The Honduras national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Honduras) represents Honduras in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación de Fútbol de Honduras (English: Football Federation of Honduras) founded in 1935.
It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1946 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of UNCAF in the Central American Zone.
From 1938 to 1961, it was a member of CCCF, the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean and a predecessor confederation of CONCACAF, and also a member of PFC, the unified confederation of the Americas, from 1946 to 1961.
Honduras has qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times (1982, 2010 and 2014).
Honduras has participated twenty-three times in CONCACAF's premier continental competition, it is one of three Central American teams to have won the competition, winning the CONCACAF Championship in 1981 as hosts. The team's best performance under the CONCACAF Gold Cup format was finishing as runners-up in 1991. It has participated four times in League A of the CONCACAF Nations League, finishing in third place in the 2021 Finals.
It has also participated once in the Copa América, finishing in third place in 2001.
Regionally, the team won 4 Copa Centroamericana titles and also finished as runners-up in the CCCF Championship in 1953.
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History
The national team made its debut in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City in September 1921, losing 9–0 to Guatemala.
During their first appearance at the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1930, Honduras posted a record of two wins and three losses. Their only wins came against Jamaica (5–1) and El Salvador (4–1), while they lost two games to Cuba and Costa Rica.
1970 World Cup and the Football War
Prior to the qualification stages leading up to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador found themselves in what was called the Football War. This nickname was given to the situation after a play-off game was played between the two countries to decide which would qualify for the Finals. This political crisis eventually turned into a footballwar that lasted approximately 100 hours.
Honduras had begun qualifying by defeating Costa Rica and Jamaica. Against Jamaica, they easily won both games, 5–1 on aggregate. They beat Costa Rica 1–0 in Tegucigalpa and drew 1–1 away. This set up a final match between Honduras and El Salvador, who had eliminated Guyana and the Netherlands Antilles.
In the first game against El Salvador, Honduras won 1–0 in Tegucigalpa on 8 June 1969. Honduras were coached by Carlos Padilla Velásquez and the only goal of the game was scored by Leonard Welch. Honduras lost the second game 3–0 in San Salvador, and a play-off was required in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on 27 June. El Salvador won 3–2 to qualify and eliminate Honduras from the qualifications.
1982 World Cup
Honduras won the 1981 CONCACAF Championship and qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1982. Despite drawing against the hosts Spain and Northern Ireland, both 1–1, they were eliminated in the first round after losing their last match to Yugoslavia 1–0.
Honduras finished second in the 1985 CONCACAF Championship, losing their final match 2–1 against Canada, who went on to qualify for the 1986 World Cup. Their next major accomplishment was being runners-up at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing against the host nation, the United States.
For the 1998 World Cup, Jamaica and Mexico eliminated Honduras at the third round stage. Despite Honduras's overwhelming 11–3 victory against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica defeated Mexico at Independence Park, Kingston, allowing the Reggae Boys to advance to the next round.
2001 Copa América
Since 1993, CONMEBOL has invited teams from other confederations to participate in their confederation championship, the Copa América. Honduras took part as one of the last-minute teams added for the 2001 tournament, as Argentina dropped out one day before the start. The team arrived only a few hours before the tournament's first game and with barely enough players. Despite the odds, Honduras progressed into the quarter-finals, where they defeated Brazil 2–0. In the semi-finals, Colombia knocked out Honduras 2–0.
Honduras advanced to the final round in the qualifying competition for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but again failed to qualify after losing at home to Trinidad & Tobago, and away against Mexico in their final two matches. The match against Trinidad, and Tobago saw Honduras hit the goal post eight times.
2010 World Cup
On 14 October 2009, Honduras qualified for the 2010 World Cup after a 1–0 win against El Salvador gave them the third automatic qualifying spot from the Fourth round of CONCACAF Qualifying.
Honduras faced Chile, Spain, and Switzerland in their first-round group. In their first match they lost to Chile 1–0, to a goal from Jean Beausejour. They then lost 2–0 to Spain, with both goals scored by David Villa. In their last match they drew 0–0 against Switzerland and were eliminated in last place in the group.
2014 World Cup
In the qualifying competition for the 2014 World Cup, Honduras were given a bye to the third round because of their third-place position among CONCACAF teams in the March 2011 FIFA World Rankings. They qualified for the final round by finishing first in their group, which included Panama, Canada and Cuba. After beginning with a home defeat against Panama, Honduras recovered and beat Canada 8–1 in their final match, allowing them to win the group ahead of Panama.
In the final round of qualifying, the Hexagonal, six teams faced each other in a home-and-away format. In their first two games, Honduras defeated the United States 2–1 and came back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2–2 with Mexico. They lost three of their next four matches before traveling to Mexico City to face Mexico in the Azteca. Honduras again trailed but scored twice in the second half for a stunning 2–1 win. They returned to Tegucigalpa, where they drew 2–2 against Panama, who escaped defeat with a last-minute goal by Roberto Chen. In the final two games, Honduras beat Costa Rica 1–0 at home and qualified with a 2–2 draw against Jamaica in Kingston.
In the tournament in Brazil, Honduras again finished bottom of their first-round group, after 3–0 defeats against France and Switzerland, and a 2–1 defeat to Ecuador. The match against France featured the first use of goal-line technology to award a goal at the World Cup: an own-goal by Honduras' goalkeeper, Noel Valladares. The goal scored by Carlo Costly against Ecuador was Honduras' first goal in the World Cup in 32 years.
Decline
In 2017, Honduras failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. In the Hexagonal stage, they had mixed run of results which included draws against Costa Rica and Panama. On the final matchday, however, Honduras defeated Mexico 3–2 in San Pedro Sula, and coupled with a 2–1 Panamanian victory against Costa Rica and a United States loss to Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras finished in the fourth position to advance to a play-off against Australia. Following a 0–0 draw at home, Honduras were eliminated in the second leg in Sydney with a 3–1 loss. This defeat resulted in the departure of head coach Jorge Luis Pinto, and would be the final involvement of national team veterans Mario Martínez, Johnny Palacios, Donis Escober, and Carlo Costly.
Heading into the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Uruguayan manager Fabián Coito was appointed as the new head coach of Honduras. Drawn in Group C with expectations to advance to the next round, Honduras finished last in the group, following an opening loss to Jamaica and an upset defeat to Curaçao. Despite a 4–0 win over El Salvador in their final group stage match, Honduras finished last in the group. Heading into the tournament with a newer pool of players, this was the final involvement for veteran full-back duo Emilio Izaguirre and Brayan Beckeles.
In the summer of 2021, Honduras had a strong showing in the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League Finals, defeating rivals Costa Rica in a penalty-shootout in the third place play-off, having been eliminated by the United States 1–0 in the semi-finals. In the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Honduras would perform better in the group stage largely in part to the offensive contributions of forward duo Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto, but after the pair both suffered injuries in the group stage, Honduras was eliminated by Mexico 3–0 in the quarter-finals.
Heading into 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in the new "Octagonal" format, Honduras was expected to contend in the qualification spots, however they did considerably worse, as for the first time ever in a World Cup qualification cycle, the team had failed to register a win, with just four draws and ten losses. Despite an initial draw against the eventual first-placed nation Canada, Honduras spiraled in form after suffering a 4–1 loss to the United States in San Pedro Sula, despite leading at half-time. After a string of poor results, head coach Coito was sacked and replaced by Hernán Darío Gómez. Despite the managerial change, the poor run of form would continue as Gómez would experiment with different players, leading to the inability to properly replace past veterans and develop a cohesive squad.
Home stadium
Honduras has played the majority of its home matches, at Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés in Tegucigalpa.
The national team formerly played at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, which stopped being the home stadium due to declining facilities. Estadio Francisco Morazán also occasionally hosts home games. After its construction for the 1997 Central American Games, Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, became an important home venue but has fallen out of favor due to investment in an hybrid pitch system in Estadio Nacional and Estadio Morazan.
Estadio Nilmo Edwards in La Ceiba has also hosted friendly exhibition matches and also in the past ; Estadio Humberto Micheleti; Estadio Juan Ramón Brevé Vargas; and Estadio Carlos Miranda.
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Results and fixtures
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
Fixture
Coaching staff
As of 1 March 2026
Players
Current squad
The following 26 players were called up for the 2026–27 CONCACAF Nations League A matches from 25 September 2026 to 5 October 2026.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up to the national team in the past 12 months but are not part of the current squad.
Records
As of 19 November 2025
Players in bold are still active with Honduras.
Competitive record
Head-to-head record
As of 5 October 2026.
Positive Record
Neutral Record
Negative Record
Honours
Continental
CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup
Champions (1): 1981
Runners-up (2): 1985, 1991
Third place (1): 1967
CONCACAF Nations League
Third place (1): 2019–20
CONMEBOL Copa América
Third place (1): 2001
Subregional
CCCF Championship1
Runners-up (1): 1953
Third place (4): 1955, 1957, 1960, 1961
Copa de Naciones UNCAF / Copa Centroamericana
Champions (4): 1993, 1995, 2011, 2017
Runners-up (3): 1991, 2005, 2013
Third place (2): 1999, 2009
Central American and Caribbean Games
Silver medal (1): 1986
Bronze medal (1): 1930
Friendly
Lunar New Year Cup (1): 2002
Copa Independencia (1): 2010
Summary
Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).
Notes
Official subregional competition organized by CCCF, direct predecessor confederation of CONCACAF and the former governing body of football in Central America and Caribbean (1938–1961).
FIFA World Ranking
Last update was on 30 March 2026
Source:
Best Ranking Worst Ranking Best Mover Worst Mover