The Nicaragua national football team () represents Nicaragua in men's international football, which is governed by the Federación Nicaragüense de Fútbol () founded in 1931. It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1950 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of UNCAF in the Central American Zone.
Nicaragua has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but has participated five times in CONCACAF's premier continental competition, finishing sixth place in the 1967 CONCACAF Championship. It has participated three times in League B and once in League A of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Regionally, the team finished in third place in the CCCF Championship in 1957, and also finished in fifth place three times in the Copa Centroamericana.
Nicaragua's first appearance in international competition was in the 1941 CCCF Championship. Their first appearance in World Cup qualifiers was in the 1994 CONCACAF qualification.
History
Nicaragua traveled to El Salvador for their first ever international, losing 9–0 to the hosts on 1 May 1929. They did not play another match for over twelve years, until the qualifying group for the 1941 CCCF Championship in Costa Rica. They lost all 4 games: 7–2 to the hosts Costa Rica on 10 May, 8–0 to El Salvador on 13 May, 9–1 to the Netherlands Antilles on 15 May and 5–2 to Panama on 18 May. Therefore, Nicaragua finished bottom of the group and did not make the final group.
Recent times
After qualifying for the 2019 Gold Cup on the back of finishing ninth in Nations League qualifying, they would go on to finish bottom of the group with losses to Costa Rica, Haiti and Bermuda.
Nicaragua qualified directly for the 2023 Gold Cup and was promoted to Nations League A as group winners in Nations League B but was disqualified on 12 June 2023 for fielding an ineligible player. As a result, they were replaced in the Gold Cup and League A by Trinidad and Tobago, who was the best second-place team overall in League B and must stay in Nations League B.
Team image
Kit sponsorship
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;"
|-
! Kit supplier
! Period
|-
| Puma || 1998-2003
|-
| Joma || 2004–2021
|-
| Keuka || 2022–2024
|-
| Orion || 2025-present
|}
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.
2025
2026
Coaching staff
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!style="color:#FFFFFF;background:blue"|Position
!style="color:#FFFFFF;background:blue"|Name
|-
|Technical director
| Roger Rodriguez
|-
|Caretaker Head coach
| Juan Cruz Real
|-
|Assistant coach
| Vacant
|-
|Assistant coach
| Vacant
|-
|Goalkeeping coach
| Vacant
|-
|Physical coordinator
| Vacant
|-
|Doctor
| Vacant
|-
|Physiotherapist
| Vacant
|-
|Team coordinator
| Cesar Castro Trinidad
|-
|Team coordinator
| Nestor Díaz
|-
|}
Coaching history
- Octavio Edmundo Salas Urbina (1941–1943)
- Eduardo Kosovic (1943)
- José Antonio Pipa Cordero (1947)
- Santiago Bonilla (1952–1953)
- Ferenc Mészáros (1961)
- Carlos Ruiz (1961–1962)
- Santiago Berrini (1965–1967)
- Livio Bendaña Espinoza (1967–1969)
- Omar Muraco (1969–1970)
- Salvador Dubois Leiva (1977, 1991–1992)
- Orlando Casares (1980–1981)
- Ján Fülöp (1984–1986)
- Mauricio Cruz Jiron (1993–2001, 2008)
- Florencio Levia (2001–2002)
- Maurizio Battistini (2003–2004)
- Marcelo Javier Zuleta (2005)
- Carlos de Toro (2007–2008)
- Ramón Otoniel Olivas (2008–2009, 2026)
- Enrique Llena (2010–2014)
- Javier Londoño (2014)
- Henry Duarte (2014–2020)
- Juan Vita (2020–2022)
- Marco Antonio Figueroa (2022–2025)
- Juan Cruz Real (2026-present)
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up to the squad for the friendly match against Russia on 27 March 2026.
Caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2024, after the match against French Guiana.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.
<!--- PLEASE NOTE PLAYERS STAY 12 MONTHS AND NOT LESS THAN THAT -->
<!--Sorted by position, most recent call-up, caps, goals and last name.-->
<sup>INJ</sup> Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.<br>
<sup>PRE</sup> Preliminary squad.<br>
<sup>RET</sup> Player retired from the national team.<br>
<sup>SUS</sup> Player is serving suspension.<br>
<sup>WD</sup> Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.<br>
<sup>INE</sup> Ineligible player.<br>
Records
:Players in bold are still active with Nicaragua.
Most appearances
thumb|[[Josué Quijano is Nicaragua's most-capped player with 105 international appearances.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! width=30px |Rank
! width=160px |Player
! width=50px |Caps
! width=50px |Goals
! width=100px |Career
|-
| 1
|align=left| Josué Quijano
| 105
| 3
|2011–present
|-
| 2
|align=left| Juan Barrera
| 99
| 26
| 2009–present
|-
| 3
|align=left| Manuel Rosas
| 60
| 2
| 2013–2022
|-
| 4
|align=left| David Solórzano
| 49
| 1
| 1999–2014
|-
| 5
|align=left| Jaime Moreno
| 48
| 14
|2016–present
|-
| 6
|align=left| Carlos Chavarría
| 44
| 11
|2013–2021
|-
| 7
|align=left| Byron Bonilla
| 42
| 7
|2016–present
|-
| 8
|align=left| Marlon López
| 40
| 0
|2014–2020
|-
| rowspan=2|9
|align=left| Luis Copete
| 39
| 3
|2014–2023
|-
|align=left| Denis Espinoza
| 39
| 1
|2004–2021
|-
|}
Top goalscorers
thumb|[[Juan Barrera is Nicaragua's all-time top scorer with 26 goals.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! width=30px |Rank
! width=150px |Player
! width=50px |Goals
! width=50px |Caps
! width=50px |Ratio
! width=100px |Career
|-
| 1 ||align=left| Juan Barrera || 26 || 99 || || 2009–present
|-
| 2 ||align=left| Jaime Moreno || 14 || 48 || || 2016–present
|-
| rowspan=2|3 ||align=left| Emilio Palacios || 11 || 26 || || 2001–2009
|-
| align=left| Carlos Chavarría || 11 || 44 || || 2013–2021
|-
| 5 ||align=left| Raúl Leguías || 8 || 23 || || 2011–2016
|-
| rowspan=3|6 || align=left| Ariagner Smith || 7 || 25 || || 2017–present
|-
| align=left| Matías Moldskred || 7 || 34 || || 2021–present
|-
| align=left| Byron Bonilla || 7 || 42 || || 2016–present
|-
| 9 ||align=left| Luis Galeano || 6 || 35 || || 2015–2022
|-
| rowspan=3|10 || align=left| Jacob Montes|| 4 || 14 || || 2023–present
|-
| align=left| Rudel Calero || 4 || 26 || || 2001–2011
|-
| align=left| Samuel Wilson || 4 || 29 || || 2001–2013
|}
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
The Nicaragua national football team has never qualified for the World Cup. Their latest attempt was for the 2022 World Cup, when the side failed to advance from the first round.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!colspan=9|FIFA World Cup record
!width=1% rowspan=28|
!colspan=6|Qualification record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| 1930
| colspan=8 rowspan=4|Not a FIFA member
| colspan=6 rowspan=4|Not a FIFA member
|-
| 1934
|-
| 1938
|-
| 1950
|-
| 1954
| colspan=8 rowspan=10|Declined participation
| colspan=6 rowspan=10|Declined participation
|-
| 1958
|-
| 1962
|-
| 1966
|-
| 1970
|-
| 1974
|-
| 1978
|-
| 1982
|-
| 1986
|-
| 1990
|-
| 1994
| colspan=8 rowspan=9|Did not qualify
| 2
| 0
| 0
| 2
| 1
| 10
|-
| 1998
| 2
| 0
| 0
| 2
| 1
| 3
|-
| 2002
| 4
| 0
| 0
| 4
| 0
| 10
|-
| 2006
| 2
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 3
| 6
|-
| 2010
| 2
| 0
| 0
| 2
| 0
| 3
|-
| 2014
| 4
| 2
| 0
| 2
| 5
| 7
|-
| 2018
| 6
| 5
| 0
| 1
| 15
| 5
|-
| 2022
| 3
| 2
| 0
| 1
| 10
| 1
|-
| 2026
| 10
| 4
| 1
| 5
| 13
| 16
|-
| 2030
| colspan=8 rowspan=2|To be determined
| colspan=6 rowspan=2|To be determined
|-
| 2034
|-
!Total
!–
!
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!35
!13
!2
!20
!48
!61
|}
CONCACAF Gold Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! colspan=10|CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record
!width=1% rowspan=31|
! colspan=6|Qualification record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!*
!
!
!
!Squad
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| 1963
|Group stage||8th||4||0||0||4||2||15||Squad
|colspan=6|Qualified automatically
|-
| 1965
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|2
|1
|0
|1
|2
|4
|-
| 1967
|Sixth place||6th||5||0||1||4||3||12||Squad
|2
|1
|0
|1
|4
|4
|-
| 1969
|colspan=9|Did not enter
|colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 1971
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|2
|0
|0
|2
|2
|4
|-
| 1973
|colspan=9 rowspan=5|Did not enter
|colspan=6 rowspan=5|Did not enter
|-
| 1977
|-
| 1981
|-
|1985
|-
|1989
|-
| 1991
|colspan=9 rowspan=9|Did not qualify
|2
|0
|0
|2
|2
|5
|-
| 1993
|2
|0
|0
|2
|0
|8
|-
| 1996
|2
|0
|0
|2
|0
|7
|-
| 1998
|2
|0
|0
|2
|2
|11
|-
| 2000
|2
|0
|0
|2
|0
|2
|-
| 2002
|3
|0
|0
|3
|2
|19
|-
| 2003
|5
|1
|0
|4
|1
|11
|-
| 2005
|3
|1
|0
|2
|2
|9
|-
| 2007
|4
|1
|0
|3
|6
|14
|-
| 2009
|Group stage||11th||3||0||0||3||0||8||Squad
|4
|1
|2
|1
|5
|6
|-
| 2011
|colspan=9 rowspan=3|Did not qualify
|4
|0
|1
|3
|2
|7
|-
| 2013
|3
|0
|1
|2
|2
|5
|-
| 2015
|3
|0
|0
|3
|0
|6
|-
| 2017
|rowspan=2|Group stage||10th||3||0||0||3||1||7
|Squad
|7
|2
|1
|4
|9
|9
|-
| 2019
|15th||3||0||0||3||0||8||Squad
|4
|3
|0
|1
|9
|2
|-
| 2021
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|6
|2
|1
|3
|9
|11
|-
| 2023
|colspan=9|Disqualified
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%;"
|- style="color:black;"
! style="width:145px;"|Opponents
!width=30|
!width=30|
!width=30|
!width=30|
!width=35|
!width=35|
!width=35|
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 14 || 0 || +14
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 5 || −4
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 6 || 0 || +6
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 10 || 2 || +8
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 14 || 6 || 4 || 4 || 24 || 14 || +10
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 5 || 2 || 0 || 3 || 5 || 7 || −2
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 4 || 6 || −2
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 1 || +2
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || +1
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 7 || −5
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 21 || 1 || 2 || 18 || 12 || 77 || −65
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 15 || 4 || 4 || 7 || 17 || 26 || −9
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 8 || 0 || 1 || 7 || 3 || 34 || −31
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 10 || 1 || +9
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 4 || −2
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 31 || 1 || 3 || 27 || 21 || 120 || −99
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 2 || +2
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || −1
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 4 || −4
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 28 || 2 || 5 || 21 || 18 || 74 || −56
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || +1
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 11 || 1 || 2 || 8 || 9 || 21 || −12
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 27 || 2 || 3 || 22 || 18 || 82 || −64
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || −1
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 3 || 6 || −3
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 4 || −4
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 1 || 10 || −9
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 10 || 1 || +9
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 29 || 5 || 1 || 23 || 26 || 82 || −56
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 2 || −2
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 2 || −2
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 6 || 3 || 2 || 1 || 10 || 7 || +3
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || −1
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 3 || −2
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFFACD"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFFACD"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 7 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 12 || 11 || +1
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFFACD"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|- bgcolor="FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 5 || 2 || 0 || 3 || 6 || 11 || −5
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 7 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 7 || 12 || −5
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 7 || 0 || +7
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 3 || −3
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFCCCC"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 4 || −3
|-
|- bgcolor="#FFFACD"
| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0
|- class="sortbottom"
! Total (43)
| 268 || 56 || 38 || 174 || 270 || 650 || −380
|}
Honours
Subregional
- CCCF Championship
- Third place (1): 1951
See also
- Nicaragua national under-20 football team
- List of football clubs in Nicaragua
References
External links
- Nicaragua FIFA profile
- Nicaragua – List of International Matches at RSSSF