El Salvador–Honduras football rivalry

The El Salvador–Honduras football rivalry is a sports rivalry between the El Salvador and Honduras national football teams. The rivalry between the two nations peaked in 1969 when both teams played each other in the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and the matches they played between each other, which ultimately saw El Salvador advance to the 1970 FIFA World Cup, were a contributing factor which led to the outbreak of the Football War in July 1969.

History

The national teams of El Salvador and Honduras were both established in 1921 and played their first matches in the Independence Centenary Games hosted in Guatemala City, however, El Salvador was defeated 0–7 by Costa Rica and Honduras was defeated 0–9 by Guatemala, and as a result, neither team faced each other during the tournament.

El Salvador and Honduras first played each other on 7 November 1928 in Tegucigalpa, in which Honduras won 1–0. The teams rematched the following day, which ended in a 0–0 draw. El Salvador's first victory came in their next match in San Salvador, where the Salvadorans defeated the Hondurans by a score of 5–0. The 5-score margin of victory remains the largest margin of victory ever between the two teams, and the feat was repeated in 2000 when Honduras defeated El Salvador 5–0 during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. El Salvador had never beaten Honduras in Honduran soil until 2022, when El Salvador gained their first ever win to Honduras away in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Football War

The two teams met during the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the first time the two teams ever met in a tournament organized by FIFA. The teams played the first match in Tegucigalpa on 8 June 1969, in which Honduras won 1–0, which led to riots instigated by Salvadoran fans. In the second match in San Salvador on 15 June 1969, El Salvador won by a score of 3–0, and before the match, a rag was flown instead of the flag of Honduras. Honduran player Enrique Cardona stated that the Hondurans were "lucky that we lost" because otherwise "we wouldn't be alive today." The loss led to Hondurans attacking Salvadorans and burning down their homes, forcing many Salvadorans to flee back to El Salvador.

As both teams ended on equal points, a third match was played in neutral territory in Mexico City. El Salvador eventually won the match 3–2 after extra time. Before the match and because of the attacks against Salvadorans by Hondurans, the Salvadoran government severed diplomatic relations with Honduras on 26 June 1969, and on 14 July 1969, the Armed Forces of El Salvador invaded Honduras, beginning the Football War. After four days of fighting, the Organization of American States (OAS) negotiated a cease fire, ending the war after around 3,000 people, mostly civilians, had died. El Salvador withdrew its soldiers on 2 August 1969.

El Salvador qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup after defeating Haiti, however, the team would lose all three of its matches against Mexico, the Soviet Union, and Belgium in the group stage, failing to score a single goal.

Major tournament matches

1946 CCCF Championship

1953 CCCF Championship

1955 CCCF Championship

1961 CCCF Championship

1963 CONCACAF Championship

1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

1981 CONCACAF Championship

1985 CONCACAF Championship

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup

List of matches

The following is a list of matches played between El Salvador and Honduras since their first meeting in November 1927.

Date Location Competition Result Series 1 7 November 1927 Tegucigalpa Friendly 1–0 0–0–1 2 8 November 1927 0–0 0–1–1 3 7 December 1928 San Salvador 5–0 1–1–1 4 29 March 1930 Havana 1930 Central American and Caribbean Games 1–4 1–1–2 5 28 March 1935 San Salvador 1935 Central American and Caribbean Games 3–4 1–1–3 6 9 March 1946 San José 1946 CCCF Championship 1–3 2–1–3 7 11 March 1950 Guatemala City 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games 1–2 2–1–4 8 15 March 1953 San José 1953 CCCF Championship 0–3 2–1–5 9 17 August 1955 Tegucigalpa 1955 CCCF Championship 3–1 2–1–6 10 12 March 1961 San José 1961 CCCF Championship 1–0 3–1–6 11 19 March 1961 5–1 4–1–6 12 27 March 1963 San Salvador 1963 CONCACAF Championship 2–2 4–2–6 13 5 April 1963 3–0 5–2–6 14 14 March 1965 1965 CONCACAF Championship qualification 3–1 6–2–6 15 21 May 1967 1968 CONCACAF Pre-Olympic qualification 1–0 7–2–6 16 17 July 1968 Tegucigalpa Friendly 0–0 7–3–6 17 31 July 1968 San Salvador 2–1 8–3–6 18 8 June 1969 Tegucigalpa 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification 1–0 8–3–7 19 15 June 1969 San Salvador 3–0 9–3–7 20 27 June 1969 Mexico City 3–2 10–3–7 21 23 November 1980 San Salvador 1981 CONCACAF Championship qualification 2–1 11–3–7 22 30 November 1980 Tegucigalpa 2–0 11–3–8 23 16 November 1981 1981 CONCACAF Championship 0–0 11–4–8 24 18 April 1982 San Salvador Friendly 3–2 12–4–8 25 22 April 1982 San Pedro Sula 1–1 12–5–8 26 10 March 1985 San Salvador 1985 CONCACAF Championship 1–2 12–5–9 27 14 March 1985 Tegucigalpa 0–0 12–6–9 28 4 January 1986 Guatemala City 1986 Central American Games 0–2 12–6–10 29 29 April 1987 Tegucigalpa Friendly 1–0 12–6–11 30 18 March 1988 Los Angeles 0–0 12–7–11 31 25 September 1988 0–0 12–8–11 32 2 June 1991 San José 1991 UNCAF Nations Cup 1–2 12–8–12 33 17 March 1992 Los Angeles Friendly 1–1 12–9–12 34 12 August 1992 0–3 12–9–13 35 13 September 1992 San Salvador 3–1 13–9–13 36 18 September 1992 San Pedro Sula 1–1 13–10–13 37 9 March 1993 Tegucigalpa 1993 UNCAF Nations Cup 3–0 13–10–14 38 25 April 1993 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification 3–0 13–10–15 39 9 May 1993 San Salvador 2–1 14–10–15 40 14 August 1996 San Pedro Sula Friendly 2–1 14–10–16 41 21 August 1996 San Salvador 1–2 14–10–17 42 21 October 1996 Tegucigalpa 1–1 14–11–17 43 18 April 1997 Guatemala City 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup 0–3 14–11–18 44 27 April 1997 0–0 14–12–18 45 29 January 1998 San Salvador Friendly 1–1 14–13–18 46 18 November 1998 Los Angeles 1–2 14–13–19 47 24 March 1999 San José 1999 UNCAF Nations Cup 1–3 14–13–20 48 9 February 2000 San Pedro Sula Friendly 5–1 14–13–21 49 16 July 2000 San Salvador 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 2–5 14–13–22 50 2 September 2000 San Pedro Sula 5–0 14–13–23 51 27 May 2001 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup 1–1 14–14–23 52 15 February 2003 Colón 2003 UNCAF Nations Cup 1–0 15–14–23 53 29 June 2003 San Pedro Sula Friendly 1–1 15–15–23 54 3 August 2004 San Salvador 0–4 15–15–24 55 6 September 2006 Tegucigalpa 2–0 15–15–25 56 24 March 2007 Fort Lauderdale 0–2 15–15–26 57 27 March 2007 Cary 0–2 15–15–27 58 22 August 2007 San Salvador 2–0 16–15–27 59 26 January 2009 Tegucigalpa 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup 2–0 16–15–28 60 1 February 2009 1–0 16–15–29 61 10 June 2009 San Pedro Sula 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 1–0 16–15–30 62 14 October 2009 San Salvador 0–1 16–15–31 63 4 September 2010 Los Angeles Friendly 2–2 16–16–31 64 21 January 2011 Panama City 2011 Copa Centroamericana 0–2 16–16–32 65 29 May 2011 Houston Friendly 2–2 16–17–32 66 2 June 2012 Washington, D.C. 0–3 16–17–33 67 18 January 2013 San José 2013 Copa Centroamericana 1–1 16–18–33 68 12 July 2013 Miami Gardens 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup 0–1 16–18–34 69 7 September 2014 Dallas 2014 Copa Centroamericana 0–1 17–18–34 70 31 May 2015 Washington, D.C. Friendly 0–2 17–18–35 71 25 March 2016 San Salvador 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 2–2 17–19–35 72 29 March 2016 San Pedro Sula 2–0 17–19–36 73 15 January 2017 Panama City 2017 Copa Centroamericana 1–2 17–19–37 74 27 May 2017 Washington, D.C. Friendly 2–2 17–20–37 75 25 June 2019 Los Angeles 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup 4–0 17–20–38 76 5 September 2021 San Salvador 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 0–0 17–21–38 77 30 January 2022 San Pedro Sula 0–2 18–21–38 78 22 March 2023 Los Angeles Friendly 1–0 18–21–39 79 26 March 2024 Houston 1–1 18–22–39 80 21 June 2025 Houston 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2–0 18–22–40

Head-to-head

As of 21 June 2025 Team 1 80 40 22 18 126 78 +48 2 80 18 22 40 78 126 –48

Statistics

Overall

Matches Wins Goals El Salvador Draws Honduras El Salvador Honduras FIFA World Cup qualification 13 4 2 7 11 23 CONCACAF Gold Cup 3 0 0 3 0 7 CONCACAF Championshipa 8 3 3 2 11 8 CCCF Championship 5 3 0 2 10 8 UNCAF Nations Cup/Copa Centroamericana 13 2 3 8 6 21 Central American and Caribbean Games 3 0 0 3 5 10 Central American Games 1 0 0 1 0 2 CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament 1 1 0 0 1 0 All competitions 47 13 8 26 44 79 Friendly 33 5 14 12 34 47 All matches 80 18 22 40 79 127 a – includes qualification from 1965 and 1981

Individual results at the FIFA World Cup

El Salvador FIFA World Cup Honduras 2(1970, 1982) Appearances 3(1982, 2010, 2014) Group stage(1970, 1982) Best result Group stage(1982, 2010, 2014) 0 Wins 0 0 Draws 3 6 Losses 6 1 Goals for 3 22 Goals against 14 –21 Goal differential –11

See also

List of association football rivalries

References

Citations

Bibliography