Salvador

Lore & Background

El Salvador qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the first FIFA World Cup the country qualified for. During qualification, El Salvador played Honduras over three matches in June 1969, with El Salvador advancing to the next round of CONCACAF qualification. The matches between El Salvador and Honduras increased political tensions between both countries, resulting the outbreak of the Football War in July 1969 causing over 2,000 deaths. After defeating Haiti over three matches, El Salvador qualified.

El Salvador lost all three matches it played against Belgium, Mexico, and the Soviet Union and failed to score a goal. El Salvador next qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup as runners-up of the 1981 CONCACAF Championship. As occurred in 1970, El Salvador lost all three of its matches against Hungary, Belgium, and Argentina. The match against Hungary was one of the highest-scoring in FIFA World Cup history, with El Salvador losing 10–1, and the record for most goals in a single match is 12, shared by Austria 7–5 Switzerland (1954) and Brazil 6–5 Poland (1938).

El Salvador's lone goal in the match, scored by Luis Ramírez Zapata in the 64th minute, remains the only goal scored by El Salvador at the FIFA World Cup. Since 1970, El Salvador has participated in every FIFA World Cup qualification except for 1990 due to a FIFA ban, but has failed to qualify for another FIFA World Cup since 1982.