Guatemala national football team

Guatemala created its first soccer team, made up of 22 players, on 23 August 1902. The team was split into two sides, blue and white. With time, clubs were made and eventually the Guatemalan national team, nicknamed "la Azul y Blanco" (the blue and white), was created in 1921. Guatemala had its first game on 16 September 1921, in the Independence Centenary Games held in Guatemala City, against Honduras. The game was played in Guatemala City and Guatemala beat Honduras 9–0.[4] In the final, Guatemala were defeated 6–0 by Costa Rica.[5]

Guatemala had success in several editions of the CCCF Championship, the precursor of the Gold Cup, by being the runners-up in 1943, 1946, and 1948. In 1958, Guatemala began participating in the qualifying rounds of the World Cup. They finished last, without a point, in a group with Costa Rica and the Netherlands Antilles.[6]

Guatemala’s performance in the World Cup qualifying rounds began to improve in the 1960s. In 1962 they drew against both Costa Rica (4–4) and Honduras (1–1). However they again finished last in their qualifying group.[7]

Guatemala did not participate in the qualifying round in 1966, as FIFA refused theirparticipation for administrative reasons.

Guatemala joined CONCACAF in 1961. In 1967, they again showed the progress they had made when by participating by winning the Gold Cup for the only time in their history.[8] In that tournament, hosted by Honduras, Guatemala began with a 2–1 win against Haiti, followed by a 1–0 win over the defending champions, Mexico, a 0–0 draw against Honduras, a 2–0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, and a 2–0 win over Nicaragua. The forward Manuel "Escopeta" Recinos was Guatemala's top scorer with four goals, including the goal against Mexico.

Guatemala were also the runners-up in the CONCACAF Championship in 1965 and 1969.

Results

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Guatemala	9	5	4	1	0	7	1	6
2	Mexico	8	5	4	0	1	10	1	9
3	Honduras	6	5	2	2	1	4	2	2
4	Trinidad and Tobago	4	5	2	0	3	6	10	−4
5	Haiti	2	5	1	0	4	5	9	−4
6	Nicaragua	1	5	0	1	4	3	12	−9

In 1967, Guatemala showed further progress by qualifying for the 1968 Olympic football tournament in Mexico City. In the first round, they won 1–0 against Czechoslovakia, and 4–1 against Thailand, and lost to Bulgaria 2–1. They went on the next round, where they lost 1–0 to the eventual champions, Hungary.

Before the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, many fans saw Carlos Ruiz as the main focus in providing goals for the national team along with Juan Carlos Plata. Many other stars such as Fredy, Garcia, Gonzalo Romero, Guillermo Ramirez and Martin Machon were expected to play huge roles as well. In 2006 World Cup qualifying, Guatemala advanced to the third round by beating Suriname 4–2. There they finished second in Group B, behind Costa Rica, with 10 points each. In the fourth round they started with a 0–0 draw against Panama and a 5–1 win against Trinidad and Tobago. Then followed a 2–0 loss against the United States and Mexico and a 3–2 loss against Costa Rica, and a 2–1 win against Panama. They lost against Trinidad and Tobago 3–2, drew against the United States 0–0 and then lost to Mexico 5–2. Guatemala had 8 points with one game left, and a win alongside a Trinidad and Tobago defeat against Mexico would send them into the play-offs. They won 3–1 against Costa Rica but Trinidad and Tobago beat Mexico 2–1. They finished in fifth place, two points away from the play-off spot. Juan Carlos Plata and Martin Machón announced their retirement from International Football in 2006.

After a third-place finish at the 2007 UNCAF Nations Cup, and reaching the knockout stage in the Gold Cup of the same year, along with a couple of satisfying friendly matches including a 3–2 win against Mexico, many saw Hernán Darío Gómez as the next coach to lead Guatemala into the Hexagonal in the World Cup qualifying stage. However, after losing 5–0 in early 2008 against a under-23 Argentine team, the Colombian soon departed. During 2010 World Cup qualifying, expectations of qualifying for the finals were set among the national team as Ramon Maradiaga returned as coach. They began well by advancing to the third round by defeating Saint Lucia 9–1 on aggregate.

In the third round, Guatemala began with a 1–0 home loss to the United States, with controversies surrounding the Panamanian referee Roberto Moreno, including not awarding a penalty to Guatemala in the first half after a handball from Steve Cherundolo as well as Gustavo Cabrera being sent off after colliding with Eddie Lewis in the second half. In their second match, Los Chapines salvaged a draw in the closing minutes of the game against Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain after Carlos Gallardo deflected a free kick by Marco Pappa. On 10 September, Cuba shocked the Guatemala fans by taking the lead after Roberto Linares scored in the 25th minute, but by half-time, Carlos Ruiz had equalised, and in the second half, Ruiz scored again. Mario Rodríguez and José Manuel Contreras also scored and Guatemala won 4–1.

On 11 October, many fans gathered around the Estadio Mateo Flores for the game against Trinidad and Tobago. Despite being reduced to 10 men, the Soca Warriors were able to hold Guatemala to a 0–0 stalemate. Guatemala then lost in Cuba, falling behind 1–0 after Jaime Colome scored a penalty. Marco Pappa volleyed in an equalizer in the 80th minute, but Urgelles won the match for Cuba in the 90th minute. Meanwhile, the Trinidadians defeated the United States 2–1 at home, putting them in second place. Maradiaga was fired and Benjamin Monterroso was appointed, focusing on the Copa UNCAF the following January. A 2–0 away loss against the United States confirmed the elimination of the national team from the World Cup.

At the UNCAF nations cup, Monterroso wanted to introduce more younger players into the starting line up such as Minor Lopez, Ricardo Jerez and Wilson Lalin, but Guatemala lost both group stage matches against Costa Rica and also lost 2–0 to Nicaragua in the play-off match for the final berth to attend the next Gold Cup; Minor Lopez was the lone goal scorer for Los Bicolores. As a result, the national team were inactive for the next two years and Monterroso stepped down after two months in charge.

In May 2010, the Uruguayan-born Paraguayan Ever Hugo Almeida was appointed as the Guatemala's next coach. At the 2011 Copa Centroamericana, formerly known as the "UNCAF Nations Cup", Guatemala finished in fifth place, losing 2–0 to Costa Rica and 3–1 Honduras before defeating Nicaragua 2–1 to qualify for the 2011 Gold Cup.

At the Gold Cup, Guatemala drew 0–0 against Honduras despite being reduced to nine men. They lost against a physically superior Jamaica 2–0, but managed to redeem themselves by beating Grenada 4–0, with goals from José Javier del Águila, Marco Pappa, Carlos Ruiz, and Carlos Gallardo. In the quarter-finals, they lost to 2–1 the reigning champions Mexico, after Ruiz had given them the lead in the first half.

For the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Guatemala began in the second round with six wins in six games, advancing to a third round group alongside the United States, Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda. Before the third round, three key players – Guillermo Ramirez, Gustavo Cabrera and Yony Flores – were sent home during a practice session after their team-mates Ruiz and Luis Rodriguez heard of their involvement in money laundering and bribery in fixing multiple fixtures; they were subsequently banned for life.

The team began with an away loss to Jamaica, with Dwight Pezzarossi only managing to pull back one goal in stoppage time. In the next match, Guatemala drew at home against the United States, after they equalised from Marco Pappa's free kick. At home against Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala again fell behind, but after the Antiguan goalkeeper Molvin James was sent off for wasting time, Ruiz scored a brace and a goal from Pezzarossi sealed a 3–1 victory. Four days later, a goal from Ruiz sufficed for an away win against the same opponents in North Sound.

Guatemala beat Jamaica at home 2–1, leaving them needing a draw against the United States to progress to the final stage of the qualifiers. After they taking the lead in the first five minutes thanks to Ruiz, the United States scored three times, and Guatemala finished behind Jamaica on goal difference.

In January 2013, still led by Almeida, Guatemala participated in the 2013 Copa Centroamericana. With a team of mainly younger players, they could only manage three draws in their group play (1–1 against Nicaragua, 0–0 against Belize and 1–1 against Costa Rica), losing out to Belize for direct qualification for the 2013 Gold Cup. They faced Panama in the fifth place match, but lost 3–1, and Almeida stepped down in favour of the technical director, Victor Hugo Monzón.

On Oct 28, 2016, the Guatemalan football federation was suspended indefinitely by FIFA, after the international football governing body had appointed an oversight committee to look into allegations of corruption.[9] FIFA stated that the Guatemalan federation (FEDEFUT) had rejected the committee's mandate to run FEDEFUT's business, organize elections, and modernize its statutes, and would remain barred from international competition until FEDEFUT ratified an extension of the mandate.[10] The football team missed their chance on qualifying on the 2017 and 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments (2017 Copa Centroamericana and 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying) as they missed deadlines to have their suspension lifted.

The suspension was lifted on 31 May 2018 after FEDEFUT's normalization committee became fully operational.[11]

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1900	Did not participate
1904
1908
1912
1920
1924
1928
1936
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968	Quarter-finals	8th	4	2	0	2	6	4	Squad
1972	Did not qualify
1976	Group stage	10th	3	0	2	1	2	5	Squad
1980	Did not qualify
1984
1988	Group stage	16th	3	0	0	3	2	12	Squad
1992	Did not qualify
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Total	Quarter-finals	3/27	3	0	1	2	2	8	—

Note: Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since 1992.

Pan American Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951	Did not qualify
1955
1959
1963
1967
1971
1975
1979	Group stage	7th	2	0	1	1	2	4
1983	Bronze medal	3rd	4	1	2	1	6	4
1987	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	3	2
1991	Did not qualify
1995
1999	Group stage	7th	4	1	1	2	4	5
2003	Group stage	7th	3	0	1	2	2	5
2007	Did not qualify
2011
2015
2019
Total	1 Bronze medal	5/18	16	3	6	7	17	20

Note: Football at the Pan American Games has been an under-23 tournament since 1999.

The following players were called up for a friendly game against Puerto Rico on 23 January 2021.
Caps and goals updated as of 23 January 2021 after the game against Puerto Rico.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Manuel Sosa	(1987-04-05) 5 April 1987	0	0	Malacateco
12	1GK	Víctor Ayala	(1989-05-08) 8 May 1989	0	0	Antigua
21	1GK	Kevin Moscoso	(1993-06-13) 13 June 1993	2	0	Cobán Imperial
2	2DF	Moisés Hernández	(1992-03-05) 5 March 1992	19	0	Antigua
3	2DF	Sixto Betancourt	(1992-05-16) 16 May 1992	1	0	Malacateco
4	2DF	José Carlos Pinto	(1993-06-16) 16 June 1993	14	0	Comunicaciones
16	2DF	Kervin García	(1990-12-07) 7 December 1990	1	0	Antigua
17	2DF	Wilson Pineda	(1993-09-23) 23 September 1993	10	2	Guastatoya
22	2DF	Óscar Castellanos	(2000-01-18) 18 January 2000	1	0	Xelajú MC
25	2DF	Gerardo Arias	(1985-11-18) 18 November 1985	10	0	Xelajú MC
5	3MF	Luis de León	(1995-11-14) 14 November 1995	5	1	Municipal
6	3MF	Rodrigo Saravia (captain)	(1993-02-22) 22 February 1993	20	0	Comunicaciones
7	3MF	Marvin Ceballos	(1992-04-22) 22 April 1992	15	5	Guastatoya
8	3MF	Rudy Barrientos	(1999-03-01) 1 March 1999	7	1	Municipal
10	3MF	Pablo Aguilar	(1995-02-21) 21 February 1995	4	0	Antigua
13	3MF	Stheven Robles	(1995-11-12) 12 November 1995	7	1	Comunicaciones
15	3MF	Jorge Vargas	(1993-02-26) 26 February 1993	16	2	Guastatoya
18	3MF	Yeltsin Álvarez	(1994-11-02) 2 November 1994	5	2	Cobán Imperial
19	3MF	Nico Rittmeyer	(1993-10-13) 13 October 1993	1	0	Charleston Battery
20	3MF	Christopher Ramírez	(1994-01-08) 8 January 1994	3	0	Sanarate
24	3MF	Anderson Ortiz	(2001-11-07) 7 November 2001	0	0	Guastatoya
9	4FW	José Carlos Martínez	(1997-10-10) 10 October 1997	6	1	Municipal
11	4FW	Robin Betancourth	(1991-11-25) 25 November 1991	8	0	Antigua
14	4FW	Darwin Lom	(1997-07-14) 14 July 1997	4	3	Chattanooga
23	4FW	Óscar Santís	(1999-03-25) 25 March 1999	0	0	Comunicaciones

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	Nicholas Hagen	(1996-08-02) 2 August 1996	11	0	Sabail	v.  Panama, 4 March 2020
DF	Carlos Gallardo	(1984-04-08) 8 April 1984	69	4	Municipal	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
DF	Gerardo Gordillo	(1994-08-17) 17 August 1994	3	0	Comunicaciones	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
DF	Eduardo Soto	(1990-03-03) 3 March 1990	5	0	Cobán Imperial	v.  Mexico, 30 September 2020
MF	Jorge Aparicio	(1992-11-21) 21 November 1992	23	0	Comunicaciones	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
MF	Alejandro Galindo	(1992-03-05) 5 March 1992	18	6	Comunicaciones	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
MF	Eduardo Soto	(1990-03-03) 3 March 1990	5	0	Cobán Imperial	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
MF	Marco Domínguez	(1996-02-25) 25 February 1996	2	0	Antigua	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
MF	Luis Martínez	(1991-12-14) 14 December 1991	16	3	Guastatoya	v.  Mexico, 30 September 2020
FW	Jairo Arreola	(1985-09-20) 20 September 1985	27	1	Antigua	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
FW	Antonio López	(1997-04-10) 10 April 1997	3	0	América	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
FW	Víctor Matta	(1990-03-16) 16 March 1990	0	0	Xelajú MC	v.  Nicaragua, 6 October 2020
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.