Puerto Rico soccer team

The Puerto Rico Soccer Team, also known as El Huracán Azul, is the representative of Puerto Rico at the international level. It is controlled by the Puerto Rican Football Federation and is affiliated with FIFA, Concacaf and the CFU.

History

20th century

Beginnings and performance in the Central American and Caribbean Games

Puerto Rico played its first international match against its counterpart from Cuba, on November 12, 1940, a match that ended in a 1:1 draw. Six years later he participated in the V edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla (Colombia), being his first official competition. They finished in last place, starring in some scandalous victories starting with a 12:0 against Costa Rica, their next 5 remaining games culminated in a defeat 12:1 vs Panama, 4:1 against the local Colombia, 4:1 vs Guatemala, 14:0 vs Antilles and finally closed its participation on December 26, 1946 with a 6:0 against Venezuela. In 1959 he returned to compete in the VIII edition of the regional games, in Caracas. He improved his previous performance a little, which was not enough to avoid placing in last place, obtaining fifth place.

Between 1959 and 1986, Puerto Rico was a host of the Central American and Caribbean Games, participating in an orgy and participating in all editions without interruption. Even in the 1986 Santiago de los Caballeros Games (Dominican Republic), they reached the quarterfinals, defeated 4:0 by the amateur team of Mexico.

First qualifiers and 1979 Pan American Games

The decade of the '70s saw Puerto Rico play its first World Cup qualifier, specifically in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. It was eliminated by Haiti - future continental champion - who won with a resounding overall result of 12: 0. The Huracán Azul would not play a qualifying round again until 1986. Meanwhile, it organized and participated in the VIII edition of the Pan American Games in San Juan, in 1979. Although it was able to overcome the group stage, it could not advance the second round and finished in 5th place in the competition, after the withdrawal of the United States. He also organized the 1981 CFU Championship although he finished in fourth and last place in the final round.

Puerto Rico returned to the preliminary rounds of the Soccer World Cup, on the occasion of the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, where it was defeated in a double match by El Salvador, which won with an aggregate score of 8:0. Four years later it was eliminated again in the preliminary phase of the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, although its executioner, Jamaica, won by a less bulky overall result of 3: 1.

1993 Caribbean Cup

In the 1994 World Cup qualifiers, the Puerto Ricans confirmed their progress and managed to overcome the Dominican Republic in the first phase (3:2 overall result) with a memorable victory by 1.2 in Santo Domingo, on March 21, 1992 In the next round they were again eliminated by Jamaica who won with an aggregate score of 3:1. In the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, they did not follow in the footsteps of what they did in the previous qualifying round, losing painfully to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by a large aggregate result of 9:1.

However, the relevant event of the '90s was the qualification for the final phase of the Caribbean Cup, in Jamaica, in 1993. Framed in the local group, Jamaica, along with the national teams of Saint Kitts and Nevis and Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico got off to a good start by beating Sint Maarten 3:0. Unfortunately, they lost twice to the minimum against their two other opponents, losing any chance of reaching the semifinals of the tournament. Puerto Rico has failed (to date) to return to the group stage of the Caribbean Cup.

21st century

From 2000 to 2016

Puerto Rico began the new century by losing to Aruba in the first phase of the 2002 World Cup qualifying tournament (overall result of 6:4). Four years later he withdrew from the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup, leaving Belize to advance in his place. However, thanks to the participation of players in the MLS and USL, the Puerto Rican team significantly improved its level, managing to reach the second qualifying phase for the 2010 World Cup, by beating its counterpart from the Dominican Republic in a single match. (1:0 t.s.). Subsequently, they lost to Honduras by an aggregate score of 6:2, but not before drawing a 2:2 draw in Bayamón, on June 14, 2008. In the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico was part of group D of the first round, along with their peers from Canada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia. They finished in 2nd place in the group (behind Canada) with 9 points. Although that total was insufficient to advance to the second round, the Huracán Azul obtained a creditable 0:0 draw in Toronto, on October 11, 2011.

On August 15, 2012, the Puerto Rican team hosted its counterpart from Spain, the current world and European champion, in a prestigious international friendly played in the city of Bayamón. Although the Spanish dominated the match, they could only win by a tight score of 1:2 (goals from Cazorla and Fàbregas; Cintrón discounted). It was the first time that Puerto Rico played against a world champion team and also Spain's first meeting with a Caribbean nation. The Spanish media were very critical of the match.

In the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, El Huracán Azul faced the Granada soccer team. In the first match, in Bayamón, they achieved an important 1-0 victory, but in the second match they lost in Granada 2-0, leaving them out of the World Cup 2-1 on aggregate. After a year in the 2016 Caribbean Cup, Puerto Rico began its first match, defeating Anguilla 4-0 and losing against Guyana 1-0, with which it managed to advance to the Second Round where it achieved a victory against Antigua and Barbuda by 1-0 and achieved a draw against Granada, which they defeated (4:3) in the penalty shootout, thus Puerto Rico historically managed to reach the Final Phase since 1993, there they faced Antigua and Barbuda again where they lost. 3-0 and closed the tournament with a 4:2 defeat against Curacao.

2018 - 2019 Concacaf Nations League

For the year 2018, the new Concacaf Nations League was born, which had a classification system to assign the 9 remaining spots for the 2019 Gold Cup and at the same time place the teams in the various corresponding leagues according to their position in the table at the end of 4 assigned matches. Puerto Rico finished in the penultimate position in the table, occupying 33rd place out of 34 participants in the classification, obtaining no points in their four games where they lost all of them (1-0 vs Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Martinique) (2-0 vs Granada), remaining in League C and unable to qualify for the Gold Cup.

Already in 2019 in the group round of the League of Nations, Puerto Rico was integrated into group C along with Guatemala and Anguilla. The team had an acceptable performance, winning the 2 games against Anguilla (3:2 and 3:0 respectively) and losing to Guatemala in both games by 5:0.

2021 - Present

The decade started in a good way for Puerto Rico, where they held two friendly matches in January 2021 against the Dominican Republic where they won a historic 1:0 victory in Santo Domingo and finally with Guatemala where they lost 1:0.

Latest matches and upcoming matches

Date	City	Local	Outcome	Visitor	Competition
28-03-2021	Mayagüez	Puerto RicoPUR	1:1	TRITrinidad and Tobago	FIFA World Cup 2022
02-06-2021	Mayagüez	Puerto RicoPUR	7:0	BAHBahamas	FIFA World Cup 2022
08-06-2021	Basseterre	GuyanaGUY	0:2	PURPuerto Rico	FIFA World Cup 2022
09-06-2022	George Town	Cayman IslandsCAY	0:3	PURPuerto Rico	League of Nations 22/23
12-06-2022	Mayagüez	Puerto RicoPUR	6:0	VGBBritish Virgin Islands	League of Nations 22/23
23-03-2023	Road Town	British Virgin IslandsVGB	1:3	PURPuerto Rico	League of Nations 22/23
26-03-2023	Bayamon	Puerto RicoPUR	5:1	CAYCayman Islands	League of Nations 22/23
13-06-2023	Miami	Puerto RicoPUR	0:0	CUWCuracao	Friendly Party
17-06-2023	Fort Lauderdale	Puerto RicoPUR	0:0 (4:3 pen.)	SURSuriname	Gold Cup 2023
20-06-2023	Fort Lauderdale	Puerto RicoPUR	0:2	Martinique	Gold Cup 2023
09-09-2023	Nasai	BahamasBAH	1:6	PURPuerto Rico	League of Nations 23/24
12-09-2023	Nasai	Puerto RicoPUR	5:0	ATGAntigua and Barbuda	League of Nations 23/24
14-10-2023	Basseterre	GuyanaGUY	3:1	PURPuerto Rico	League of Nations 23/24
17-10-2023	Basseterre	Puerto RicoPUR	1:3	GUYGuyana	League of Nations 23/24
18-11-2023	TBD	Antigua and BarbudaATG	-:	PURPuerto Rico	League of Nations 23/24
21-11-2023	TBD	Puerto RicoPUR	-:	BAHBahamas	League of Nations 23/24

Statistics

Soccer World Cup

World Cup Soccer
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1930 - 1938	There was no selection
1950 - 1970	No.
1974	He didn't qualify.
1978	No.
1982
1986	He didn't qualify.
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006	No.
2010	He didn't qualify.
2014
2018
2022
2026	To dispute
2030
Total	0/22	-	-	-	-	-	-

Concacaf Gold Cup

Concacaf Gold Cup
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1963 - 1989	No.
1991	He didn't qualify.
1993
1996
1998
2000
2002
2003
2005
2007	No.
2009
2011	He didn't qualify.
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023	To define
Total	0/26	-	-	-	-	-	-

Concacaf Nations League

Concacaf League of Nations
Year	L	G	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
2019-20	C	C	Second place	4	2	0	2	6	12
2022-23	C	D	First place	4	4	0	0	17	2
Total			2/2	8	6	0	2	23	14

CFU Nations Cup

CFU Nations Cup
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1978	He didn't qualify.
1979	No.
1981	Fourth place	3	0	1	2	1	9
1983	He didn't qualify.
1985
1988
Total	1/6	3	0	1	2	1	9

Caribbean Cup

Caribbean Cup
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1989	No.
1990
1991	He didn't qualify.
1992	No.
1993	Group phase	3	0	1	2	7	14
1994	He didn't qualify.
1995
1996	No.
1997	Withdrawal
1998	He didn't qualify.
1999
2001
2005
2007	No.
2008
2010	He didn't qualify.
2012
2014
2016
Total	1/19	3	0	1	2	7	14

Regional Games

Football at the Pan American Games (ODEPA)

Football in the Pan American Games
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
Select Amateurs
1951 - 1975	No.
1979	Second round	4	1	0	3	2	12
1983	No Participant
Total	1/9	4	1	0	3	2	12

Football in the Central American and Caribbean Games (CSOCABE)

Football in the Central American and Caribbean Games
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1930	No.
1935
1938
1946
Select Amateurs
1950	No.
1954
1959	Fifth place	4	0	0	4	1	26
1962	Sixth place	5	0	0	5	1	24
1966	Sixth place	5	0	2	3	3	13
1970	Sixth place	5	0	2	3	3	13
1974	Group phase	4	0	0	4	1	16
1978	Group phase	4	1	1	2	0	11
1982	Group phase	3	1	0	2	4	6
1986	Final rooms	2	0	0	2	0	8
Total	8/14	32	2	5	25	13	117

Record against opposition rivals

• Below are the selections that Puerto Rico has faced along its history.
• Updated on 12 June 2022 (Puerto Rico 6-0 British Virgin Islands)

more wins matched more defeats

Rival	Games	G	E	P	GF	GC	DG
AIAAnguilla	4	4	0	0	13	3	+10
ATGAntigua and Barbuda	2	1	0	1	2	3	-1
ArubaAruba	2	0	1	1	4	6	-2
BAHBahamas	4	4	0	0	18	2	+16
BarbadosBarbados	3	2	0	1	2	2	0
BLZBelize	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1
BERBermuda	5	3	1	1	6	5	+1
CANCanada	3	0	1	2	0	6	-6
COLColombia	1	0	0	1	1	4	-3
CRCCosta Rica	2	0	0	2	0	16	-16
CUBCuba	7	0	2	5	2	23	-21
CUWCuracao	8	0	2	6	6	48	-42.
SLVEl Salvador	3	0	1	2	2	10	-8
ESPSpain	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1
USAUnited States	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2
GRNGrenada	8	1	2	5	9	18	-9
Guadalupe	13	0	1	12	9	37	- 28
WATERGuatemala	4	0	0	4	1	15	-14
GUFFrench Guiana	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1
GUYGuyana	3	2	0	1	4	1	+3
HAIHaiti	8	0	1	7	4	25	-21
HONHonduras	3	0	1	2	2	10	-8
INDIndia	1	0	0	1	1	4	-3
IDNIndonesia	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
CAYCayman Islands	4	4	0	0	14	1	+13
VGBBritish Virgin Islands	5	2	1	2	10	8	2
JAMJamaica	7	0	0	7	3	17	-14
Martinique	12	2	0	10	15	42	-27
NCANicaragua	5	1	1	3	6	9	-3
PANELPanama	2	0	0	2	2	14	-12
DOMDominican Republic	14	4	2	8	10	27	- 17
RUSRussia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Saint LuciaSaint Lucia	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7
SKNSan Cristóbal y Nieves	8	0	2	6	2	11	-9
VINSaint Vincent and the Grenadines	3	0	0	3	1	11	-10
Saint-Martin	2	2	0	0	11	0	+11
SMASint Maarten	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
SURSuriname	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
TRITrinidad and Tobago	7	0	2	5	5	33	- 28
VENVenezuela	5	0	1	4	1	20	-19
TOTAL	166	34	24	108	173	438	-265

Players

Last call

Final call for the matches corresponding to the Concacaf Qualification for the 2022 Soccer World Cup

	Name	Position	Age	Club
1	Angel Molinari	Porter	23 years	FC North Satellite
12	Johan Rodríguez	Porter	21 years	Delco Academy
18	Joel Serrano	Porter	24 years	Chicago House
3	Nicolás Cardona	Defence	24 years	Hartford Athletic
5	Zarek Valentin	Defence	32 years	Houston Dynamo
69	Carlos Chad	Defence	19 years	Vodka Jrs
15	Rodolfo Sulia	Defence	21 years	Chicago House
23	Giovanni Padrón	Defence	25 years	Nashville Knight
20	Gio Calderón	Defence	21 years	Hartford Athletic
21	Daniel Rosario	Defence	21 years	Boston University
2	Darren Rios	Mediocampista	28 years	FC North Satellite
6	Juan O'Neill	Mediocampista	25 years	Broncos Football SCU
4	Raúl González	Mediocampista	29 years	Memphis 901
10	Isaac Angking	Mediocampista	23 years	Free Agent
11	Devin Vega	Mediocampista	24 years	Free Agent
22	Eli Carr	Mediocampista	22 years	Longwood University
13	Gerald Díaz	Mediocampista	24 years	Vilamarxant CF
9	Ricardo Rivera	Delantero	26 years	Vilamarxant CF
7	Wilfredo Rivera	Delantero	20 years	Orlando City SC
8	Lester Hayes	Delantero	30 years	CD El Palo
16	Jordan Saling	Delantero	27 years	FC Monmouth
17	Kevin	Delantero	24 years	FC North Satellite
19	Jaden Servania	Delantero	22 years	Birmingham Legion FC

Exodus of players to the US (case of Chris Armas)

Many of the players on the Puerto Rican national team also play for the Puerto Rico Islanders, a team in the NASL (American Second Division). Some of the athletes who participate there end up playing for the United States national team, the case of Chris Armas being emblematic. This player played five unofficial games defending the Puerto Rico jersey, which allowed him to later participate in the American team, where he successfully occupied the position of defensive midfielder.

Top scorers and most appearances

• Updated to the last match on June 13, 2017.

Coaches

• Eduardo Ordóñez Munguira (1959)
• - Raúl Marchant González (1966)
• - Luis Villarejo (1974–1975)
• Carlos Martinolli (1978–1979)
• Joe Serralta (1979–1982)
• Juan "Tato" Tullier (1982–1984)
• - Luis Villarejo (1986)
• Victor Hugo Barros (?-1991)
• Arnie Ramírez (1992)
• Oscar Rosa (1992)
• Cristóbal Vaccaro (1996)
• José Luis "Majo" Rodríguez (1999)
• Raimundo Gatinho (2000)
• Toribio Rojas (2002–2003)
• Víctor Hugo Barros (2004)
• Colin Clarke (2007-2011)
• Jack Stefanowski (2011, acting)
• Adrian Whitbread (2011)
• Jeaustin Campos (2011–2013)
• Victor Hugo Barros (2013–2014)
• José Martínez (2015, acting)
• Carlos Avedissian (2015–2016)
• Jack Stefanowski (2016, acting)
• Carlos García Cantarero (2016–2018)
• Amado Guevara (2018–2019)
• Egly Morales (2019-2021)
• Dave Sarachan (2021-2023)
• Charlie Trout (2023-)