Nicaragua national football team

Nicaragua
	Shirt badge/Association crest
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	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)
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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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)

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

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.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Henry Maradiaga	(1990-02-05) February 5, 1990 (age 34)	0	0	Real Esteli F.C.
1GK	Jadzeel Mendoza		0	0	Juventus Managua
1GK	Diedrich Tellez	(1984-10-31) October 31, 1984 (age 39)	3	0	Managua F.C.

2DF	Jason Casco	(1990-02-13) February 13, 1990 (age 34)	15	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
2DF	Luis Fernando Copete	(1989-02-12) February 12, 1989 (age 35)	16	3	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
2DF	Jason Ingram	(1997-08-20) August 20, 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.
2DF	Jessie López	(1990-03-15) March 15, 1990 (age 34)	2	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
2DF	Oscar López Pineda	(1992-02-27) February 27, 1992 (age 32)	2	0	Managua F.C.
2DF	Josué Quijano	(1991-03-10) March 10, 1991 (age 33)	32	1	Real Estelí F.C.
2DF	Manuel Rosas	(1983-10-14) October 14, 1983 (age 41)	19	2	Real Estelí F.C.
2DF	Axel Silva	(1993-01-04) January 4, 1993 (age 31)	1	0	Diriangén FC
2DF	Erick Téllez	(1989-01-28) January 28, 1989 (age 35)	15	0	Diriangén FC
2DF	Bismarck Veliz	(1993-09-10) September 10, 1993 (age 31)	4	0	Real Estelí F.C.

3MF	Carlos Chavarría	(1994-05-02) May 2, 1994 (age 30)	15	3	Real Estelí F.C.
3MF	Jason Coronel	(1993-10-06) October 6, 1993 (age 31)	3	0	Diriangén FC
3MF	Norlan Cuadra	(1988-07-10) July 10, 1988 (age 36)	7	1	Juventus Managua
3MF	Luis Galeano	(1991-10-15) October 15, 1991 (age 33)	8	3	Real Esteli F.C.
3MF	Bryan Garcia	(1995-05-25) May 25, 1995 (age 29)	4	1	Managua F.C.
3MF	Carlos Membreño	(1988-12-19) December 19, 1988 (age 35)	3	0	Diriangén FC
3MF	Bismarck Montiel		2	0	Managua F.C.
3MF	Maykel Montiel	(1993-01-27) January 27, 1993 (age 31)	3	0	UNAN Managua
3MF	Luis Peralta	(1988-10-12) October 12, 1988 (age 36)	8	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
3MF	Juan Carlos Rosales	(1991-12-18) December 18, 1991 (age 32)	1	0	UNAN Managua

4FW	Raúl Leguías	(1981-10-09) October 9, 1981 (age 43)	23	8	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
4FW	Eulises Pavón	(1993-01-06) January 6, 1993 (age 31)	14	2	Deportivo Walter Ferretti
4FW	Daniel Reyes	(1990-07-21) July 21, 1990 (age 34)	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	(1994-02-27) February 27, 1994 (age 30)	15	0	Municipal Liberia	v. Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
GK	Erling Mendez	(1992-03-20) March 20, 1992 (age 32)	0	0	Juventus Managua	v. Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015

DF	Cristian Gutiérrez	(1993-06-23) June 23, 1993 (age 31)	1	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Suriname, June 16, 2015
DF	Francisco Paz	(1982-08-07) August 7, 1982 (age 42)	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
DF	Alejandro Tapia	(1993-03-28) March 28, 1993 (age 31)	6	0	Deportivo Walter Ferretti	v. Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015

MF	Franklin Ulises López	(1980-08-16) August 16, 1980 (age 44)	21	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
MF	Marlon Lòpez	(1992-11-02) November 2, 1992 (age 31)	10	0	Santos de Guápiles	v. Honduras, January 27, 2016
MF	Elvis Pinel	(1992-03-22) March 22, 1992 (age 32)	17	1	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
MF	Sergio Zepeda	(1987-05-30) May 30, 1987 (age 37)	0	0	UNAN Managua	v. Suriname, June 16, 2015

FW	Juan Barrera	(1989-03-02) March 2, 1989 (age 35)	32	6	C.S.D. Comunicaciones	v. Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW	Daniel Cadena	(1987-02-09) February 9, 1987 (age 37)	7	0	Atlántico	v. Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW	Erick Lazo	(1990-02-15) February 15, 1990 (age 34)	1	0	Juventus Managua	v. Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW	Norfran Lazo	(1990-09-08) September 8, 1990 (age 34)	9	1	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
FW	Ariagner Smith	(1998-12-13) December 13, 1998 (age 25)	0	0	Real Estelí F.C.	v. Anguilla, March 23, 2015
FW	Alexis Somarriba	(1994-05-11) May 11, 1994 (age 30)	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' [1]	Hungary	1941	TBD
Santiago Bonilla	Costa Rica	1952	1953
Carlos Ruiz	Nicaragua	1961	1962
Santiago Berrini [2]	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

References

^ "Nicaragua shocks Guatemala 2–0 to claim last berth in CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
^ 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)

[1] "Nicaragua shocks Guatemala 2–0 to claim last berth in CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-29.

[2] ttp://www.rsssf.com/tablesn/nica-intres.html

[1]

[2]

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v t e National and regional football teams of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
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Defunct	Netherlands Antilles
1: Inside the North American zone, but CFU member. 2: South American region, but affiliated to CONCACAF and CFU. 3: Full or associate CONCACAF member, but non-FIFA member.