Cuba national football team











































Cuba
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)
Leones del Caribe (Lions of the Caribbean)
AssociationFootball Association of Cuba
Confederation
CONCACAF
(North America)
Sub-confederation
CFU (Caribbean)
Head coachRaúl Mederos
Most caps

Yénier Márquez (126)
Top scorer
Lester Moré (29)
Home stadiumEstadio Pedro Marrero
FIFA codeCUB
















First colours














Second colours


FIFA ranking
Current 174 Steady(4 April 2019)[1]
Highest46 (November – December 2006)
Lowest182 (August 2017, March–May 2018)
Elo ranking
Current 127 Increase 5 (27 March 2019)[2]
Highest52 (February 2005)
Lowest143 (January 1965)
First international

 Cuba 3–1 Jamaica 
(Havana, Cuba; 16 March 1930)
Biggest win

 Cuba 11–0 Turks and Caicos Islands 
(Havana, Cuba; 8 September 2018)
Biggest defeat

 Sweden 8–0 Cuba 
(Antibes, France; 12 June 1938)
 Soviet Union 8–0 Cuba 
(Moscow, Soviet Union; 24 July 1980)
World Cup
Appearances1 (first in 1938)
Best resultQuarter-finals, 1938
CONCACAF Championship
& Gold Cup
Appearances11 (first in 1971)
Best resultFourth place, 1971

The Cuba national football team is controlled by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba, the governing body for football in Cuba.[3] They are affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF.


They were the first Caribbean team to make the World Cup, which they did in 1938. There, they defeated Romania in a replay 2–1 after drawing against them 3–3. They were then eliminated in the quarter-finals by Sweden, 8–0. Cuba has not returned to the World Cup since.


Cuba finished second in the Caribbean Cup in 1996, 1999 and 2005 and won the 2012 Caribbean Cup.




Contents





  • 1 History

    • 1.1 Early history


    • 1.2 1938–2000


    • 1.3 2000–present



  • 2 Competitive record

    • 2.1 World Cup record


    • 2.2 CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup record


    • 2.3 NAFC Championship record


    • 2.4 Caribbean Cup record



  • 3 Players

    • 3.1 Current squad


    • 3.2 Previous squads



  • 4 Defection and economic migration by Cuban athletes


  • 5 Recent results and forthcoming fixtures


  • 6 Coach


  • 7 References


  • 8 External links




History



Early history


Cuba played its first international football match on 16 March 1930 at that year's Central American and Caribbean Games. They beat Jamaica (then a British colony) 3–1 in Havana. Four days later, they beat Honduras 7–0.[4] Cuba were managed by José Tapia, who remained in charge until after Cuba's 1938 World Cup campaign.
Cuba's first World Cup qualification campaign was for the 1934 World Cup in Italy. All of the CONCACAF entrants were placed in Group 11. The winner of a best-of-three tournament between the two weakest nations, Cuba and Haiti would produce a winner to play 1930 qualifiers Mexico in another round of best-of-three. The winner of that would play 1930 semi-finalists the United States of America for a place in the finals.
All of the matches between Cuba and Haiti in the first round were staged at Parc Leconte in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 28, 1 and 4 January–February 1934. Cuba won the first match 3–1 with Mario Lopez opening from a penalty and Hector Socorro scoring the second. The second match was a 1–1 draw with Lopez equalising in the 85th minute. In the final match, Cuba won 6–0 with two Lopez goals, one from Hector Socorro and one from his brother Francisco.
The second round against Mexico consisted of three matches at Parque Necaxa in Mexico City. Its first match, on 4 March 1934, saw Mexico go 3–0 up with a hat-trick by Dionisio Mejia, his goals scored in the 12th, 14th and 16th minutes. Mario Lopez scored twice for Cuba with one in each half, but Mexico won 3–2.
A week later, Mejia scored another hat-trick as Mexico won 5–0, and seven days later, Mexico won 4–1 after Lopez opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Mexico did not qualify, their 4–2 play-off defeat to the United States was held in Rome during the finals, as the two teams had forgotten to stage it earlier.



1938–2000


The decision to stage the 1938 World Cup in France was poorly received in the Americas, who had hoped for it to return to South America after the 1934 World Cup in Italy. All nations in South America except Brazil withdrew, and all CONCACAF nations except Cuba, thus the two qualified by default.
The tournament was held as a straight knock-out tournament of 16 nations. Cuba were drawn to play their first-ever World Cup finals match against Romania (who were making their third finals appearance) at Stade Chapou in Toulouse, on 5 June 1938. Silviu Bindea put Romania ahead after 35 minutes and Hector Socorro equalised nine minutes later. With three minutes remaining, Tomás Fernández gave Cuba the lead, but within a minute Iuliu Baratky forced extra time with a Romanian equaliser. Romania went 3–2 up in extra-time by Stefan Dobay's goal on 105 minutes, but Juan Tuñas equalised for Cuba with three minutes of extra-time remaining.
The replay was held at the same stadium, on 9 June. This was at the same time as Switzerland's 4–2 replay win over Germany. Dobay put Romania 1–0 up at half-time with a 35th-minute goal, but in the second half Cuba equalised through Socorro in the 51st minute. Six minutes later, Carlos Oliviera scored the winning goal and it ended 2–1.
In the quarter-final, Cuba lost 8–0 to Sweden at Stade du Fort Carre in Antibes, on 12 June. Sweden's Tore Keller and Gustav Wetterstrom each scored hat-tricks.[5]


The NAFC Championship 1949 served as CONCACAF's qualification group for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Cuba, the United States of America and Mexico played each other twice in a tournament held in Mexico City in September 1949. The top two would qualify. Cuba came third and did not qualify, their only point was gained from their second match, a 1–1 draw against the United States on 14 September.
Cuba did not compete in World Cup qualification again until 1966. They returned to participation in qualification for 1978, but the 1982 qualifiers represented a significant breakthrough- Cuba reached the final round of qualifying, and were only two points short of reaching the 1982 World Cup. In recent years, Cuban football has seen an improvement in results.



2000–present


They reached the quarter-finals of the 2003 Gold Cup (where they were beaten by the United States) by defeating Canada 2–0 in the Group stage. During the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Cuba faced Costa Rica and were only eliminated on away goals. They held Costa Rica to a draw in Havana 2–2 and later battled it out for a 1–1 draw in Costa Rica.
During the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Cuba faced Antigua and Barbuda and the match ended in a 3–3 draw. Later in Pedro Marreo, Cuba won 4–1 to advance to the semi-final round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. Cuba was with the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and Guatemala. Cuba finished in the fourth place with only one victory against Guatemala 2–1 with a goal scored by Aliannis Urgellés.
They finished in third place in the 2010 Caribbean Cup to take a place in the 2011 Gold Cup. In 2012, Cuba won the Caribbean Cup for the first time.


For the 2014 World Cup, the Cuban team qualified directly to the Third round as one of the six highest ranked teams and were placed in Group C with Honduras, Panama, and Canada. Although the Cuban team had several close games, they ended their qualification process with one draw and five defeats (losing home and away to Canada and Honduras and drawing to Panama in Havana in their final game after losing in Panama City). Their only goal of the qualifying campaign came from Alberto Gomes against Panama in the final game of the group stage.



Competitive record



World Cup record

















































































































































































Cuba's FIFA World Cup record

Qualification record
Host nation(s)
and year
Round

Pos

Pld

W

D*

L

GF

GA
Squad
Outcome

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

Uruguay 1930

Did not enter

Did not enter

Italy 1934

Did not qualify
2nd
6
2
1
3
13
14

France 1938

Quarter-finals
7th
3
1
1
1
5
12

Squad

Bye

Brazil 1950

Did not qualify
3rd
4
0
1
3
3
11

Switzerland 1954

Not accepted[6]

Not accepted

Sweden 1958

Did not enter

Did not enter

Chile 1962

England 1966

Did not qualify
3rd
4
1
1
2
3
5

Mexico 1970

Not accepted[6]

Not accepted

West Germany 1974

Did not enter

Did not enter

Argentina 1978

Did not qualify
Playoff
5
2
2
1
7
5

Spain 1982
5th
9
4
3
2
11
8

Mexico 1986

Did not enter

Did not enter

Italy 1990

Did not qualify
2nd
2
0
1
2
1
2

United States 1994

Withdrew

Withdrew

France 1998

Did not qualify
4th
10
4
1
5
17
18

South Korea Japan 2002
Playoff
8
2
5
1
7
3

Germany 2006
Playoff
4
2
2
0
8
4

South Africa 2010
4th
8
3
0
5
13
21

Brazil 2014
4th
6
0
1
5
1
10

Russia 2018
Playoff
2
0
2
0
1
1

Qatar 2022

To be determined

To be determined

Canada Mexico United States 2026
Total

Quarter-finals
1/21
3
1
1
1
5
12


68
20
20
29
85
102











CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup record














































































































































CONCACAF Championship
Year
Result
Position

Pld

W

T

L

GF

GA

El Salvador 1963

Did not enter

Guatemala 1965

Withdrew

Honduras 1967

Did not qualify

Costa Rica 1969

Did not enter

Trinidad and Tobago 1971
Fourth place4th512257

Haiti 1973

Did not enter

Mexico 1977

Did not qualify

Honduras 1981
Final Round5th512248
1985
Did not enter
1989
Did not qualify

CONCACAF Gold Cup

United States 1991

Withdrew

Mexico United States 1993

Did not enter

United States 1996

Did not qualify

United States 1998
Group stage10th2002210

United States 2000

Did not qualify

United States 2002
Group stage11th201101

Mexico United States 2003
Quarter-finals8th310228

United States 2005
Group stage12th300339

United States 2007
Group stage12th301239

United States 2009

Withdrew

United States 2011
Group stage12th3003116

United States 2013
Quarter-finals8th4103613

Canada United States 2015
Quarter-finals8th4103114

United States 2017

Did not qualify

United States Costa Rica Jamaica 2019

Qualified
Total10/2413/2734562327
95


NAFC Championship record



  • 1947 – Runners-up


  • 1949 – Third place


Caribbean Cup record

























































































































CFU Caribbean Cup
Year
Round
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA

Barbados 1989

Did not enter

Trinidad and Tobago 1990

Jamaica 1991

Withdrew

Trinidad and Tobago 1992
Fourth Place522142

Jamaica 1993

Did not enter

Trinidad and Tobago 1994

Withdrew

Cayman IslandsJamaica 1995
Third Place530296

Trinidad and Tobago 1996
Second Place531172

Antigua and BarbudaSaint Kitts and Nevis1997

Did not enter

Trinidad and Tobago Jamaica 1998

Did not qualify

Trinidad and Tobago 1999
Second Place540193

Trinidad and Tobago 2001
Fourth Place512257

Barbados 2005
Second Place320152

Trinidad and Tobago 2007
Third Place521276

Jamaica 2008
Fourth Place522174

Martinique 2010
Third Place540152

Antigua and Barbuda 2012
Champions520152

Jamaica 2014
Fourth Place412155

Martinique 2017

Did not qualify
Total1 Championship4726101468
41


Players



Current squad


The following 19 players were called up for the friendly match against Guatemala on 16 August 2018.


Caps and goals as of 25 March 2018 after the game against Nicaragua.


.mw-parser-output .nat-fs-player thbackground-color:inherit;border:0.mw-parser-output .nat-fs-player tdtext-align:center;border:0













































































































































No.

Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Goals
Club
1

1GK

Sandy Sánchez

(1994-05-24) 24 May 1994 (age 24)
5
0

Cuba Las Tunas
12

1GK

Elier Pozo

(1995-01-28) 28 January 1995 (age 24)
1
0

Cuba Pinar del Río
21

1GK

Nelson Johnston

(1990-02-25) 25 February 1990 (age 29)
1
0

Cuba Santiago de Cuba

2

2DF

Andy Baquero

(1994-08-17) 17 August 1994 (age 24)
13
0

Cuba Pinar del Río
3

2DF

Erick Rizo

(1991-02-28) 28 February 1991 (age 28)
2
0

Cuba Santiago de Cuba
4

2DF

Yasmany López

(1987-10-11) 11 October 1987 (age 31)
17
1

Cuba Ciego de Ávila
6

2DF

Yosel Piedra

(1994-03-27) 27 March 1994 (age 25)
8
0

Cuba Ciego de Ávila
8

2DF

Orisbel Leiva

(1990-09-14) 14 September 1990 (age 28)
5
1

Cuba Ciego de Ávila
15

2DF

Leonis Martínez

(1989-02-03) 3 February 1989 (age 30)
2
0

Cuba Santiago de Cuba
19

2DF

Jorge Kindelán

(1986-04-12) 12 April 1986 (age 32)
0
0

Cuba Santiago de Cuba
23

2DF

José Almelo

(1996-06-03) 3 June 1996 (age 22)
0
0

Cuba Pinar del Río

7

3MF

Rolando Abreu

(1992-05-15) 15 May 1992 (age 26)
2
0

Cuba Santiago de Cuba
11

3MF

Yordan Santa Cruz

(1993-10-07) 7 October 1993 (age 25)
5
2

Cuba Santiago de Cuba
14

3MF

Neiser Sandó

(1998-10-26) 26 October 1998 (age 20)
1
0

Cuba Santiago de Cuba
20

3MF

Luismel Morris

(1997-12-14) 14 December 1997 (age 21)
2
0

Cuba Camagüey
22

3MF

Roberney Caballero

(1995-11-02) 2 November 1995 (age 23)
3
0

Cuba Camagüey

13

4FW

Eddie Gelkis

(1991-03-26) 26 March 1991 (age 28)
17
1

Cuba Santiago de Cuba
17

4FW

Allan Pérez

(1996-07-19) 19 July 1996 (age 22)
2
0

Cuba Ciego de Ávila
18

4FW

Reinaldo Pérez

(1987-10-11) 11 October 1987 (age 31)
2
0

Cuba Pinar del Río


Previous squads










Defection and economic migration by Cuban athletes



As well as Cuban athletes in other sports, a number of football players (such as Maykel Galindo and Osvaldo Alonso) have made the move to the United States in recent years. During the 2002 Gold Cup in Los Angeles, two Cuban players Rey Ángel Martínez and Alberto Delgado chose to remain in the United States. Striker Maykel Galindo did so during the 2005 Gold Cup. Two more, Osvaldo Alonso and Lester More did so during the 2007 Gold Cup.


In 2008, defections occurred during two separate tournaments held in the United States. In March, seven players from the U-23 national football, including Yeniel Bermúdez, Yordany Álvarez and Yendry Díaz defected during the 2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament while the team was based in Tampa, FL. In October, two days before the country's World Cup Qualifier versus the USA, Reynier Alcántara and Pedro Faife walked away from the team's hotel near Washington, D.C.. During the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Yosniel Mesa defected while the team was in Charlotte, North Carolina.[7] During the 2015 Gold Cup, forward Keiler García defected to the United States before the team's first match against Mexico in Chicago.[8]



Recent results and forthcoming fixtures































































































































Date
Venue
Opponent
Result
Competition
14 June 2015

Cuba Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana

 Curaçao
1–1

2018 WCQ
9 July 2015

United States Soldier Field, Chicago

 Mexico
0–6

2015 Gold Cup
12 July 2015

United States University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale

 Trinidad and Tobago
0–2

2015 Gold Cup
15 July 2015

United States Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte

 Guatemala
1–0

2015 Gold Cup
18 July 2015

United States M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore

 United States
0–6

2015 Gold Cup
23 September 2015

Cuba Estadio Panamericano, Havana

 Nicaragua
0–1

Friendly
25 September 2015

Cuba Estadio Panamericano, Havana

 Nicaragua
1–1

Friendly
8 December 2015

Nicaragua Nicaragua National Football Stadium, Managua

 Nicaragua
0–5

Friendly
12 December 2015

Nicaragua Estadio Independencia, Estelí

 Nicaragua
0–1

Friendly
16 December 2015

Honduras Estadio Juan Ramón Brevé Vargas, Juticalpa

 Honduras
0–2

Friendly
8 January 2016

Panama Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City

 Panama
0–4

2016 CACQ
22 March 2016

Cuba Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana

 Bermuda
2–1

2017 CCQ
29 March 2016

French Guiana Stade Municipal Dr. Edmard Lama, Remire-Montjoly

 French Guiana
0–3

2017 CCQ
7 October 2016

Cuba Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana

 United States
0–2

Friendly
22 March 2018

Nicaragua Nicaragua National Football Stadium, Managua

 Nicaragua
1–3

Friendly
25 March 2018

Nicaragua Nicaragua National Football Stadium, Managua

 Nicaragua
3–3

Friendly
15 August 2018

Guatemala Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, Guatemala City

 Guatemala
0–3

Friendly
18 August 2018

Guatemala Estadio Mario Camposeco, Quetzaltenango

 Guatemala
0–1

Friendly
26 August 2018

Barbados Wildey Astro Turf, Bridgetown

 Barbados
0–0

Friendly
29 August 2018

Barbados Wildey Astro Turf, Bridgetown

 Barbados
2–0

Friendly
8 September 2018

Cuba Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana

 Turks and Caicos Islands
11–0

2019–20 CNLQ
12 October 2018

Grenada Kirani James Athletic Stadium, St. George’s

 Grenada
2–0

2019–20 CNLQ
17 November 2018

Cuba Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana

 Dominican Republic
1–0

2019–20 CNLQ
24 March 2019

Haiti Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince

 Haiti
1–2

2019–20 CNLQ
  • 28 February 2019 - beat Bermuda 5-0


Coach










References




  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em


  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.


  3. ^ Rainsford, Sarah (2012-06-28). "BBC News – Euro 2012 football fever hits baseball-loving Cuba". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-07-08.


  4. ^ "Cuba – List of International Matches". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2012-07-08.


  5. ^ "Baseball in Their Veins, but a New Ball at Their Feet". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-07-08.


  6. ^ ab "History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 13 December 2011.


  7. ^ "Cuba's Yosniel Mesa defects". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved 13 June 2011.


  8. ^ "Keilen García, el premio-castigo de la libertad". ESPN Deportes. Retrieved 9 July 2015.




External links





  • Cuba at FIFA.com












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