Nicaragua national football team

Nicaragua
Nickname(s)	La Azul y Blanco (The Blue and White); Los Pinoleros (The Pinoleros)
Association	Federación Nicaragüense de Fútbol
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation	UNCAF (Central America)
Head coach	Juan Vita
Captain	Juan Barrera
Most caps	Josué Quijano (71)
Top scorer	Juan Barrera (21)
Home stadium	Nicaragua National Football Stadium
FIFA code	NCA
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	143 (23 December 2021)
Highest	92 (December 2015)
Lowest	193 (May 2001)
First international
	El Salvador 9–0 Nicaragua ; (San Salvador, El Salvador; 1 May 1929)
Biggest win
	Turks and Caicos Islands 0–7 Nicaragua ; (San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic; 27 March 2021)
Biggest defeat
	Honduras 10–0 Nicaragua ; (San José, Costa Rica; 13 March 1946); Curaçao 11–1 Nicaragua ; (Guatemala City, Guatemala; 2 March 1950)
Gold Cup
Appearances	5 (first in 1963)
Best result	Sixth place (1967)
Medal record
CCCF Championship

The Nicaragua national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Nicaragua) represents Nicaragua in men's international football and is controlled by the Nicaraguan Football Federation. Nicaragua achieved its first qualification to a major international competition in 2009, as they qualified for the 2009 Gold Cup as the last entrant from Central America, after a 2–0 win over Guatemala in the fifth place match in the 2009 Nations Cup.^[3] However, the team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup.

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.^[4]

Recent times[]

After qualifying for the 2019 Gold Cup on the back of finishing ninth in Nations League qualifying, they would go on to finish bottom of the group with losses to Costa Rica, Haiti and Bermuda.^[5]

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.

Win Draw Loss

2021[]

24 February Friendly	Guatemala	1–0	Nicaragua	Guatemala City, Guatemala
15:00 (UTC−6)	Rittmeyer 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Centro de Alto Rendimiento de Guatemala Referee: Armando Reyna (Guatemala)

27 March WC 1st Round Qualifying	Turks and Caicos Islands	0–7	Nicaragua	San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
16:30 UTC−4		Report	Barrera 3', 59' Smith 8', 45+2' Fletes 46' Forbes 78' Moldskred 87'	Stadium: Estadio Panamericano Referee: William Anderson (Puerto Rico)

4 June WC 1st Round Qualifying	Nicaragua	3–0	Belize	Managua, Nicaragua
19:00 UTC−6	Rodríguez 25' Bonilla 46' Barrera 51'	Report		Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Referee: Nelson Salgado (Honduras)

8 June WC 1st Round Qualifying	Haiti	1–0	Nicaragua	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
17:00 UTC−4	Etienne 63'	Report		Stadium: Stade Sylvio Cator Referee: Kevin Morrison (Jamaica)

8 September Friendly	Guatemala	2–2	Nicaragua	Antigua, Guatemala
3:00 (UTC−6)	Mejía 25' Morales 74'	Report	Smith 32' 86'	Stadium: Estadio Pensativo Referee: Armando Reyna (Guatemala)

10 November Friendly	Nicaragua	0–3	Cuba	Managua, Nicaragua
19:00 (UTC−6)				Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium

13 November Friendly	Nicaragua	2–0	Cuba	Managua, Nicaragua
18:00 (UTC−6)				Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium

2022[]

26 January Friendly	Nicaragua	v	Guatemala	Managua, Nicaragua
19:00 (UTC−6)				Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Fútbol

1 February Friendly	Nicaragua	v	Belize	Managua, Nicaragua
19:00 (UTC−6)				Stadium: Estadio Nacional de Fútbol

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following 23 players were called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Belize and Haiti on June 2021.
Caps updated as of 8 June 2021, after the match with Haiti.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Denis Espinoza	(1983-08-25) 25 August 1983 (age 38)	39	1	Walter Ferretti
12	1GK		(1997-11-22) 22 November 1997 (age 24)	1	0	Real Estelí
23	1GK	Douglas Forvis	(1992-05-17) 17 May 1992 (age 29)	0	0	Santos de Guápiles

2	2DF	Josué Quijano	(1991-03-10) 10 March 1991 (age 30)	70	1	Real Estelí
3	2DF		(1994-04-26) 26 April 1994 (age 27)	5	0	Walter Ferretti
4	2DF	Henry Niño	(1997-10-03) 3 October 1997 (age 24)	7	1	Walter Ferretti
5	2DF	Marvin Fletes	(1997-11-12) 12 November 1997 (age 24)	7	1	Real Estelí
6	2DF	Luis Copete	(1989-02-12) 12 February 1989 (age 32)	37	3	Independiente Petrolero
13	2DF	Jason Ingram	(1997-08-20) 20 August 1997 (age 24)	2	0	Santos de Guápiles
20	2DF		(1995-06-05) 5 June 1995 (age 26)	4	0	Walter Ferretti
21	2DF	Francisco Flores	(1988-04-02) 2 April 1988 (age 33)	15	0	Jicaral

8	3MF	Richard Rodríguez	(1992-07-13) 13 July 1992 (age 29)	13	1	Real Estelí
10	3MF	Byron Bonilla	(1993-08-30) 30 August 1993 (age 28)	15	3	Cartaginés
11	3MF	Juan Barrera (Captain)	(1989-05-02) 2 May 1989 (age 32)	63	21	Xelajú
14	3MF	Kevin Serapio	(1996-04-09) 9 April 1996 (age 25)	17	0	Managua
15	3MF	Armando Goufas	(1995-02-02) 2 February 1995 (age 26)	8	1	Real Estelí
17	3MF	Matías Moldskred	(1997-08-12) 12 August 1997 (age 24)	3	1	Start
18	3MF		(1997-06-04) 4 June 1997 (age 24)	5	0	Managua

7	4FW	Carlos Chavarría	(1994-05-02) 2 May 1994 (age 27)	43	11	Real Estelí
9	4FW	Jaime Moreno	(1995-03-30) 30 March 1995 (age 26)	19	4	Diriangén
16	4FW	Henry García	(1990-07-21) 21 July 1990 (age 31)	13	0	Real Estelí
19	4FW	Brandon Ayerdis	(1999-09-11) 11 September 1999 (age 22)	14	0	Real Estelí
22	4FW	Dshon Forbes	(1997-07-09) 9 July 1997 (age 24)	3	1	Walter Ferretti

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Justo Lorente	(1994-02-27) 27 February 1994 (age 27)	33	0	Diriangén	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^PRE

DF		(1997-03-18) 18 March 1997 (age 24)	0	0	Real Estelí	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^PRE
DF	Manuel Rosas	(1983-10-14) 14 October 1983 (age 38)	57	2	Real Estelí	v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021
DF	Cristian Gutiérrez	(1993-01-06) 6 January 1993 (age 29)	10	0	Real Estelí	v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021 ^PRE
DF		(1993-03-28) 28 March 1993 (age 28)	7	0	Walter Ferretti	v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021 ^PRE
DF		(1999-06-29) 29 June 1999 (age 22)	0	0	San Carlos	v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021 ^PRE
DF	Erick Téllez	(1989-01-28) 28 January 1989 (age 32)	26	0	Diriangén	v. Guatemala, 24 February 2021

MF	Marlon López	(1992-11-02) 2 November 1992 (age 29)	40	0	Real Estelí	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^PRE
MF	Bismarck Montiel	(1995-03-05) 5 March 1995 (age 26)	13	0	Unattached	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^PRE
MF		(1994-10-21) 21 October 1994 (age 27)	2	0	Managua	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^PRE
MF	Agenor Báez	(1997-12-18) 18 December 1997 (age 24)	1	0	Managua	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^PRE
MF	Pablo Gállego	(1993-10-01) 1 October 1993 (age 28)	0	0	Pierikos	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^PRE
MF	Daniel Cadena	(1987-02-09) 9 February 1987 (age 34)	33	3	Ocotal	v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021 ^PRE
MF	Harold Medina	(2002-01-30) 30 January 2002 (age 19)	1	0	Real Estelí	v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021 ^PRE

FW	Ariagner Smith	(1998-12-13) 13 December 1998 (age 23)	2	2	Veles Moscow	v. Belize, 4 June 2021 ^{PRE / WD}
FW		(2001-09-19) 19 September 2001 (age 20)	1	0	Walter Ferretti	v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021
FW		(1996-07-11) 11 July 1996 (age 25)	0	0		v. Turks and Caicos Islands, 27 March 2021 ^PRE
^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. ^PRE Preliminary squad. ^RET Player retired from the national team. ^SUS Player is serving suspension. ^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Records[]

As of 8 September 2021^[6]

Players in bold text are still active with Nicaragua.

Most appearances[]

Josué Quijano is Nicaragua's most-capped player with 71 international appearances.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Josué Quijano	71	1	2011–
2	Juan Barrera	64	21	2009–
3	Manuel Rosas	60	2	2013–
4	David Solórzano	49	1	1999–2014
5	Carlos Chavarría	44	11	2013–
6	Marlon López	40	0	2014–
7	Denis Espinoza	39	1	2004–
8	Carlos Alonso	37	0	1999–2011
8	Luis Copete	37	3	2014–
10	Daniel Cadena	34	3	2014–

Top goalscorers[]

Juan Barrera is Nicaragua's all-time top scorer with 21 goals.

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Juan Barrera	21	63	0.33	2009–
2	Emilio Palacios	11	26	0.42	2001–2009
2	Carlos Chavarría	11	43	0.26	2013–
4	Raúl Leguías	8	23	0.35	2011–2016
5	Jaime Moreno	4	19	0.22	2016–
	Rudel Calero	4	26	0.15	2001–2011
	Samuel Wilson	4	29	0.14	2001–2013
	Luis Galeano	4	32	0.13	2015–
9	Bryan García	3	22	0.14	2015–
	Daniel Cadena	3	33	0.09	2014–
	Luis Copete	3	37	0.08	2014–
	Byron Bonilla	3	15	0.21	2016–
	Ariagner Smith	3	5	0.6	2017-

Coaching staff[]

Position	Name
Head coach	Juan Vita
Technical director
Assistant coach
Goalkeeping coach
Physical coordinator
Doctor
Physiotherapist
Team coordinator
Team coordinator

Coaching history[]

(Unknown)
(Unknown)
(1941–1943)
(1943)
(1952-1953)
Ferenc Mészáros (1961)
(1961-1962)
(1965-1967)
Livio Bendaña Espinoza (1967-1969)
Omar Muraco (1969-1970)
Salvador Dubois Leiva (1977)
Orlando Casares (1980-1981)
Ján Fülöp (1984-1986)
Salvador Dubois Leiva (1991-1992)
Mauricio Cruz Jiron (1993-2001)
(2001-2002)
(2003-2004)
Marcelo Javier Zuleta (2005)
Carlos De Toro (2007-2008)
Mauricio Cruz Jiron (2008)
Ramón Otoniel Olivas (2008-2009)
Enrique Llena (2010-2014)
(2014)
Henry Duarte (2014-2020)
Juan Vita (2020–present)

Competitive record[]

FIFA World Cup[]

The Nicaragua national football team has never qualified for the World Cup. Their latest attempt was for the 2022 World Cup, when the side failed to advance from the first round.

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	Not a FIFA member								Not a FIFA member
1934
1938
1950	Did not enter								Declined participation
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									3	2	0	1	10	1
2026	To be determined								To be determined
Total	–	0/22	–	–	–	–	–	–	25	9	1	15	35	45

CONCACAF Gold Cup[]

CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1963	Round 1	8th	4	0	0	4	2	15	Squad
1965	Did not qualify
1967	Sixth place	6th	5	0	1	4	3	12	Squad
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	Group stage	11th	3	0	0	3	0	8	Squad
2011	Did not qualify
2013
2015
2017	Group stage	10th	3	0	0	3	1	7	Squad
2019	Group stage	15th	3	0	0	3	0	8	Squad
2021	Did not qualify
Total	Sixth place	5/26	18	0	1	17	6	50	—

CONCACAF Nations League[]

CONCACAF Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2019−20	B	D	6	2	1	3	9	11		23rd
2022–23	B	To be determined
Total			6	2	1	3	9	11	23rd

Copa Centroamericana[]

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

CCCF Championship[]

CCCF Championship record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1941	Fifth place	5th	4	0	0	4	5	29
1943	Fourth place	4th	6	0	0	6	7	39
1946	Sixth place	6th	5	1	0	4	5	31
1948	Did not enter
1951	Third place	3rd	4	0	0	4	4	22
1953	Sixth place	6th	6	1	0	5	4	18
1955	Did not enter
1957
1960
1961	Ninth place	9th	3	0	0	3	3	18
Total	Third place	6/10	28	2	0	26	28	157

Pan American Games[]

Pan American Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951	Did not enter
1955
1959
1963
1967
1971
1975	Preliminary round	13th	3	0	0	3	2	23
1979	Did not enter
1983
1987
1991	Preliminary round	8th	3	0	0	3	1	20
1995	Did not qualify
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
Total	Preliminary round	2/18	6	0	0	6	3	43

Central American and Caribbean Games[]

Central American and Caribbean Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not qualify
1935
1938
1946
1950	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	4	19
1954	Did not qualify
1959
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982	Group stage	7th	3	0	1	2	2	6
1986	Did not qualify
1990
1993
1998	Quarter-finals	8th	4	1	0	3	3	13
2002	Quarter-finals	8th	3	1	0	2	2	7
2006	Did not qualify
2010
2014
2018
Total	Quarter-finals	4/22	13	2	1	10	11	45

Central American Games[]

Central American Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Runners-up	2nd	4	2	1	1	4	3
1977	Third place	3rd	6	2	0	4	6	23
1986	Third place	3rd	3	0	2	1	1	5
1990	Third place	3rd	4	0	0	4	1	11
1994	Group stage	6th	2	0	0	2	0	17
1997	Group stage	6th	2	0	0	2	3	8
2001	Group stage	5th	3	1	0	2	5	8
	Not held
	Not held
2013	Group stage	7th	3	0	0	3	1	9
2017	Third place	3rd	4	1	2	1	2	1
Total	Runners-up	9/11	31	6	5	20	23	85

Head-to-head record[]

As of 14 November 2021 after the match against Cuba.^[7]

Positive Record Neutral Record Negative Record

Opponents	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Anguilla	3	3	0	0	14	0	+14
Argentina	1	0	0	1	1	5	−4
Barbados	2	1	0	1	1	1	0
Belize	11	4	3	4	15	13	+2
Bermuda	5	2	0	3	5	7	−2
Bolivia	3	0	1	2	4	6	−2
Canada	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Cayman Islands	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Colombia	1	0	0	1	2	7	−5
Costa Rica	19	1	1	17	10	72	−62
Cuba	13	4	3	6	16	24	−8
Curaçao^[a]	8	0	1	7	3	34	−31
Dominica	4	4	0	0	10	1	+9
Dominican Republic	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
El Salvador	30	0	3	27	20	120	−100
Guadeloupe	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Guatemala	26	2	4	20	16	70	−54
Haiti	9	1	2	6	9	16	−7
Honduras	25	1	3	21	16	80	−64
Jamaica	2	1	0	1	3	4	−1
Martinique	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
Mexico	3	0	0	3	1	10	−9
Panama	27	5	1	21	24	76	−52
Puerto Rico	5	3	1	1	9	6	+3
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2	0	2	0	0	0	0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	5	1	2	2	6	8	−2
Suriname	4	2	0	2	5	9	−4
Trinidad and Tobago	5	1	1	3	4	10	−6
Turks and Caicos Islands	1	1	0	0	7	0	+7
United States	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Venezuela	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Total (31)	223	39	29	155	205	594	−389

^ Includes matches against Netherlands Antilles.

References[]

^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
^ "Nicaragua shocks Guatemala 2–0 to claim last berth in CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
^ "Nicaragua - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
^ "Bermuda downs Nicaragua to earn first ever Gold Cup victory". New Jersey: Gold Cup. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
^ Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando. "Nicaragua - Record International Players". RSSSF.
^ "World Football Elo Ratings: Nicaragua".

External links[]

Official website (in Spanish)
Nicaragua FIFA profile
Nicaragua – List of International Matches at RSSSF.com

[8] Includes matches against Netherlands Antilles.

[FIFA_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.

[World_Football_Elo_Ratings-2] Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.

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

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

[5] "Bermuda downs Nicaragua to earn first ever Gold Cup victory". New Jersey: Gold Cup. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.

[6] Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando. "Nicaragua - Record International Players". RSSSF.

[7] "World Football Elo Ratings: Nicaragua".

[1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[a]

v t Nicaragua national football team
General	Nicaraguan Football Federation History Players Managers
Venues	Nicaragua National Football Stadium
Statistics	CONCACAF Gold Cup record Results Head to head
Other teams	Men U-20 Women
Rivalries
CONCACAF Gold Cup	1963 1967 2009 2017 2019
Notable matches	2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying play-off (2017)

v t 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.