Fútbol Club Santiago de Cuba is a Cuban professional football club based in the city of Santiago de Cuba, which currently plays in the Campeonato Nacional. Its home stadium is the 5,000-capacity Estadio "José Pepe del Cabo" on the campus of the Pista de Atletismo de Rekortan. It was promoted to Campeonato Nacional for the 2015 season.
History
2017 Liga Nacional de Futbol In the 102nd season of the Liga Nacional de Cuba, Santiago de Cuba, coached by Italian and future Cuba national team coach, Lorenzo Mambrini, won the Clausura on the second to last matchday. On the second to last match-day, against FC Ciego de Ávila, in a 2-1 win, Santiago reached 21 points, with goals from Yoandir Puga and Eddy Olivares. FC Camagüey had 15 points, with 2 more games left, although due to head-to-head records of both teams, even if Camagüey were to win both games, they couldn't win the title, giving Santiago de Cuba the 2017 Clausura title.
2019 season
2019 Liga Nacional de Futbol Santiago de Cuba once against won the 2019 Liga Nacional de Cuba in the 104th season. This was their third win a row, something that hasn't happened since FC Villa Clara won all three tournaments from 2011 to 2013. Santiago won thanks to Yasmani López scoring the sole goal in a 1-0 win against FC La Habana, at home in their Rekortán Stadium.
2019 Caribbean Club Shield After winning the 2018 Liga Nacional, Santiago de Cuba made history by being the first Cuban team to qualify for the 2019 Caribbean Club Shield, being hosted in Curaçao. Santiago were placed in Group A of the tournament, getting first place in the only group with 4 teams. In their first matchup, they tied hosts CRKSV Jong Holland 0-0, and also tied Caymanian side Scholars International SC with the same score of 0-0 in their second match. In their final group stage game, they beat Guyanese side Fruta Conquerors FC 4-0, with a brace scored by Rolando Abreu, and a goal each from Jorge Villalón and Eddy Olivares, topping the group with 5 points, tied with Jong Holland, but winning on goal differential. In the quarter-final, Santiago lost 2-0 against their matchup against runner-up of Group B, Weymouth Wales FC, from Barbados. This marks the last time any Cuban team has played on an international level.
2020 season
2020 Caribbean Club Shield In 2020, Santiago was planned to play in the 2020 Caribbean Club Shield, once again in placed in Curaçao, being placed in Group B, after winning the 2019 Liga Nacional. They were planned to play Metropolitan FA from Puerto Rico, Inter Moengotapoe from Suriname, and once again Scholars International SC from the Cayman Islands, but the tournament was postponed on 13 March due to COVID-19, and cancelled 25 August.
2022 season Santiago de Cuba won the 2022 Apertura in a 7-0 blowout in the final to FC Artemisa.
2023 season
Santiago aswell won the 2023 Apertura, beating FC Cienfuegos away at Luis Pérez Lozano Stadium in the final. They beat Cienfuegos with a score of 1-2, with Cienfuegos scoring first with a goal by Jassael Herrera in the 27th minute, then Santiago scored in the 45+1 minute with a goal by Neiser Sandó Hervé, and another goal in the second half at the 77th minute by Carlos Espinosa, to give Santiago the title. They once again played Cienfuegos in the SuperCopa, as Cienfuegos were the Clausura winners, with Santiago also winning at Luis Pérez Lozano Stadium.
Performance in CONCACAF competitions CompetitionRoundCountryClubScoreHome/Away2019 Caribbean Club ShieldGroup ACRKSV Jong Holland0–0AwayScholars International SC0–0NeutralFruta Conquerors FC4–0Quarter-finalsWeymouth Wales FC0–22020 Caribbean Club ShieldGroup BMetropolitan FACancelledInter MoengotapoeScholars International SC
Honours Campeonato Nacional
Clausura winner: 2017, 2018, 2019 Clausura runner-up: 1993, 1994, 2022, 2025 Apertura winner: 2022, 2023 Supercopa Nacional: 2023 CONCACAF Caribbean Shield Quarter-finalist: 2019 Current squad
References