Puerto Rico national football team

The Puerto Rico national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Puerto Rico) represents Puerto Rico in men's international football, and are governed by the Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol (English: Puerto Rican Football Federation). The team's nickname is El Huracán Azul meaning The Blue Hurricane.^[3] They are members of the Caribbean Football Union, and part of CONCACAF. The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Puerto Rico played its first international match against Cuba on November 12, 1940, a game that ended in a 1-1 draw. Six years later, it participated in the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, its first official competition. It finished in last place, suffering some embarrassing defeats, starting with a 12-0 loss to Costa Rica. Its next five games ended in defeat: 12-1 against Panama, 4-1 against the host country, Colombia, 4-1 against Guatemala, 14-0 against the Antilles, and finally, on December 26, 1946, it closed its participation with a 6-0 loss to Venezuela. In 1959, it returned to compete in the 8th edition of the regional games in Caracas. It improved slightly on its previous performance, but this was not enough to avoid finishing last, ultimately securing fifth place.

Between 1959 and 1986, Puerto Rico was a regular participant in the Central American and Caribbean Games, competing in every edition without interruption.

They did not record a win until a 3–0 result in 1970 against the Bahamas. In 1972, Puerto Rico recorded a 1–0 win against Panama in a friendly. The 1970s saw Puerto Rico participate in its first World Cup qualifier, specifically for the 1974 FIFA World Cup. They were eliminated by Haiti, the eventual continental champions, who won with a resounding 12-0 aggregate score. Puerto Rico would not play in another qualifier until 1986. In the meantime, they hosted and participated in the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan. Although they advanced from the group stage, they were unable to progress beyond the second round and finished in 5th place after the United States withdrew. They also hosted the 1981 CFU Championship, though they finished fourth and last in the final round.^[4]

Puerto Rico returned to the preliminary rounds of the FIFA World Cup for the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, where they were eliminated in a two-legged tie by El Salvador, who won 8-0 on aggregate. Also, at the 1986 edition in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, they reached the quarterfinals, losing 4-0 to an amateur team from Mexico.^[5]

Four years later they were eliminated again in the preliminary round of the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, although Jamaica prevailed by a less lopsided aggregate score of 3:1. Puerto Rican wins between the 1980s and 1990s were mainly against the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Martinique.^[6]

The most significant event of the 1990s for the Puerto Rico team was their qualification for the final stage of the Caribbean Cup in Jamaica in 1993. Drawn in the same group as the host nation, Jamaica, along with Saint Kitts and Nevis and Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico got off to a strong start, defeating Sint Maarten 3-0. Unfortunately, they lost twice by a single goal to their other two opponents, losing any chance of reaching the tournament semifinals. Puerto Rico has not yet managed to return to the group stage of the Caribbean Cup.

Chris Armas played for Puerto Rico in the 1993 Caribbean Cup. In the tournament, Puerto Rico established a 4-game win streak without conceding a goal.^[6] The competition was not then recognized by FIFA, and so his five matches were considered friendlies. As a result, he was later allowed to switch his allegiance to the United States.^[7] He would later receive 66 caps for the United States.

In the 1994 World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico confirmed its progress, defeating the Dominican Republic in the first round (3-2 on aggregate) with a memorable 1-2 victory in Santo Domingo on March 21, 1992. In the following round, they were eliminated again by Jamaica, who won 3-1 on aggregate. In the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, they failed to replicate their previous success, suffering a crushing 9-1 defeat to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Between 1995 and 2007 Puerto Rico did not record a win, and had only four draws. During this time, the team dropped down in the FIFA Rankings to 202nd.^[6]

Puerto Rico began the new century by losing to Aruba in the first round of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers (6-4 on aggregate). Four years later, they withdrew from the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup, allowing Belize to advance in their place.

However, thanks to the participation of players in MLS and USL, the Puerto Rican national team significantly improved its level.^[8][9] In 2008, they won two games as visitors against Bermuda (1–0 and 2–0), and drew 2–2 with Trinidad and Tobago. They also won for the first time since 1994 when they beat the Dominican Republic in the first round of the World Cup qualifiers, although they lost the first leg 4–0 to Honduras, they fought a 2–2 tie in the home leg in the second round, and were therefore eliminated from contention.

The Puerto Rican Football Federation then announced plans that would have allowed them to participate in the next editions of the Caribbean Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup.^[10]

Puerto Rico was supposed to make their debut in the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games on home soil in Mayagüez, but due to the controversy of CONCACAF not approving the stadiums, the team couldn't compete in the football event. The team was supposed to play in Venezuela instead but due to the lack of teams, the male event was canceled.^[11]

In the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico was placed in Group D of the first round, along with Canada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia. They finished second in the group behind Canada, with 9 points. Although that total was insufficient to advance to the second round, the Blue Hurricane earned a commendable 0-0 draw in Toronto on October 11, 2011.^[12] Many of the players on the Puerto Rican national team also played for the Puerto Rico Islanders, a team in the NASL, which at the time was the second division of American soccer.

On August 15, 2012, Puerto Rico hosted Spain, the reigning world and European champions, in a prestigious international friendly played at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in the city of Bayamón. Although the Spanish dominated the match, they only managed a narrow 2-1 victory (goals by Santi Cazorla and Cesc Fàbregas; Cintrón scored for Puerto Rico). It was the first time Puerto Rico had played against a world champion team and also Spain's first encounter with a Caribbean nation. The Spanish press was highly critical of the match.^[13]

On June 5, 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against Bermuda, their last friendly before the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Puerto Rico received a bye to the second round where they faced Grenada. In the first match, in Bayamón, they secured an important 1-0 victory, but in the return leg, they lost 2-0 in Grenada, thus being eliminated from the World Cup with a 2-1 aggregate score. After losing to Grenada 2–1 in the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico's Interim coach Jose 'Cukito' Martinez resigned and a few days later, the Uruguayan Carlos Avedissian solved his visa problems and could finally arrive as the head coach of the national team. On December 11, 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against MLS team New York City, losing 2–1.

In the 2016 Caribbean Cup, Puerto Rico began their campaign by defeating Anguilla 4-0 and losing to Guyana 1-0, which allowed them to advance to the second round. There, they achieved a 1-0 victory against Antigua and Barbuda and a draw against Grenada, whom they then defeated 4-3 in a penalty shootout. This marked Puerto Rico's historic achievement of reaching the Final Phase for the first time since 1993. In the final phase, they faced Antigua and Barbuda again, losing 3-0, and closed out the tournament with a 4-2 defeat against Curaçao.

Uruguayan manager Carlos Avedissian took charge of the team in 2015 forming a roster mainly of players from the Puerto Rico local leagues. On May 22, 2016, Puerto Rico played a friendly match against the United States for the first time ever ending in a 3–1 loss.^[14] For discrepancies with the Federation, Avedissian was substituted by Jack Stefanowski for the second round on an interim basis. With this team mainly of local players, Puerto Rico advanced for the first time to the third round of the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification when they defeated Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda in the second round, only two games away from reaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time. Stefanowski had to leave the technical director position because he was an assistant for Puerto Rico.

On September 3, 2016, Puerto Rico faced India for the first time in an international friendly match at the Mumbai Football Arena, but were defeated in the contest 1–4.^[15]

After Stefanowski left the team to continue with Puerto Rico, Carlos Cantarero assumed as head coach of the national team with Jose Cukito Martinez (who had coached most of the local players in the Puerto Rico League) as assistant coach. The team played three friendlies, two against the Dominican Republic and one against India, prior to the third round matches against Antigua and Barbuda and Curaçao. Coach Cantarero couldn't coach in the friendlies due to visa problems. After the second friendly against the Dominican Republic Assistant Coach Martinez left the team prior to the trip to India and David Guillemat assumed the position. Regardless of the administrative debacle, and coaching changes, Puerto Rico lost the decisive match against Curaçao after being 2–0 up front for which Curaçao as head of group advanced to the Gold Cup.

Puerto Rico didn't play an international match until the summer of 2017 when they played to a scoreless draw against Indonesia.^[16]

After the devastation of Hurricane Maria in September that left the entire island powerless. On October 7 it was reported MLS club, Orlando City SC announced a Fuerza Puerto Rico’ Friendly for November 4 with all the net proceeds from the match going towards the United for Puerto Rico initiative to raise funds and aid recovery efforts for the island. Reactivating the national team for a 3rd time this year.^[17] The friendly marked Orlando City’s last game of 2017, as well team captain, Kaká with the lions.^[18] Puerto Rico lost the exhibition match 6–1.^[19]

In May 2018, the Puerto Rican Football Federation announced that Carlos Cantarero would no longer continue as head coach of the national team, with former Honduran player Amado Guevara taking over as head coach.^[20]

In 2018, the new CONCACAF Nations League was launched, featuring a qualification system to allocate the remaining nine spots for the 2019 Gold Cup and simultaneously place the teams in the corresponding leagues based on their final standings after four matches. Puerto Rico finished second to last in the standings, occupying 33rd place out of 34 participants, earning no points in their four matches, losing them all (1-0 vs. Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, and Martinique; 2-0 vs. Grenada). This placed them in League C, preventing them from qualifying for the Gold Cup.

In 2019, during the Nations League group stage, Puerto Rico was placed in Group C alongside Guatemala and Anguilla. The team performed acceptably, winning both matches against Anguilla (3-2 and 3-0, respectively) and losing both games to Guatemala (5-0).

The decade started well for Puerto Rico, where they played two friendly matches in January 2021 against the Dominican Republic, where they achieved a historic 1-0 victory in Santo Domingo and finally against Guatemala, where they lost 1-0.^[21]

However, the team would once again fail to qualify for the World Cup in 2022. In the qualifiers for this edition, the team lost away to Saint Kitts and Nevis 1-0 (in a game played in San Cristóbal in the Dominican Republic), tied with Trinidad and Tobago at home 1-1, thrashed the Bahamas 7-0 at home (both home games were played at the Athletics Stadium Mayagüez), before defeating Guyana 2-0 away (in a match played in Saint Kitts and Nevis). This wasn't enough for Puerto Rico, who was knocked out in the first round of qualification after finishing third in their group behind Trinidad and Tobago and group winners Saint Kitts and Nevis.

On March 19, 2023, just days before the Nations League, the Puerto Rican Football Federation announced Charlie Trout as the new head coach of the national team.^[22]

In the second season of the CONCACAF Nations League, Puerto Rico would again be a part of the C-League. This time being inserted to Group D alongside the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. The team would go on to beat the British Islands 3–1^[23] and then later beat the Cayman Islands 5–1. The team would go on to win the group stage, thus earning a 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification invitation and promotion into the B league for the next Nations league.

In the CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminary, the team would draw against Suriname 0–0 and later winning in a penalty shootout 4–3.^[24] In the second round of the prelims, Puerto Rico would face Martinique. The team would lose 2–0 and be eliminated from the tournament.^[25]

For the qualifiers of the 2026 World Cup, Puerto Rico received a bye to the second round and again failed to qualify. It started with a goalless draw away with El Salvador, then Puerto Rico's trashed Anguilla 8-0, lost to Suriname away 1-0 and defeated Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2-1 at home. Puerto Rico finished third in their group and failed to advance, as the team ended behind the two teams who advanced, with those being Suriname and El Salvador.

In November 2025, FIFA announced that Puerto Rico will host the 2026 FIFA Series held in Bayamón, which will also feature Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

As of June 23, 2023.

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA Series matches against Guam and either U.S. Virgin Islands or American Samoa on 25 and 28 March 2026, respectively.^[27]

Caps and goals updated as of June 10, 2025 after the game against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

As of October 14, 2025^[28]

Players in bold are still active with Puerto Rico.

• Puerto Rico national under-20 football team
• Puerto Rico national under-17 football team
• Football in Puerto Rico

• Official website (in Spanish)
• Puerto Rico FIFA profile
• Puerto Rico list of international matches at the RSSSF