Nicaragua national football team

Nicaragua

Nickname(s)	La Azul y Blanco (The Blue and White) Los Pinoleros Albiazules
Association	Nicaraguan Football Federation
Sub-confederation	UNCAF (Central America)
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Head coach	Henry Duarte
Captain	Juan Barrera
Most caps	David Solórzano (49)
Top scorer	Emilio Palacios (11)
Home stadium	Nicaragua National Football Stadium
FIFA code	NCA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	105 1 (5 May 2016)
Highest	92 (December 2015)
Lowest	193 (May 2001)
Elo ranking
Current	155 (June 2015)
Highest	83 (May 1941)
Lowest	197 (April 2002)
First international
El Salvador 9–0 Nicaragua  (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; 17 October 1975)
CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1963)
Best result	6th, 1967

The Nicaragua national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Nicaragua) is the national team of Nicaragua and 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 CONCACAF Gold Cup after a 2–0 win over Guatemala in the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup.^[1]

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.^[2]

FIFA World Cup record

The Nicaraguan national football team had never qualified for the World Cup. With a record one own goal Uriel "El Coco" Mendez holds the goal scoring record. Their last attempt was for the 2014 World Cup, which they failed to qualify from a group with Panama and Dominica. The pinoleros ended in second place defeating Dominica twice and losing to Panama, first only by one.

• 1930 to 1990 – Did not enter
• 1994 to 2018 – Did not qualify

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 5 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 qualifying to the FIFA World Cup. In 1990, 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 USA hosting the first competition in 1991. However Nicaragua have only qualified once since the gold cup format started with a group stage finish in 2009.

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
Total	3/22	12	0	1	11	5	35

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 Group Stage 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 Group Stage 3 0 1 2 2 5 2014 Sixth Place 3 0 0 3 0 6 Total Fifth Place 39 4 4 31 24 110 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

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

Personnel

Current staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Henry Duarte
Assistant Coach	Ivan Rodriguez
Physical Coordinator	TBD

Schedule and results

The following is Nicaragua's schedule and results for the 2015 season.

Key

      Win       Draw       Loss

2015

Nicaragua  v  Anguilla

23 March 2018 FIFA WCQ - First Round	Nicaragua	5–0	Anguilla	Managua, Nicaragua
18:00 (UTC−6)	Galeano  12' Copete  25', 39' Barrera  37' Lazo  63'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)		Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Attendance: 4,214 Referee: Jafeth Perea (Panama)

Anguilla  v  Nicaragua

29 March 2018 FIFA WCQ - First Round	Anguilla	0–3	Nicaragua	The Valley, Anguilla
17:00 (UTC−4)		Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Leguias  22', 67' Barrera  45+1'	Stadium: Ronald Webster Park Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Óscar Moncada (Honduras)

Nicaragua  v  Suriname

7 June 2018 FIFA WCQ - Second Round	Nicaragua	1–0	Suriname	Managua, Nicaragua
18:00 (UTC–6)	Chavarría  44'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)		Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Attendance: 8,010 Referee: Javier Santos (Puerto Rico)

Suriname  v  Nicaragua

16 June 2018 FIFA WCQ - Second Round	Suriname	1–3	Nicaragua	Paramaribo, Suriname
16:30 (UTC–3)	Fer  3'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Leguias  27' Rosas  51' Chavarría  90+3'	Stadium: André Kamperveen Stadion Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Leon Clarke (Saint Lucia)

Jamaica  v  Nicaragua

4 September 2018 FIFA WCQ - Third Round	Jamaica	2–3	Nicaragua	Kingston, Jamaica
20:00 (UTC-5)	Mattocks  69' Mariappa  78'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Rosas  5' (pen.) Chavarría  8' Galeano  48'	Stadium: Independence Park Referee: Marlon Mejía (El Salvador)

Nicaragua  v  Jamaica

8 September 2018 FIFA WCQ - Third Round	Nicaragua	0–2	Jamaica	Managua, Nicaragua
19:30 (UTC-6)		Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Mattocks 13' Dawkins  89'	Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Referee: Oscar Reyna (Guatemala)

Cuba  v  Nicaragua

23 September Friendly	Cuba	0–1	Nicaragua	Havana, Cuba
		Report	Rosas  88' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Pedro Marrero

Cuba  v  Nicaragua

25 September Friendly	Cuba	1–1	Nicaragua	Havana, Cuba
		Report		Stadium: Estadio Pedro Marrero

Trinidad and Tobago  v  Nicaragua

13 October Friendly	Trinidad and Tobago	0–0	Nicaragua	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
19:00		Report		Stadium: Hasely Crawford Stadium

Nicaragua  v  Cuba

8 December Friendly	Nicaragua	5–0	Cuba	Managua, Nicaragua
	Barrera  19', 69' Cuadra  51' Leguias  57' Pavón  78'			Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium

Nicaragua  v  Cuba

12 December Friendly	Nicaragua	1–0	Cuba	Esteli, Nicaragua
	Garcia  90+2'			Stadium: Estadio Independencia

Costa Rica  v  Nicaragua

15 December Friendly	Costa Rica	1–0	Nicaragua	Liberia, Costa Rica
18:00 (UTC−6)	Waston  59'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Edgardo Baltodano Briceño Attendance: 3.800 Referee: Jafeth Perea (Panama)

2016

Nicaragua  v  Honduras

27 January Friendly	Nicaragua	1–3	Honduras	Managua, Nicaragua
19:00 (UTC−6)	Leguías  14'	Report	Méndez  57' Alvarado  83' (pen.) Casco  89' (o.g.)	Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Attendance: 5.000 Referee: Oscar Davila (Nicaragua)

Nicaragua  v  El Salvador

9 March Friendly	Nicaragua	1–1	El Salvador	Managua, Nicaragua
19:30 (UTC−6)	Copete  28'	Report	Morán  64' (pen.)	Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Referee: Oscar Davila (Nicaragua)

Nicaragua  v  Panama

15 March Friendly	Nicaragua	1–0	Panama	Managua, Nicaragua
19:30 (UTC−6)	Galeano  48' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium Referee: Jaime Herrera (El Salvador)

Nicaragua  v  Guatemala

7 July Friendly	Nicaragua	v	Guatemala	Managua, Nicaragua
				Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium

Nicaragua  v  Honduras

24 August Friendly	Nicaragua	v	Honduras	Managua, Nicaragua
				Stadium: Nicaragua National Football Stadium

Current squad

The following 25 players were selected for the Friendlies vs El Salvador and Panama in March 2016.
Caps and goals updated as of March 15, 2016 after the game against Panama.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Henry Maradiaga	February 5, 1990	0	0	Real Esteli F.C.
	GK	Jadzeel Mendoza		0	0	Juventus Managua
	GK	Diedrich Tellez	October 31, 1984	3	0	Managua F.C.
	DF	Jason Casco	February 13, 1990	15	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
	DF	Luis Fernando Copete	February 12, 1989	16	3	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
	DF	Jason Ingram	August 20, 1997	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.
	DF	Jessie López	March 15, 1990	2	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
	DF	Oscar López Pineda	February 27, 1992	2	0	Managua F.C.
	DF	Josué Quijano	March 10, 1991	32	1	Real Estelí F.C.
	DF	Manuel Rosas	October 14, 1983	19	2	Real Estelí F.C.
	DF	Axel Silva	January 4, 1993	1	0	Diriangén FC
	DF	Erick Téllez	January 28, 1989	15	0	Diriangén FC
	DF	Bismarck Veliz	September 10, 1993	4	0	Real Estelí F.C.
	MF	Carlos Chavarría	May 2, 1994	15	3	Real Estelí F.C.
	MF	Jason Coronel	October 6, 1993	3	0	Diriangén FC
	MF	Norlan Cuadra	July 10, 1988	7	1	Juventus Managua
	MF	Luis Galeano	October 15, 1991	8	3	Real Esteli F.C.
	MF	Bryan Garcia	May 25, 1995	4	1	Managua F.C.
	MF	Carlos Membreño	December 19, 1988	3	0	Diriangén FC
	MF	Bismarck Montiel		2	0	Managua F.C.
	MF	Maykel Montiel	January 27, 1993	3	0	UNAN Managua
	MF	Luis Peralta	October 12, 1988	8	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
	MF	Juan Carlos Rosales	December 18, 1991	1	0	UNAN Managua
	FW	Raúl Leguías	October 9, 1981	23	8	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
	FW	Eulises Pavón	January 6, 1993	14	2	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
	FW	Daniel Reyes	July 21, 1990	12	1	UNAN Managua

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	Esdras Gonzales		0	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v.  Honduras, January 27, 2016
GK	Justo Lorente	February 27, 1994	15	0	Municipal Liberia	v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
GK	Erling Mendez	March 20, 1992	0	0	Juventus Managua	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
DF	Cristian Gutiérrez	June 23, 1993	1	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v.  Suriname, June 16, 2015
DF	Francisco Paz	August 7, 1982	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
DF	Alejandro Tapia	March 28, 1993	6	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
MF	Franklin Ulises López	August 16, 1980	21	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
MF	Marlon Lòpez	November 2, 1992	10	0	Santos de Guápiles	v.  Honduras, January 27, 2016
MF	Elvis Pinel	March 22, 1992	17	1	Real Estelí F.C.	v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
MF	Sergio Zepeda	May 30, 1987	0	0	UNAN Managua	v.  Suriname, June 16, 2015
FW	Juan Barrera	March 2, 1989	32	6	C.S.D. Comunicaciones	v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW	Daniel Cadena	February 9, 1987	7	0	Atlántico	v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW	Erick Lazo	February 15, 1990	1	0	Juventus Managua	v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW	Norfran Lazo	September 8, 1990	9	1	Real Estelí F.C.	v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
FW	Ariagner Smith	December 13, 1998	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v.  Anguilla, March 23, 2015
FW	Alexis Somarriba	May 11, 1994	1	0	Managua F.C.	v.  Honduras, January 27, 2016

Top ten appearances

#	Name	Career	Appearances
1	David Solórzano	1999–2014	49 (0)
2	Denis Espinoza	2004–2013	33 (1)
3	Juan Barrera	2009—	32 (6)
=	Josué Quijano	2011—	32 (1)
5	Carlos Alonso	1999–2011	29 (0)
=	Samuel Wilson	2001–2013	29 (4)
7	Emilio Palacios	2001–2009	26 (11)
=	Rudel Calero	2001–2011	26 (4)
9	Felix Zeledón	2009—	24 (1)
10	Raul Leguias	2011—	23 (8)

Note: Players in bold text are still active with Nicaragua. Last updated: March 15, 2016

Top ten goal scorers

#	Name	Career	Goals
1	Emilio Palacios	2001–2009	11
2	Raul Leguias	2011–	8
3	Juan Barrera	2009–	6
4	Samuel Wilson	2001–2013	4
=	Rudel Calero	2001–2011	4
6	Carlos Chavarría	2013–	3
=	Luis Galeano	2015–	3
=	Luis Fernando Copete	2014–	3
9	Axel Villanueva	2010–	2
=	Félix Rodríguez	2010–	2

Note: Players in bold text are still active with Nicaragua. Last updated: March 15, 2016.

Manager history

Name	Nation	From	To
Octavio Edmundo Salas Urbina	Nicaragua	1941	TBD
Eduardo Kosovic 'Edy'	Hungary	1941	TBD
Santiago Bonilla	Costa Rica	1952	1953
Carlos Ruiz	Nicaragua	1961	1962
Santiago Berrini	Argentina	1966	TBD
Ferenc Mészáros	Hungary	1967	TBD
Livio Bendaña Espinoza	Nicaragua	1967	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

• Omar Muraco
• José "Chingolo" Rodríguez
• Omar Zambrana

References

1. "Nicaragua shocks Guatemala 2–0 to claim last berth in CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
2. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesn/nica-intres.html

External links

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