El Salvador at the FIFA World Cup

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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.

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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]

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 321061+55 [lower-alpha 1] Advance to knockout stage
2Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 321050+55 [lower-alpha 1]
3Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 31024512
4Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 30030990
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]

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 321031+25Advance to second round
2Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 320162+44
3Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 3111126+63
4Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 3003113120
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]
YearHostRoundPldWD*LGFGAPldWD*LGFGA
1930 Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay Did not enterDid not enter
1934 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy
1938 Flag of France (1794-1815, 1830-1958).svg  France WithdrewWithdrew
1950 Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil
1954 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Did not enterDid not enter
1958 Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
1962 Flag of Chile.svg  Chile
1966 Flag of England.svg  England
1970 Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 16th300309107031912
1974 Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany Did not qualify200202
1978 Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 114431816
1982 Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 24th300311313742146
1986 Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico Did not qualify6411152
1990 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 822488
1994 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 148152811
1998 Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 165562322
2002 Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
106132315
2006 Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 8224614
2010 Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 208393921
2014 Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 127232816
2018 Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 103341216
2022 Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 207582719
2026 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
To be determinedTo be determined
2030 Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
To be determinedTo be determined
2034 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia To be determinedTo be determined
TotalGroup stage2/266006122160703357260180
* Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

By match

Scores and results list El Salvador's goal tally first.
YearRoundOpponentScoreVenueEl Salvador scorers
1970 Group 1 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 0–3 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 0–4 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 0–2 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
1982 Group 3 Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1–10 Nuevo Estadio, Elche Ramírez
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 0–1 Nuevo Estadio, Elche
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 0–2 Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante

Record by opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
OpponentPldWDLGFGAGDConfederation
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 100102–2 CONMEBOL
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 200204–4 UEFA
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1001110–9 UEFA
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 100104–4 CONCACAF
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 100102–2 UEFA

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.

RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups
1 Ernesto Aparicio 31970
Salvador Flamenco 31970
Raúl Magaña 31970
Salvador Mariona 31970
Saturnino Osorio 31970
Roberto Rivas 31970
Pipo Rodríguez 31970
Jorge Vásquez 31970
Jorge González 31982
Luis Guevara Mora 31982
Norberto Huezo 31982
Francisco Jovel 31982
Luis Ramírez Zapata 31982
Carlos Recinos 31982
José María Rivas 31982
Jaime Rodríguez 31982
Joaquín Ventura 31982
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

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