Nicaragua national football team

The Nicaragua national football team (Selección de fútbol de Nicaragua) represents Nicaragua in men's international football and is controlled by the Nicaraguan Football Federation. Nicaragua achieved their first qualification into a major international competition in 2009, as they qualified for the 2009 Gold Cup as the last entrant from Central America, after a 2–0 victory against Guatemala in the fifth place match in the 2009 Nations Cup. However, the team has never qualified for the FIFA World 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.

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.

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.

Coaching history

 * 🇦🇷 José "Chingolo" Rodríguez (Unknown)
 * 🇳🇮 Omar Zambrana (Unknown)
 * 🇳🇮 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)
 * 🇪🇸 Enrique Llena (2010–2014)
 * 🇨🇴 Javier Londono (2014)
 * 🇨🇷 Henry Duarte (2014–2020)
 * 🇦🇷 Juan Vita (2020–2022)
 * 🇨🇱 Marco Antonio Figueroa (2022–)

Current squad
The following players were called up to the squad for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Montserrat and Belize on 5 and 8 June 2024.

Caps and goals correct as of 8 June 2024, after the match against Belize.

Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.

INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Player retired from the national team. SUS Player is serving suspension. WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue. INE Ineligible player.

Records

 * Players in bold are still active with Nicaragua.

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.

Head-to-head record
As of 8 June 2024 after the match against 🇧🇿 belize.