Soccer in Honduras

Association Football is the most popular sport among Hondurans, becoming popular in the 20th century.^[1] It organised properly with the creation of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras in the 1960s.

Honduras has memorable performances in three World Cups, Spain 1982, South Africa 2010, and Brazil 2014. The nation also competes in the Copa America, UNCAF Nations Cup, Olympic Games, and in youth World Cups.

History

In the territories that are now Honduras, the Mayans in Copán played the game of Pok-ta-pok in fields within their cities. The game used a ball of rubber. This sport was practiced in the 1000s AD, and it was a predecessor of basketball and football.

Football came to Honduras from foreigners, much like it did in some countries of South America, and in other parts of the world. The influence and power of the British around the world allowed them to spread their culture, including football.

In Honduras; a newspaper owned by the family Ustariz (French descendents) was delivered by a French ship, staffed almost entirely by an English crew; it arrived on the coasts of Port Cortés in 1896, bringing with them many soccer balls, which they used for fun in their free time every time they came to Honduras.

The practice of this new sport attracted the curiosity of the inhabitants of the port, who saw how the English sailors had fun playing football. These sailors encouraged the Hondurans to learn the game, and play along with them.

By the time Honduran football took its first steps, several countries in Europe and South America already had formed their respective football associations, and others were in process of forming.

The first countries to found their respective associations of football were: The Netherlands, Denmark (1889), New Zealand (1891), and Argentina (1893). After these countries, the football associations of Germany and Uruguay (1900), Hungary (1901), Norway (1902), Sweden (1904) were created. FIFA, the world federation, was founded in 1904.

The Honduran Federation of Football was affiliated to FIFA in 1951.

This growth of associations on a world-wide level, and the marked interest of the "catrachos" by the practice of the soccer, made that the government Honduras, under the control of the president Manuel Bonilla, interested in the sport.

It for that reason that, in 1906, the government hired the services of Miguel Saravia, a Guatemalan, to give football classes for the students of the School of Men of Tegucigalpa. Three years later, Saravia would be joined by his Spanish father, Niglia, to teach football, but this time in the Salesian Institute San Miguel of Comayagüela.

After these events the evolution of the football in Honduras went 'little by little'. The oldest team in Honduran football is Club Deportivo Olimpia. It was originally founded as a baseball club on 12 June 1912, transforming into a football club later on.

After the foundation of the Club Olimpia, football in Honduras was reaching greater levels of growth through the 1920s. It expanded quickly to all corners of the country. In the capital of the country, Sportive Club Motagua was founded in 1928. In San Pedro Sula,the clubs Marathón and Spain were founded in 1925 and 1929 respectively.

Further north, the city of Puerto Cortés saw the foundation of the club Excelsior in 1925, and in La Ceiba a team known as Naco appeared in 1929. In other places around the country, community leaders and football fans followed the example of these clubs and formed local teams.

Nevertheless, the football suffered an organisational stagnation from that time until 1951, when the Federation of Football (then FENAFUTH), through the Federación Nacional Deportiva Extraescolar, affiliated to FIFA. It was updated with the formation of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras in 1964. Together, these two sportive organizations oversee football in Honduras.

Throughout its short history, the Liga Nacional has been maintained and managed in a consistent and "almost" successful form. Because of this, football is important part of the national economy. Many Hondurans benefit from this sport, because of the money it generates with the sale of his sports supplements, ticket sales, food and drink, etc. Others work for radios and television stations where the merchants pay for advertisement.

The renowned 'Federation of Football' FENAFUTH on the other hand, has not had the same success. The bad financial management, its lack of planning, and in some cases its politicization, has provoked, more than one opportunity, the chaos in this sporting entity. Because of this, Honduras has only qualified for three World Cups, one Olympic tournament (2000), and 4 youth World Cups (Tunisia 1976, Qatar 1997, Nigeria 1999, Holland 2005), three of which represented Honduras in a disastrous way due to fault of planning.

After the failures of the last four years, the FENAFUTH was re-structured with the creation of the selection committee. This committee is now in charge of planning out and selecting. The rest of the federation, on the other hand, is in charge of planning and monitoring youth teams. These changes began to bear fruits with the qualification of the Under-17 team to the World Cup in Korea 2007. Alfredo Hawit is a great footballer and current president of the CONCACAF

Football Leagues in Honduras

Honduras has three leagues of football: Liga Mayor de Fútbol (third division), out of this league rises two teams to the Liga de Ascenso (second division), and from this team, two teams rise to the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (first division).

Liga Mayor de Fútbol

The Liga Mayor de Fútbol is the third division of football in Honduras. It is made up of several developmental leagues.

Liga de Ascenso

The Liga de Ascenso is the second division of football in Honduras. It was founded in 1980 and has 25 teams.

Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional

The Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional is the first division of football in Honduras, and the most important one. This league was founded on May 10, 1964, and has 10 teams.

Honduran National Teams

Honduran Youth Teams

Honduras is represented internationally at a youth level by the Honduras Under-15s, Honduras Under-17s, Honduras Under-20s, and the Honduras Under-23s. Each of these teams represents Honduras in different international youth tournaments: The Under-15s compete in the Under-15s World Cup, and the Youth Olympics; the Under-17s compete in the Under-17s World Cup; the Under-20s compete in the Under-20s World Cup; and the Under-23s compete in Olympic Qualifying, and the Olympic Games.

Honduras Men's National Team

The Honduras Men's National Team is the representative team of the country in official men's football competitions. It was founded in 1921, and has participated in many international tournaments since then. This team has qualified for the World Cup three times: Spain 1982, South Africa 2010, and Brazil 2014.

Honduras in the 1982 World Cup

The first World Cup that Honduras qualified for was Spain 1982. It was in group 5, against North Ireland, Spain, and Yugoslavia. Honduras finished last place in the group, not winning a single game.

Honduras in the 2010 World Cup

In 2010, Honduras qualified for the World Cup a second time. They were placed in group H, against Spain, Chile, and Switzerland. Honduras finished last place in the group, and was eliminated. The nation lost all games but one, which they tied 0-0 against Switzerland.

Honduras in the 2014 World Cup

Honduras qualified for a world cup for the third time in 2014. Honduras was once again knocked out at the group stage, but this was their worst performance ever, losing every single game. They were in group E, against Switzerland, France, and Ecuador.

Honduras Women's National Team

The Honduras Women's National Team is the representative team of the country in official women's football competitions. The Honduras Women's National Team has not qualified to the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup and has not qualified to play in the FIFA Women's World Cup

Football Players

Honduras has been the birthplace of many talented football players, and as such, many have had the opportunity to play abroad, and have had much success.. Such was the case of José Enrique 'The Rabbit Cardona, Jorge Urquía, Gilberto Yearwood, José Roberto Figueroa, and others in Spain, as well as Carlos Pavón, and Eugenio Dolmo Flores in Mexico. More recent stories of success include David Suazo and Julio César de León in Italy. Others, as Eduardo Bennett, Milton Núñez and Danilo Turcios have found success in South America.

Main Honduran Football Clubs

References

^ "Como llego el Futbol a Honduras - Futbol de Honduras".
^ "Fenafuth". Fenafuth.org. Retrieved 2016-06-15.

[1] "Como llego el Futbol a Honduras - Futbol de Honduras".

[2] "Fenafuth". Fenafuth.org. Retrieved 2016-06-15.

[1]

[2]