Although the
former Dutch colony is located in
South America, it competes in
CONCACAF, together with
Guyana and
French Guiana. Suriname was one of the founding members of CONCACAF in 1961. Suriname won the
CFU Championship in 1978, were runners-up in 1979 and have achieved three fourth-place finishes in the CFU Championship/
Caribbean Cup. Suriname discourages dual citizenship and
Surinamese-Dutch players who have picked up a Netherlands passport – which, crucially, offers legal work status in almost any European league – are barred from selection to the national team. Many Suriname-born players and Dutch-born players of Surinamese descent, like
Gerald Vanenburg,
Ruud Gullit,
Frank Rijkaard,
Edgar Davids,
Clarence Seedorf,
Patrick Kluivert,
Michael Reiziger,
Aron Winter,
Georginio Wijnaldum,
Virgil van Dijk,
Denzel Dumfries,
Ryan Gravenberch,
Xavi Simons and
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink have turned out to play for the
Dutch national team. In 1999,
Humphrey Mijnals, who played for both Suriname and the Netherlands, was elected Surinamese footballer of the century. Another famous player is
André Kamperveen, who captained Suriname in the 1940s and was the first Surinamese to play professionally in the Netherlands. Suriname has participated in the qualifying matches for the
FIFA World Cup since
1962, but has never qualified for the finals. Suriname's strongest showing in World Cup qualification was the campaign for the
1978 finals, when the national team reached the
final group stage. Suriname also came second in CONCACAF qualifying for the
1964 Olympics, behind qualifiers
Mexico and third in qualifying for the
1980 Olympics, behind qualifiers
Costa Rica and
United States. The US then boycotted the Moscow Olympics, and were replaced by
Cuba in the football tournament, after Suriname opted to boycott the games as well. In 2008 Suriname advanced to the group stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying despite using only local players. With their two-leg victory over neighbours
Guyana, Suriname moved on to face
Haiti,
Costa Rica, and
El Salvador in the
third round. Inspired by the success of teams with
dual nationals, especially
Algeria,
SVB president John Krishnadath submitted a proposal to the national assembly to allow dual citizenship for athletes with the then-goal of reaching the
2018 FIFA World Cup finals. In order to support this project, a team with professional players of Surinamese origin was assembled and played an exhibition match on 26 December 2014 at the
Andre Kamperveen Stadion. The project is managed by
Nordin Wooter and
David Endt, who have set up a presentation and sent invitations to 100 players of Surinamese origin, receiving 85 positive answers.
Dean Gorré was named to coach this special selection.
FIFA supported the project and granted insurance for the players and clubs despite the match being unofficial. As of May 2015, Gorré was the national team coach who oversaw both the official and unofficial teams. The professional team consisted of players willing to commit to Suriname if the dual-citizenship bill was approved, and played two international matches. In 2016,
Roberto Gödeken became the head coach once again. In
qualification for the 2017 Caribbean Cup, Suriname secured a spot in the third round, but finished second behind
Jamaica in their group. However, as one of the three best second-place finishers, Suriname advanced to face
Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti in the 5th place play-off. Suriname won the match against Trinidad and Tobago, but lost against Haiti, hence once again a failed attempt to make an appearance in the Concacaf Gold Cup. In 2018
Dean Gorré signed a new 2 year contract with the SVB to manage Natio once more. His first game ended in a draw against
Dominica in Nations League qualifiers. Gorré became not only the head coach of the senior team, but also oversees the youth teams and also has a helping hand in the introduction of a professional league in the country. Gorré also managed to arrange training camps for the national team in the
Netherlands, where Natio have tested their strength against professional and amateur football clubs. Suriname qualified for the
CONCACAF Nations League B after wins against
Saint Kitts and Nevis and
British Virgin Islands, draw against Dominica and a loss against
Jamaica. Suriname got to share a group with
Nicaragua,
SVG and Dominica. After a narrow away win against Dominica, Suriname got to bag a massive 6–0 win at home against Nicaragua. In November 2019, it was announced that a so-called sports passport would allow Dutch professional footballers from the Surinamese diaspora to represent Suriname. On 19 November, Suriname qualified for the
2021 Gold Cup with 2–1
CONCACAF Nations League win over
Nicaragua. It will be their debut in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and their first appearance in a CONCACAF tournament since 1985. In the
2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Suriname played against
Costa Rica,
Jamaica and
Guadeloupe in
Group C. Suriname lost its first two matches against Jamaica and Costa Rica, but ended third in the group following a 2–1 win against Guadeloupe. In late July, the Surinamese Football Association terminated the contract of Dean Gorré after failing to reach Natio's objectives. After the termination of Gorré, SVB announced that they have hired the services of
Brian Tevreden's Tevreden Group. The Tevreden Group are involved in the search for a new national coach and the recruitment and selection of Surinamese-Dutch professionals who want to play for Natio. Under
Stanley Menzo's leadership, Suriname advances to its second CONCACAF Gold Cup (albeit its fourth continental tournament) in
2025 in the United States. Matched against
Mexico,
Costa Rica, and the
Dominican Republic, it is defeated by the former two, drawing 0–0 with the Dominicans. During the
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification third round, Suriname entered as the lowest-ranked of four teams in Group A but led for most of the campaign, which would have earned them a first-ever World Cup berth. On the final match day, tied with group favorites
Panama on points but with a superior goal differential, Suriname suffered a 3–1 away loss to
Guatemala while Panama defeated
El Salvador, securing the automatic World Cup spot for Panama while dropping Suriname to a runners-up spot. Their only goal in the game, a second half stoppage-time own goal, kept them from elimination as they finished ahead of
Honduras on goals scored as one of best two group runners-ups and qualified for the
inter-confederation play-offs. However, Suriname suffered a 2–1 defeat to
Bolivia in the inter-confederation play-offs, ending their World Cup hopes. == Kit supplier ==