Early years (1940s-1980s) 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. 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. 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.
1990s 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. 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. 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. 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.
2010s 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. 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. in 2012. 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. 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.
Carlos Avedissian / Jack Stefanowski era 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. 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.
Carlos García Cantarero era 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. 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. The friendly marked Orlando City’s last game of 2017, as well team captain,
Kaká with the lions. Puerto Rico lost the exhibition match 6–1.
Amado Guevara era 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. 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).
2020s made his debut for Puerto Rico in 2021 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. 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.
2022–23 Nations League 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 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. In the second round of the prelims, Puerto Rico would face
Martinique. The team would lose 2–0 and be eliminated from the tournament.
2026 World Cup qualification campaign For the
2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico received a bye to the second round. Their campaign began with a goalless away draw against
El Salvador, followed by an 8–0 thrashing of
Anguilla. Puerto Rico then lost 1–0 away to
Suriname before defeating
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2–1 at home. Finishing third in their group behind Suriname and El Salvador, Puerto Rico failed to advance to the next stage.
2026 FIFA Series The
men's competition of the 2026 FIFA Series was split into nine different sections hosted across eight countries. In November 2025, FIFA announced that Puerto Rico would host one such section in
Bayamón, in which
Guam, the
U.S. Virgin Islands and
American Samoa would also compete. The
Puerto Rican section of the tournament was held in a four-match format (semi-finals, third-place match and final) in late March 2026. Puerto Rico were the section's champions after victories against Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the semi-final and final, respectively. == Team image ==