0	Unattached	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017
MF	Luis Peralta	(1988-10-12) October 12, 1988	19	1	Managua F.C.	CONCACAF Gold Cup
MF	Elvis Pinel	(1988-12-18) December 18, 1988	30	1	Real Estelí F.C.	CONCACAF Gold Cup

FW	Jorge García	(1998-08-27) August 27, 1998	9	1	Deportivo Walter Ferretti	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017
FW	Luis Gutiérrez	(1996-11-04) November 4, 1996	2	0	Diriangén FC	v. Curaçao, June 17, 2017
FW	Eulises Pavón	(1993-01-06) January 6, 1993	21	2	UNAN Managua	CONCACAF Gold Cup
FW	Daniel Reyes	(1990-07-21) July 21, 1990	14	1	UNAN Managua	v. Bolivia, June 2, 2017
FW	Ariagner Smith	(1998-07-01) July 1, 1998	3	0	FK Spartaks Jūrmala	v. Dominican Republic, November 11, 2017

Records

Most Caps
#	Player	Career	Appearances
1	Josué Quijano	2011—	52 (1)
2	David Solórzano	1999–2014	49 (0)
3	Juan Barrera	2009—	46 (12)
4	Carlos Alonso	1999–2011	37 (0)
=	Manuel Rosas	2013—	37 (2)
6	Denis Espinoza	2004–2013	33 (1)
=	Marlon López	2014—	33 (0)
8	Elvis Pinel	2011—	30 (1)
9	Samuel Wilson	2001–2013	29 (4)
10	Luis Copete	2014–	28 (3)

Top Goalscorers
#	Player	Goals	Career
1	Juan Barrera	12	2009–
2	Emilio Palacios	11	2001–2009
3	Raúl Leguías	7	2011-2016
=	Carlos Chavarría	7	2013–
5	Samuel Wilson	4	2001-2013
=	Rudel Calero	4	2001–2011
=	Luis Galeano	4	2015-
8	Luis Copete	3	2014-
=	Daniel Cadena	3	2014-
=	Bryan García	3	2015-

Note: Players in bold text are still active with Nicaragua. Last updated: March 25, 2018

Manager history

Name	Nation	From	To
Octavio Edmundo Salas Urbina	Nicaragua	1941	1943
Eduardo Kosovic 'Edy'	Hungary	1943	N/A
Santiago Bonilla	Costa Rica	1952	1953
Ferenc Mészáros	Hungary	1961	1961
Carlos Ruiz	Nicaragua	1961	1962
Santiago Berrini	Argentina	1966	1967
Livio Bendaña Espinoza	Nicaragua	1967	1969
Omar Muraco	Argentina	1969	1970
Salvador Dubois Leiva	Nicaragua	1977	1977
Jan Fulop	Czechoslovakia	1985	1986
Salvador Dubois Leiva	Nicaragua	1991	1992
Mauricio Cruz Jiron	Nicaragua	1993	June 2001
Florencio Levia	Nicaragua	June 2001	December 2002
Maurizio Battistini	Italy	February 2003	June 2004
Marcelo Javier Zuleta	Argentina	January 2005	September 2005
Carlos De Toro	Argentina	September 2007	October 2008
Mauricio Cruz Jiron	Nicaragua	October 2008	November 2008
Ramón Otoniel Olivas	Nicaragua	November 2008	December 2009
Enrique Llena	Spain	January 2010	November 2014
Javier Londono	Colombia	November 2014	December 2014
Henry Duarte	Costa Rica	December 2014	Present

Others

José "Chingolo" Rodríguez
Omar Zambrana

International Match Records

As of 8 September 2018^[4]

Positive Record Neutral Record Negative Record

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Anguilla	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8
Belize	9	3	2	4	13	18	−5
Bermuda	4	2	0	2	5	5	0
Bolivia	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2
Cayman Islands	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Canada	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Costa Rica	18	0	1	17	10	71	−61
Cuba	9	3	2	4	14	20	−6
Curaçao	8	0	1	7	3	34	−31
El Salvador	28	0	2	26	19	115	−96
Dominica	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
Dominican Republic	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
Guadeloupe	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Guatemala	20	1	1	18	12	65	−53
Haiti	6	1	2	3	9	11	−2
Honduras	19	1	1	17	11	64	−53
Jamaica	2	1	0	1	3	4	−1
Martinique	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Mexico	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6
Panama	25	5	0	20	21	70	−49
Puerto Rico	5	3	1	1	9	6	+3
Suriname	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1
Trinidad and Tobago	5	1	1	3	4	10	−6
United States	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Total	179	30	16	133	154	521	−367

References

↑ "Brazil matches, ratings and points exchanged". Eloratings.net. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
↑ "Nicaragua shocks Guatemala 2–0 to claim last berth in CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 2009-01-29. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
↑ "Nicaragua - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
↑ "World Football Elo Ratings: Nicaragua". Elo Ratings. Retrieved 24 June 2017.

External links

A Picture of the Team
FENIFUT – Nicaraguan Football Federation
Nicaragua – List of International Matches at RSSSF.com (Last updated: 7 July 2004)

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Brazil matches, ratings and points exchanged". Eloratings.net. Retrieved 3 August 2014.

[2] "Nicaragua shocks Guatemala 2–0 to claim last berth in CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 2009-01-29. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-01-29.

[3] "Nicaragua - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.

[4] "World Football Elo Ratings: Nicaragua". Elo Ratings. Retrieved 24 June 2017.

International association football
FIFA Federations Teams Competitions World Cup U-20 U-17 Confederations Cup Olympics Youth Olympics Universiade World Rankings The Best FIFA Football Awards Timeline of association football Comparison of association football and futsal
Africa	CAF – Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17 Regional (CECAFA, CEMAC, COSAFA, WAFU) Intercontinental (UAFA)
Asia	AFC – Asian Cup U-23 U-19 U-16 U-14 Regional (ASEAN, EAFF, SAFF, CAFA, WAFF) Intercontinental (UAFA)
Europe	UEFA – European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17 Nations League
North America, Central America and the Caribbean	CONCACAF – Gold Cup U-20 U-17 U-15 Nations League Regional (CFU, UNCAF)
Oceania	OFC – Nations Cup U-19 U-17
South America	CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15
Non-FIFA	NF-Board – Viva World Cup CONIFA – ConIFA World Football Cup ConIFA European Football Cup IIGA – Island Games
Games	African Games Asian Games Central America Central America and Caribbean East Asian Games Francophonie Games Indian Ocean Island Lusophony Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games West Asian Games
See also Geography Codes Player/Club of the Century Women's football

National football teams of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
North America	Canada Mexico United States
Central America	Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Caribbean	Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda¹ Bonaire³ British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic French Guiana^{2 3} Grenada Guadeloupe³ Guyana² Haiti Jamaica Martinique³ Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Martin³ Sint Maarten³ Suriname² Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
Defunct	Netherlands Antilles
1: Inside the North American zone, but CFU member. 2: South American country, but affiliated to CONCACAF and CFU. 3: Full or associate CONCACAF member, but non-FIFA member.