The El Salvador squad at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

The El Salvador national football team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup final tournament on two occasions, the first time in 1970 in Mexico and the second time in 1982 in Spain. El Salvador has played in six group stage matches, losing all six and never advancing to the knockout stage.

El Salvador qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the first FIFA World Cup the country qualified for. During qualification, El Salvador played Honduras over three matches in June 1969, with El Salvador advancing to the next round of CONCACAF qualification. The matches between El Salvador and Honduras increased political tensions between both countries, resulting the outbreak of the Football War in July 1969 causing over 2,000 deaths. After defeating Haiti over three matches, El Salvador qualified. El Salvador lost all three matches it played against Belgium, Mexico, and the Soviet Union and failed to score a goal.

El Salvador next qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup as runners-up of the 1981 CONCACAF Championship. As occurred in 1970, El Salvador lost all three of its matches against Hungary, Belgium, and Argentina. The match against Hungary resulted in the largest defeat in FIFA World Cup history when El Salvador lost by a score of 10–1. El Salvador's lone goal in the match, scored by Luis Ramírez Zapata in the 64th minute, remains the only goal scored by El Salvador at the FIFA World Cup.

Since 1970, El Salvador has participated in every FIFA World Cup qualification but has failed to qualify for another FIFA World Cup since 1982. The country has selected 42 players to play at the FIFA World Cup across both times it qualified, 17 of which are tied for making the most appearances for El Salvador at 3 appearances each. Hernán Carrasco was the country's manager in 1970 while Mauricio Rodríguez was the manager in 1982. El Salvador is ranked 80th (last place) all-time for its performance at the FIFA World Cup by the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.

History

1970 Mexico

Qualification

El Salvador entered FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time for the 1970 FIFA World Cup.[1] During the first round of CONCACAF qualifiers, El Salvador was drawn into a double round-robin group against Suriname and Netherlands Antilles, winning all four of its matches. El Salvador advanced to the second round with three wins and one loss.[2]

During the second round, El Salvador played Honduras in a two-legged tie.[2] Prior to the matches, tensions were high between the Salvadoran and Honduran governments regarding the status of 300,000 illegal immigrants from El Salvador who were living and working in Honduras. Hondurans saw the Salvadoran immigrants as taking Honduran land and economically crippling the country,[3] and the Honduran government announced in April 1969 that it would expel people who had acquired property under an agrarian reform who could not prove that they were Honduran citizens by birth.[4]

In the first leg, held in Tegucigalpa on 8 June 1969, Honduras defeated El Salvador by a score of 1–0. Reports were made that hostility between fans was present during the match. In the second leg, held in San Salvador on 15 June 1969, El Salvador defeated Honduras by a score of 3–0. Before the match, Salvadorans harassed the Honduran players as they were sleeping and the Honduran national flag was desecrated. The defeat and actions by Salvadorans resulted in rioting in Honduran towns where many Salvadorans were killed and thousands fled the country; the Salvadoran government condemned the deaths as a "genocide" and demanded reparations.[4][5] A third leg was held in Mexico City on 27 June 1969 as both teams had won a match; El Salvador defeated Honduras by a score of 3–2 after an extra time goal by Pipo Rodríguez in the 101st minute.[6] Following the match, Honduras severed all diplomatic ties with El Salvador, and on 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran Army invaded Honduras beginning the Football War. The war ended on 20 July 1969 after the Organization of American States (OAS) negotiated a cease fire. The war killed over 2,000 people.[4]

After defeating Honduras in the third leg, El Salvador played a two-legged tie against Haiti; El Salvador defeated Haiti 2–1 in Port-au-Prince on 21 September 1969 and then Haiti defeated El Salvador 3–0 in San Salvador on 28 September 1969. A third leg was held in Kingston, Jamaica on 8 October 1969 as both teams had won a match, where El Salvador defeated Haiti 1–0 in extra time.[2] With the victory, El Salvador qualified for its first ever FIFA World Cup[4] and became the first Central American country to qualify for the tournament.[7]

Final tournament

For the 1970 FIFA World Cup, El Salvador was drawn into Group 1 along with Belgium, Mexico (the tournament's host), and the Soviet Union.[8] El Salvador's squad consisted of 22 players. Chilean Hernán Carrasco was the manager and Salvador Mariona was the captain.[9]

El Salvador lost their first match against Belgium on 3 June 1982 by a score of 3–0; Wilfried Van Moer and Raoul Lambert scored Belgium's goals.[10] In its second match against Mexico on 7 June 1970, El Salvador lost by a score of 4–0; Javier Valdivia (scored twice), Javier Fragoso, and Juan Ignacio Basaguren scored Mexico's goals.[11] In El Salvador's final match, it lost to the Soviet Union by a score of 2–0 on 10 June 1970; both goals for the Soviet Union were scored by Anatoliy Byshovets.[12] El Salvador lost every match, failed to score a goal, and failed to advance to the knockout stage.[9][13]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Soviet Union 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 5[lower-alpha 1] Advance to knockout stage
2  Mexico 3 2 1 0 5 0 +5 5[lower-alpha 1]
3  Belgium 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 2
4  El Salvador 3 0 0 3 0 9 −9 0
Source: [14]
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Having finished level on both points and goal difference, the Soviet Union and Mexico were separated by the drawing of lots.

1982 Spain

Qualification

Qualification for the 1982 FIFA World Cup was determined via the 1981 CONCACAF Championship. During the tournament, El Salvador won two matches, drew two, and lost one. Both Honduras, the tournament's winner, and El Salvador, the runner-up, both qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.[15]

Final tournament

For the 1982 FIFA World Cup, El Salvador was drawn into Group 3 along with Argentina, Belgium, and Hungary.[16] El Salvador's squad consisted of 20 players,[17] rather than the 22 allowed as Salvadoran officials decided to bring some "cronies" in their place. The players were outraged once they found out and attempted to raise money to help Gilberto Quinteros and Miguel González (the two players left behind) come to Spain, but their effort failed as they were not able to raise enough money.[18] Mauricio Rodríguez, who played for El Salvador at the 1970 FIFA World Cup,[9] was the manager and Norberto Huezo was the captain.[17]

According to a survey conducted by a Salvadoran radio station before El Salvador's first match against Hungary, 60 percent of respondents believed that El Salvador would win its first match. On 15 June 1982, Hungary defeated El Salvador by a score of 10–1, inflicting the heaviest defeat in El Salvador's history as well as the heaviest defeat in FIFA World Cup history.[18] Hungary's 10 goals, which remains the record for the most goals scored by a team in a single match at the FIFA World Cup,[19] were scored by Tibor Nyilasi (scored twice), Gábor Pölöskei, László Fazekas (scored twice), József Tóth, László Kiss (who scored a hat-trick), and Lázár Szentes. Meanwhile, Luis Ramírez Zapata scored El Salvador's lone goal in the 64th minute. His goal remains the only goal ever scored by El Salvador at the FIFA World Cup.[20] According to Ramírez, his teammates told him to not celebrate the goal he scored as they were "afraid that it would make Hungary angry" and result in El Salvador conceding more goals. After the match, three players—Huezo, Francisco Jovel, and Ramón Fagoaga—announced that they would determine the team's tactics for its next two matches instead of Rodríguez.[18]

In El Salvador's second match, the team lost by a score of 1–0 to Belgium. Ludo Coeck scored the match's lone goal in the 19th minute.[21] Prior to the match, Belgian manager Guy Thys described El Salvador's loss to Hungary as "the most shameful" to ever occur at the FIFA World Cup.[18] El Salvador lost their final match to Argentina by a score of 2–0; Daniel Passarella and Daniel Bertoni scored Argentina's goals.[22] El Salvador lost all three matches, scored only one goal, and failed to advance to the knockout stage.[17][23]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Belgium 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 5 Advance to second round
2  Argentina 3 2 0 1 6 2 +4 4
3  Hungary 3 1 1 1 12 6 +6 3
4  El Salvador 3 0 0 3 1 13 −12 0
Source: [24]

Record at the FIFA World Cup

The following table displays El Salvador's all-time results for the FIFA World Cup and FIFA World Cup qualification. El Salvador is ranked 80th (last place) all-time for its performance at the FIFA World Cup.[25]

FIFA World Cup finals record[25] FIFA World Cup qualification record[1][26][27]
Year Host Round Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA
1930 UruguayDid not enterDid not enter
1934 Italy
1938 FranceWithdrewWithdrew
1950 Brazil
1954  SwitzerlandDid not enterDid not enter
1958 Sweden
1962 Chile
1966 England
1970 Mexico16th300309107031912
1974 West GermanyDid not qualify200202
1978 Argentina114431816
1982 Spain24th300311313742146
1986 MexicoDid not qualify6411152
1990 Italy822488
1994 United States148152811
1998 France165562322
2002 South Korea
 Japan		106132315
2006 Germany8224614
2010 South Africa208393921
2014 Brazil127232816
2018 Russia103341216
2022 Qatar207582719
2026 Canada
 Mexico
 United States		To be determinedTo be determined
2030 Morocco
 Portugal
 Spain		To be determinedTo be determined
2034 Saudi ArabiaTo be determinedTo be determined
Total Group stage 2/26 6 0 0 6 1 22 160 70 33 57 260 180
* Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

By match

Scores and results list El Salvador's goal tally first.
Year Round Opponent Score Venue El Salvador scorers
1970Group 1 Belgium0–3Estadio Azteca, Mexico City—
 Mexico0–4Estadio Azteca, Mexico City—
 Soviet Union0–2Estadio Azteca, Mexico City—
1982Group 3 Hungary1–10Nuevo Estadio, ElcheRamírez
 Belgium0–1Nuevo Estadio, Elche—
 Argentina0–2Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante—

Record by opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
OpponentPldWDLGFGAGDConfederation
 Argentina100102–2CONMEBOL
 Belgium200204–4UEFA
 Hungary1001110–9UEFA
 Mexico100104–4CONCACAF
 Soviet Union100102–2UEFA

Records and statistics

Most appearances

A total of 42 players have been selected to play for El Salvador at the FIFA World Cup, of which, 33 have played in at least one match and 30 of which have started at least one match. A total of 17 players are tied for having the most appearances at the FIFA World Cup (8 from 1970 and 9 from 1980), appearing in three matches each.

Rank Player Matches World Cups
1 Ernesto Aparicio31970
Salvador Flamenco31970
Raúl Magaña31970
Salvador Mariona31970
Saturnino Osorio31970
Roberto Rivas31970
Pipo Rodríguez31970
Jorge Vásquez31970
Jorge González31982
Luis Guevara Mora31982
Norberto Huezo31982
Francisco Jovel31982
Luis Ramírez Zapata31982
Carlos Recinos31982
José María Rivas31982
Jaime Rodríguez31982
Joaquín Ventura31982
Source: [9][17]

Top goalscorers

In six matches at the FIFA World Cup, El Salvador has only scored a single goal, scored by Zapata against Hungary in 1982.[9][17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Courtney 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Stokkermans & Jarreta 2006.
  3. ↑ Haggerty 1990, p. 25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lisi 2007, p. 115.
  5. ↑ Cable 1969, p. 662.
  6. ↑ Luckhurst 2019.
  7. ↑ Oinam 2023.
  8. ↑ Lisi 2007, p. 116.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "1970 El Salvador Stats". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "Belgium vs. El Salvador Match Report – Wednesday June 3, 1970". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Mexico vs. El Salvador Match Report – Sunday June 7, 1970". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Soviet Union vs. El Salvador Match Report – Wednesday June 10, 1970". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Lisi 2007, pp. 377–378.
  14. ↑ "1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico Groups". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  15. ↑ Reyes, Lugo & Mendoza 2023.
  16. ↑ Lisi 2007, p. 160.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "1982 El Salvador Stats". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Doyle 2018.
  19. ↑ Lisi 2007, p. 413.
  20. ↑ "Hungary vs. El Salvador Match Report – Tuesday June 15, 1982". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  21. ↑ "Belgium vs. El Salvador Match Report – Saturday June 19, 1982". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  22. ↑ "Argentina vs. El Salvador Match Report – Wednesday June 23, 1982". FB Reference. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  23. ↑ Lisi 2007, pp. 385–386.
  24. ↑ "1982 FIFA World Cup Spain Groups". FIFA. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  25. 1 2 Stokkermans 2022.
  26. ↑ King & Stokkermans 2018.
  27. ↑ Di Maggio 2023.

Bibliography

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