Nicaragua national football team
 |
|
| Nickname(s) |
|
|---|---|
| Association | Nicaraguan Football Federation |
| Confederation | CONCACAF (North America) |
| Sub-confederation | UNCAF (Central America) |
| Head coach | Henry Duarte |
| Captain | Juan Barrera |
| Most caps | David Solórzano (49) |
| Top scorer | Emilio Palacios (11) |
| Home stadium | Nicaragua National Football Stadium |
| FIFA code | NCA |
| FIFA ranking | |
| Current | 118  1 (9 March 2017)
|
| Highest | 92 (December 2015) |
| Lowest | 193 (May 2001) |
| Elo ranking | |
| Current | 144  (24 February 2017)
|
| Highest | 83 (May 1941) |
| Lowest | 197 (April 2002) |
| First international | |
 El Salvador 9–0 Nicaragua  (San Salvador, El Salvador; 1 May 1929) |
|
| Biggest win | |
Nicaragua 5–0 Anguilla  (Managua, Nicaragua; 23 March 2015) Nicaragua 5–0 Cuba  (Managua, Nicaragua; 8 December 2015) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
 Brazil 14–0 Nicaragua (Mexico City, Mexico; 17 October 1975) |
|
| CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup |
|
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1963) |
| Best result | 6th, 1967 |
The Nicaragua national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Nicaragua) is the national team of Nicaragua and is controlled by the Nicaraguan Football Federation. Nicaragua achieved its first qualification to a major international competition in 2009, when it qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup after a 2–0 win over Guatemala in the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup.
Due to American influence throughout the country's history, baseball has more of a following as both a pursuit and spectator event in Nicaragua than football.
Nicaragua travelled 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.
The Nicaraguan national football team has never qualified for the World Cup. Their last attempt was for the 2018 World Cup, when they lost 3–4 in the third round to Jamaica.
In 1963 Nicaragua participated in the first CONCACAF Championship which included all countries of the region, North America, Central America and the Caribbean. During 1963 to 1971 only 5 championships were played. Nicaragua achieving only a sixth-place finish in 1967. From 1973 to 1989 no championship was played. The CONCACAF proclaimed champion of the region for the country that achieved the first place in qualifying to the FIFA World Cup. In 1990, CONCACAF again created a tournament as its showpiece event to crown the regional champion of the CONCACAF. The event was named the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the USA hosting the first competition in 1991. However Nicaragua have only qualified once since the gold cup format started with a group stage finish in 2009.
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