Aruba national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Aruba women's national football team.

Aruba

Association	Arubaanse Voetbal Bond
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation	CFU (Caribbean)
Head coach	Marvic Bermúdez
Captain	Fernando Lewis
Most caps	Eric Abdul (32)
Top scorer	Rovien Ostiana (7)
Home stadium	Trinidad Stadium
FIFA code	ARU
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	195 (19 December 2024) [1]
Highest	112 (November 2015)
Lowest	205 (April 2021)
First international
Aruba 0–4 Curaçao   (Aruba; 6 April 1924) [2] As FIFA member   Trinidad and Tobago 7–0 Aruba   (Netherlands Antilles; 31 March 1989) [3]
Biggest win
Aruba 8–1 Suriname (Surinam; 6 June 1946)   Aruba 7–0 British Virgin Islands   (Oranjestad, Aruba; 1 June 2014)
Biggest defeat
Trinidad and Tobago 11–0 Aruba   (Arima, Trinidad and Tobago; 23 April 1989)

The Aruba national football team (Dutch: Arubaans voetbalelftal; Papiamento: Seleccion Arubano di futbol) is the national team of Aruba. It was founded in 1932 and is affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), CONCACAF and FIFA (since 1988) and is controlled by the Arubaanse Voetbal Bond.

The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

History

Between 1924 and 1933, Aruba only played against Curaçao, although these matches are not considered official. ^[4] In the 1950s these matches were used to select the best players for the Netherlands Antilles team. Aruban players like Jani Brokke played for the Netherlands Antilles at the 1952 Olympic Games. ^[5] Under the flag of the Curaçao Football Association (C.V.B.), they won gold with the Netherlands Antilles team at the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games and participated in the 1953 CCCF Championship. ^[6]

In the 1950s the A.V.B. organised friendly matches and mini tournaments on the island. Examples are the 1952 match between Aruba and football club Botafogo (3-1) ^[7] and the 1953 series between Aruba, Surinam, British Guiana and professional club La Salle F.C. from Venezuela. ^[8] Aruba participated in its first tournament at the 1955 CCCF Championship, where they finished in 5th place. In 1958, A.V.B. and C.V.B. merged into the Netherlands Antillean Football Union. Aruba took part in the Netherlands Antilles national football team until their secession in 1986.

Following its split from the Netherlands Antilles, the Aruba Football Federation was affiliated in 1988 with CONCACAF and FIFA. Aruba entered qualifying for the 1989 Caribbean Cup, and in its first group match it suffered the worst defeat in its history, at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago, which crushed them 11–0. They played their first World Cup qualifying match against the Dominican Republic as part of the 1998 World Cup qualifying. Aruba has participated in all the qualifying tournaments for the World Cup since, without being able to get past the first qualifying round.

Aruba has also yet to qualify for the Caribbean Cup. However, they showed some progress in the preliminary round of the 2014 Caribbean Cup by getting two wins against Turks and Caicos (1–0) and British Virgin Islands (7–0), the latter being the biggest victory in its history. These results allowed them to reach 120th place in the FIFA World Ranking for the month of June 2014, their best ranking to date. Following these victories, Aruba lost 2–0 against French Guiana and were eliminated.

Aruba began their 2018 World Cup qualification in the second round against Barbados, losing 2–0 at home and 1–0 away, however FIFA ruled that Barbados had fielded an ineligible player, giving Aruba a 3–0 second leg victory and advancing them to the third round. Despite that, in the next round they were defeated again, this time by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines who won 3–2 on aggregate. Aruba failed to progress in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, finishing 4th in the first round.

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

2024

Dominican Republic   v   Aruba

22 March Friendly	Dominican Republic	2–0	Aruba	Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
20:00  UTC−4				Stadium: Estadio Cibao FC

Aruba   v   Curaçao

8 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Aruba	0–2	Curaçao	Oranjestad, Aruba
21:00  UTC−4		Report	Bacuna 58' Severina 90+6'	Stadium: Complejo Deportivo Guillermo Prospero Trinidad Referee: César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)

Saint Lucia   v   Aruba

11 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Saint Lucia	2–2	Aruba	Wildey, Barbados
15:00  UTC−4	Stanislas 45+2' Pearson 66'	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)	Bennett 22' Marselia 43'	Stadium: Wildey Turf Attendance: 42 Referee: Selvin Brown (Honduras)

Sint Maarten   v   Aruba

6 September 2024 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League	Sint Maarten	2–0	Aruba	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
17:00  UTC−4	Lake 81' Olivacce 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Centroamericano de Mayagüez Referee: Hakeem Harvey (St. Kitts and Nevis)

Aruba   v   Puerto Rico

9 September 2024 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League	Aruba	0–1	Puerto Rico	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
20:00  UTC−4		Report	Antonetti 73'	Stadium: Estadio Centroamericano de Mayagüez Referee: Kimbell Ward (St. Kitts and Nevis)

Aruba   v   Haiti

11 October 2024 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League	Aruba	1–3	Haiti	Oranjestad, Aruba
20:00  UTC−4	Perret Gentil 6'	Report	F. Pierrot 30' D. Nazon 38' (pen.), 61'	Stadium: Complejo Deportivo Guillermo Prospero Trinidad Attendance: 1,011 Referee: Kwinsi Williams

Haiti   v   Aruba

14 October 2024 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League	Haiti	5-3	Aruba	Oranjestad, Aruba
19:00  UTC−4	Danley Jean Jacques 16' Louicius Don Deedson 42' Duckens Nazon 66' (pen.) Fafà Picault 76' Frantzdy Pierrot 89' (pen.)	Report	Rovien Ostiana 14' (pen.), 20' Jayden Kruydenhof 78'	Stadium: Complejo Deportivo Guillermo Prospero Trinidad Attendance: 837 Referee: David Gómez

Puerto Rico   v   Aruba

15 November 2024 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League	Puerto Rico	5-1	Aruba	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
19:00  UTC−4	Rivera 8' Hernandez 23' Ríos 55' Servania 62' Díaz 81'	Report	Jiménez 22'	Stadium: Mayagüez Athletics Stadium Referee: Nicolas Wassouf (Aruba)

Aruba   v   Sint Maarten

18 November 2024 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League	Aruba	0-1	Sint Maarten	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
16:00  UTC−4		Report	Illidge 90+1'	Stadium: Mayagüez Athletics Stadium Referee: Fernando Morón (Panama)

2025

Cambodia   v   Aruba

25 March Friendly	Cambodia	v	Aruba	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
--:--  UTC+7				Stadium: Olympic Stadium

Barbados   v   Aruba

4 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Barbados

v

Aruba

Aruba   v   Haiti

7 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Aruba

v

Haiti

Coaching history

Rini Coolen became the manager of the national football team of Aruba in 2015

• René Notten (1995)
• Ángel Botta (1996)
• Marco Rasmijn (2000)
• Marcelo Muñoz (2004)
• Azing Griever (2004–2006)
• Marcelo Muñoz (2008–2010)
• Epi Albertus (2010–2012)
• Giovanni Franken (2013–2015)
• Rini Coolen (2015)
• Martin Koopman (2015–2020)
• Marvic Bermúdez (2020)
• Stanley Menzo (2021–2022)
• Marvic Bermúdez (2022–)

Players

Main article: List of Aruba international footballers

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B matches against Puerto Rico and Sint Maarten on 15 and 18 November 2024, respectively. ^[9]

Caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2024, after the match against Sint Maarten.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1 GK	Matthew Lentink	(1993-08-18) 18 August 1993 (age 31)	21	0	VV Goes
	1 GK	Josthan Maduro	(2006-08-30) 30 August 2006 (age 18)	1	0	SV Britannia
	1 GK	Jahmani Eisden	(2005-07-09) 9 July 2005 (age 19)	0	0	FC Den Bosch U21
	2 DF	Nickenson Paul	(1997-08-24) 24 August 1997 (age 27)	33	0	SV Dakota
	2 DF	Mark Jacobs	(1999-10-28) 28 October 1999 (age 25)	16	0	Unattached
	2 DF	Edward Clarissa	(2000-03-26) 26 March 2000 (age 24)	12	0	VV DUNO
	2 DF	Kymani Nedd	(2004-06-10) 10 June 2004 (age 20)	12	0	Excelsior
	2 DF	Darryl Bäly	(1998-01-19) 19 January 1998 (age 27)	9	1	FC Lisse
	2 DF	Tyrese Gijsbertha	(2003-12-22) 22 December 2003 (age 21)	5	0	FC Twente
	2 DF	Edhyon Hersilia		0	0	SV Britannia
	3 MF	Walter Bennett	(1997-03-18) 18 March 1997 (age 27)	23	1	SC Feyenoord
	3 MF	Rovien Ostiana	(2002-02-14) 14 February 2002 (age 23)	13	7	RKAVV
	3 MF	Fernando Lewis	(1993-01-31) 31 January 1993 (age 32)	12	0	SV Zandvoort
	3 MF	Isaï Marselia	(2001-06-17) 17 June 2001 (age 23)	9	1	Sporting Khalsa
	3 MF	Ethan Tromp	(2002-01-17) 17 January 2002 (age 23)	5	0	SV Britannia
	3 MF	Dimaggio Senchi	(1995-05-03) 3 May 1995 (age 29)	4	0	AFC '34
	3 MF	Shivay Wadhwani	(2005-07-03) 3 July 2005 (age 19)	4	0	Ajax Amateurs
	3 MF	Conner van Kilsdonk	(2006-09-24) 24 September 2006 (age 18)	2	0	NEC
	4 FW	Javier Jiménez	(2000-05-27) 27 May 2000 (age 24)	14	2	TSG Neustrelitz
	4 FW	Jayden Kruydenhof	(2006-12-18) 18 December 2006 (age 18)	8	1	SC Cambuur
	4 FW	Tyron Perret Gentil	(2004-04-10) 10 April 2004 (age 20)	6	1	Almere City
	4 FW	Terick Monsanto	(2004-02-07) 7 February 2004 (age 21)	1	0	SV Dakota
	4 FW	Jesus Penate	(1998-03-11) 11 March 1998 (age 26)	1	0	VV Nieuwenhoorn

Recent call-ups

The following players have been recently called up by the national squad.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Ashton Charles	(1995-03-22) 22 March 1995 (age 29)	4	1	SV Britannia	vs.   Haiti , 14 October 2024
DF	Nathan Lo-A-Njoe	(1989-03-01) 1 March 1989 (age 35)	5	0	Racing Club	vs.   Puerto Rico , 9 September 2024
DF	Sandro Staal	(1994-02-12) 12 February 1994 (age 31)	5	0	Unattached	vs.   Puerto Rico , 9 September 2024
DF	Jeanpierre van der Linden	(1998-01-07) 7 January 1998 (age 27)	1	0	TAC '90	vs.   Puerto Rico , 9 September 2024
DF	Diederick Luydens	(1999-02-18) 18 February 1999 (age 26)	10	1	SV DSO	vs.   Saint Lucia , 11 June 2024
MF	Stiven Melchor Rua	(1990-05-12) 12 May 1990 (age 34)	17	0	SV Britannia	vs.   Haiti , 14 October 2024
MF	Jonathan Richard	(1991-06-21) 21 June 1991 (age 33)	8	0	ODIN '59	vs.   Saint Lucia , 11 June 2024
FW	Terence Groothusen	(1996-09-16) 16 September 1996 (age 28)	20	6	ADO '20	vs.   Haiti , 14 October 2024
FW	Reangelo Boekhoudt	(2006-04-07) 7 April 2006 (age 18)	1	0	River Plate	vs.   Haiti , 14 October 2024
FW	Jeremy van Uunen	(1993-10-28) 28 October 1993 (age 31)	4	0	VV Zwaluwen	vs.   Puerto Rico , 9 September 2024
FW	Benjamin Maria	(2001-09-19) 19 September 2001 (age 23)	10	3	VV DUNO	vs.   Saint Lucia , 11 June 2024

Player records

As of 18 November 2024 ^[10]

Players in bold are still active with Aruba.

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Nickenson Paul	33	0	2014–present
2	Eric Abdul	32	0	2011–2023
3	Theric Ruiz	28	1	2004–2016
4	Erik Santos de Gouveia	27	3	2011–2021
5	Leroy Oehlers	24	0	2013–2019
6	Walter Bennett	23	1	2018–present
	Francois Croes	23	0	2008–2021
8	Ronald Gómez	22	6	2002–2021
9	Raymond Baten	21	3	2011–2019
	Matthew Lentink	21	0	2014–present

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Rovien Ostiana	7	13	0.54	2023–present
2	Terence Groothusen	6	20	0.3	2019–present
	Ronald Gómez	6	22	0.27	2002–2021
4	Glenroy Lake	5	6	0.83	1995–2002
5	Wander Gross	4	5	0.8	2000–2001
	Joshua John	4	9	0.44	2018–present
	Dwaynalex Raven	4	10	0.4	2012–2015
	Rensy Barradas	4	11	0.36	2011–2015
	Maurice Escalona	4	12	0.33	2004–2014
10	Lesley Felomina	3	4	0.75	2000–2001
	Benjamin Maria	3	10	0.3	2022–present
	Jean-Luc Bergen	3	10	0.3	2011–2015
	Annuar Kock	3	17	0.18	2011–2019
	Raymond Baten	3	21	0.14	2011–2019
	Erik Santos de Gouveia	3	27	0.11	2011–2021

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup										Qualification
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1986	Part of   Netherlands Antilles									Part of   Netherlands Antilles
1990 and 1994	Did not enter									Did not enter
1998	Did not qualify									2	0	0	2	3	6
2002										4	1	1	2	7	11
2006										2	0	0	2	2	10
2010										2	0	0	2	0	4
2014										2	1	0	1	6	6
2018										4	2	0	2	5	5
2022										4	1	0	3	3	19
2026	To be determined									2	0	1	1	2	4
2030										To be determined
2034
Total		0/9								22	5	2	15	28	65

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record											Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1963	Part of   Netherlands Antilles										Part of   Netherlands Antilles
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989	Did not enter										Did not enter
1991
1993	Withdrew										Withdrew
1996	Did not qualify										2	0	0	2	5	7
1998											2	1	0	1	2	7
2000											3	1	1	1	4	4
2002											3	0	0	3	4	14
2003											2	0	0	2	0	8
2005	Withdrew										Withdrew
2007	Did not enter										Did not enter
2009	Did not qualify										2	0	1	1	1	3
2011	Did not enter										Did not enter
2013	Did not qualify										3	0	1	2	5	7
2015											3	2	0	1	8	2
2017											2	0	0	2	1	4
2019											4	1	1	2	5	6
2021											6	0	0	6	5	18
2023											4	1	1	2	5	5
Total		0/18									34	6	5	23	38	85

CONCACAF Nations League

CONCACAF Nations League record
League											Finals
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R		Finals	Results	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
2019−20	B	C	6	0	0	6	5	18			2021	Ineligible
2022–23	C	B	4	1	1	2	5	5			2023
2023–24	C	B	4	4	0	0	14	4			2024
2024–25	B	C	6	0	0	6	5	17			2025
2026–27	C	To be determined									2027
Total	—	—	20	5	1	14	29	44	—		Total	0 Titles	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

CONCACAF Nations League history
First Match	Guyana   1–0   Aruba (6 September 2019; Willemstad, Curaçao)
Biggest Win	Aruba 3–0 Saint Martin   (6 June 2022; Willemstad, Curaçao) Aruba   4–1   U.S. Virgin Islands (16 November 2023; Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands)
Biggest Defeat	Jamaica   6–0   Aruba (15 October 2019; Willemstad, Curaçao)
Best Result	—
Worst Result	—

CFU Caribbean Cup

CFU Championship & Caribbean Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1988	Did not enter									Did not enter
1989	Did not qualify									4	0	0	4	4	27
1990										2	0	1	1	3	4
1991	Did not enter									Did not enter
1992	Did not qualify									3	0	0	3	0	10
1993	Did not enter									Did not enter
1994
1995	Did not qualify									2	0	0	2	5	7
1996	Did not enter									Did not enter
1997	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	2	7
1998										3	1	1	1	4	4
1999	Withdrew									Withdrew
2001	Did not qualify									3	0	0	3	4	14
2005	Withdrew									Withdrew
2007	Did not enter									Did not enter
2008	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	1	3
2010	Did not enter									Did not enter
2012	Did not qualify									3	0	1	2	5	7
2014										3	2	0	1	8	2
2017										2	0	0	2	1	4
Total	—	—	–	–	–	–	–	–		29	4	4	21	37	89

ABCS Tournament

ABCS Tournament record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2010	Third place	2	0	1	1	3	6
2011	Runners-up	2	0	2	0	2	2
2012	Champions	2	2	0	0	4	2
2013	Fourth place	2	0	0	2	1	4
2015	Runners-up	2	0	1	1	0	1
2021	Third place	2	0	1	1	3	9
2022	Third place	2	1	1	0	3	2
Total	1 Title	14	3	6	5	16	26

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Head-to-head record

Note: teams that are in italics indicates that the team is a historical team of a polity not existing anymore, or a team which is not a FIFA member. ^[11]

As of 15 November 2024 ^[12]

These all-time records are exclusively class 'A' internationals matches. ^[13]

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Antigua and Barbuda	5	0	0	5	4	11	−7
Barbados	6	1	0	5	7	16	−9
Bermuda	1	1	0	1	3	6	–3
British Virgin Islands	1	1	0	0	7	0	+7
Canada	1	0	0	1	0	7	–7
Cayman Islands	3	3	0	0	10	3	+7
Costa Rica	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1
Cuba	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3
Curaçao	4	1	1	2	3	6	−3
Curaçao	22	0	8	14	19	47	−28
Dominica	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1
Dominican Republic	4	0	1	3	5	10	−5
El Salvador	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
French Guiana	3	1	0	2	1	4	−3
Grenada	2	0	0	2	3	7	−4
Guadeloupe	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Guam	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2
Guatemala	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Guyana	4	0	0	4	2	12	−10
Haiti	3	0	1	2	5	9	–4
Honduras	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Jamaica	3	0	0	3	0	14	−14
Montserrat	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Netherlands Antilles	8	1	1	6	9	20	−11
Panama	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Puerto Rico	4	1	1	2	7	10	–3
Saint Kitts and Nevis	3	0	0	3	2	7	−5
Saint Lucia	4	1	1	2	10	11	−1
Saint Martin	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1
Sint Maarten	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Suriname	13	1	2	10	6	46	−40
Trinidad and Tobago	1	0	0	1	0	11	−11
Turks and Caicos Islands	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
U.S. Virgin Islands	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5
Venezuela	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5
Total	107	17	23	72	128	265	−137

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
2. "Aruba - List of International Matches". RSSSF . Rec.Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
3. "Aruba national team". international-football.net. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
4. Courtney, Barrie. "Aruba - List of International Matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
5. "Olympic Players, Helsinki Bound". Aruba Esso News on Coleccion Aruba, Biblioteca Nacional Aruba. 6 June 1952. Group photo of the seven Aruban footballers in the Olympic team.
6. "Adriaan Brokke". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
7. "Oncena Arubano a derrota Botafago cu un score di 3-1". Arubaanse Courant on Internet Archive (in Papiamento). 11 August 1952.
8. "Football: Aruba Wins Interland Series". The Local on Internet Archive. 14 February 1953. Pages 5 to 7.
9. "Squad Announcement". Facebook. Arubaanse Voetbal Bond - AVB.
10. "Aruba". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
11. "World Football Elo Ratings". www.eloratings.net. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
12. "World Football Elo Ratings: Aruba". Elo Ratings. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
13. "Aruba national football team statistics and records: All-time record". 11v11.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2020.

External links

• Country profile – FIFA
• Country roster  – National Football Teams
• Team 2008
• Netherlands Antilles vs Aruba, Digicel Caribbean Championships 2008, YouTube
• Grenada vs Aruba, Digicel Caribbean Championships 2008, YouTube