Puerto Rico national football team

Puerto Rico's first international match was against Cuba in 1940 in which they drew 1–1. They did not record a win until a 3–0 result in 1970 against the Bahamas. In 1972, Puerto Rico recorded a 1–0 win against Panama in a friendly. Wins between the 1980s and 1990s were mainly against the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Martinique.[4]

Chris Armas played for Puerto Rico in the 1993 Caribbean Cup. In the tournament, Puerto Rico established a 4-game win streak without conceding a goal.[4] The competition was not then recognized by FIFA, and so his five matches were considered friendlies. As a result, he was later allowed to switch his allegiance to the United States of America,[5] for whom he has since been capped over 50 times.

Puerto Rico did not record a win, and had only four draws. During this time, the team dropped down in the FIFA Rankings to 202nd.[4]

Puerto Rico (in blue) playing Spain in 2012.

Over the past few years, Puerto Rico has begun to emerge as a contender, like they were in the 1990s. In 2008, they drew with Trinidad and Tobago. They also won for the first time since 1994 when they beat the Dominican Republic in the first round of the World Cup qualifiers. Although they lost the first leg 4–0 to Honduras, they fought a 2–2 tie in the home leg in the second round. The Puerto Rican Football Federation has announced plans that would allow them to participate in the next editions of the Caribbean Cup and Gold Cup.[6]

Puerto Rico were supposed to make their debut in the 21st Central American and Caribbean Games in 2010 on home soil in Mayagüez, but due to the controversy of CONCACAF not approving the stadiums, the team couldn't compete in the football event. The team was supposed to play in Venezuela instead but due to the lack of teams, the male event was canceled.[7]

Puerto Rico faced World and European champion Spain in a friendly on 15 August 2012, losing 2–1 in the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

On 5 June 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against Bermuda, their last friendly before the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup ending in a 1–1 draw. After losing to Grenada 2–1 in the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico's Interim coach Jose 'Cukito' Martinez resigned and a few days later, the Uruguayan Carlos Avedissian solved his visa problems and could finally arrive as the head coach of the national team. On 11 December 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against MLS team New York City losing 2–1.

On 22 May 2016, Puerto Rico played a friendly match against the United States for the first time ever ending in a 3–1 loss.[8] They advanced for the first time to the third round of the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification when they defeated Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda in the second round, only two games away from reaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time. Stefanowski had to leave the technical director position because he was an assistant in Puerto Rico FC.

The team played three friendlies, two against the Dominican Republic and one against India, prior to the third round matches against Antigua and Barbuda and Curaçao. Puerto Rico lost the decisive match against Curaçao after being 2−0 up front for which Curaçao as head of group advanced to the Gold Cup.

Puerto Rico didn't play an international match until the summer of 2017 when they played to a scoreless draw against Indonesia.[9]

After the devastation of Hurricane Maria in September that left the entire island powerless. On 7 October it was reported MLS club, Orlando City SC announced a Fuerza Puerto Rico’ Friendly for 4 November with all the net proceeds from the match going towards the United for Puerto Rico initiative to raise funds and aid recovery efforts for the island. Reactivating the national team for a 3rd time this year.[10] The friendly marked Orlando City’s last game of 2017, as well team captain, Kaká with the lions.[11] Puerto Rico lost the exhibition match 6-1.[12]

In May 2018, the Puerto Rican Football Federation announced that Carlos Cantarero would no longer continue as head coach of the national team, with former Honduran player Amado Guevara taking over as head coach.[13]

The following players were called up for the CONCACAF Nations League match against Grenada on 24 March 2018.

Caps and goals updated as of 16 November 2018 after the match against Belize.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Cody Laurendi	(1988-08-15) 15 August 1988	4	0	Oklahoma City Energy
	1GK	Leftie Millán	(1993-08-23) 23 August 1993	0	0	Bayamón FC
	1GK	Ángel Molinari		0	0	Mirabelli SA
	1GK	Jose Calderon	(2000-02-01) 1 February 2000	0	0	El Tanque Sisley
	2DF	Rodolfo Sulia	(2002-08-08) 8 August 2002	3	0	Gimnasia y Esgrima
	2DF	Luis Cosme	(2000-12-21) 21 December 2000	2	0	Bayamón FC
	2DF	Emmanuel D'Andrea	(1995-01-20) 20 January 1995	16	1	Bayamón FC
	2DF	José Ferrer		0	0	Metropolitan FA
	2DF	Daniel Rosario		0	0	Orlando City B
	2DF	Joshua Calderón	(1996-09-11) 11 September 1996	4	0	North Shore United
	2DF	Carlos Clark	(1996-11-07) 7 November 1996	3	0	Jersey Express
	3MF	Devin Vega	(1998-12-28) 28 December 1998	2	1	Real Monarchs
	3MF	Gerald Díaz	(1999-03-29) 29 March 1999	3	0	Bayamon FC
	3MF	Andrés Cabrero	(1989-01-04) 4 January 1989	33	5	Bayamon FC
	3MF	Jorge Rosa	(1997-09-03) 3 September 1997	1	0	Bayamon FC
	3MF	Joseph Villafañe	(1999-11-30) 30 November 1999	0	0	Bayamón FC
	3MF	Ryan López		0	0	Bayamon FC
	3MF	Jaden Servania		0	0	Birmingham Legion FC
	3MF	Deniz Bozkurt	(1993-07-23) 23 July 1993	3	1	Boca Raton FC
	3MF	Darren Ríos	(1995-10-14) 14 October 1995	1	0	Miami City
	3MF	Alex Oikkonen	(1994-10-15) 15 October 1994	8	2	North Shore United
	4FW	Alec Díaz	(2001-12-07) 7 December 2001	1	0	Tacoma Defiance
	4FW	Ricardo Rivera	(1997-04-17) 17 April 1997	4	0	Vilamarxant CF
	4FW	Sidney Rivera	(1993-11-15) 15 November 1993	6	2	Police FC
	4FW	Lucas Borrilez		0	0	Minneapolis City SC
	4FW	Wilfredo Rivera		0	0	Orlando City B

As of 13 June 2017

Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

As of 13 June 2017