The El Salvador Under 20s football team, is commonly known as La Azulita. La Azulita is controlled by Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol(FESFUT) and represents El Salvador in all international Under 20 competitions.
Their first U-20 World Cup was at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where they saw their first victory at a major FIFA tournament (outside of beach soccer) to Australia by 2–1, scored respectively by Diego Coca and José Peña.
CONCACAF Championship 2024 CONCACAF Championship On April 11, 2024, CONCACAF had their official draw. El Salvador was placed in Group B alongside, Honduras, Dominican Republic, and Canada. All games will be played in Estadio Sergio León Chávez in Irapuato, Mexico starting July 20, 2024.
El Salvador's U-20 national team participated in the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship, held in Irapuato, Mexico. They were drawn into Group B alongside Honduras, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. The team began their campaign with a 1-0 victory over the Dominican Republic, with Christopher Argueta scoring the lone goal in the 62nd minute. Goalkeeper Daniel Franco played a crucial role, making several important saves including a penalty stop.
However, El Salvador's fortunes turned in their subsequent matches. They suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat against Honduras, despite initially taking the lead through Nelson Díaz. In their final group match, they lost 2-1 to Canada in a closely contested game. Francis Castillo scored El Salvador's goal, but a late bicycle kick by Bunbury secured Canada's win. El Salvador thought they had equalized in the final moments through Walter Menjívar, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review. With one win and two losses, El Salvador finished third in Group B with three points and a goal difference, which was insufficient to advance to the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams.
2024 Qualifiers La Azulita qualified for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship which is slated for the Summer of 2024. El Salvador U20 started the CONCACAF Qualifying on Friday, February 23, 2024, till Saturday, March 2, 2024, at ABFA Technical Center in Antigua and Barbuda. The Azulita finished first with 10 points. Suriname came in second with 9, Antigua and Barbuda with 6, Guyana with 4 and Turks and Caicos 0.
El Salvador belongs to Group B. Group B consist of the following Nations: Turks and Caicos Islands Guyana Suriname Antigua and Barbuda
After round-robin play between February 23 and March 2, 2024, the first-place team from each group will advance to the 2024 CONCACAF Men's U-20 Championship, joining the six pre-seeded top-ranked nations. Which include in order, United States, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
UNCAF 2024 La Azulita, along with seven other selections, gathered in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to participate in an international competition through the tournament UNCAF FIFA FORWARD. La Azulita was grouped in Group A with Honduras, Panamá, and Nicaragua.
2024 current squad On February 19, 2024, the Head Coach Juan Cortes named the following players to the CONCACAF Under-20 Qualifiers. The Qualifiers run from February 23, 2024, to March 2, 2024, in Antigua and Barbuda.
History of La Azulita
FIFA U-20 World Cup record YearRoundGPWD*LGSGA 1977Did not qualify 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013Group stage310227 2015Did not qualify 2017 2019 2021Cancelled 2023Did not qualify 2025 2027 2029To be determinedTotal1/26310227
UNCAF preliminary round YearPositionGPWD*LGSGA19951/2220081qualified19982/2210145Did not qualify 20013/3201112Did not qualify20032/5421174Qualified20053/5420296Did not qualify20072/3210167Did not qualify/ 20091/4320163Qualified/ 20112/3 Play-off421186Disqualified¹/ 20131/3210144Qualified 20152/66321186Qualified 20172/6421194Qualified9/92513395338 1The games were forbidden by Concacaf due to El Salvador using an ineligible player
CONCACAF Under-20 Championship YearRoundGPWD*LGSGA 1962Round 1302123 1964Champions7511126 1970Fourth place411238 1973Did not participate 1974 1976First round301229 1978Second round6312117 1980Round 1420294 1982Second round5203137 1984Third place8431103 1986did not participate 1988 1990Round 1200214 1992Did not participate 1994Fourth place85122210 1996Round 1301236 1998Did not qualify 2001 2003Round 1300315 2005Did not qualify 2007 2009First round301236 2011Disqualified 2013Third place530266 2015Playoff stage6222910 2017Classification stage5203711 2018Qualification stage630377 2022Round 164211137 2024Group stage310236 2026Group stage300318TotalChampions82311335114117
Previous fixtures and results Date:Location:Opponent:Score*Competition:El Salvador scorers:October 22, 2025Estadio Cementos Progreso, Guatemala City, Guatemala0-2 2025 Central American GamesNilOctober 24, 2025Estadio Cementos Progreso, Guatemala City, Guatemala0-12025 Central American GamesCarlos Garay October 26, 2025Estadio Cementos Progreso, Guatemala City, Guatemala1-3 2025 Central American GamesNelson Díaz October 28, 2025Estadio Cementos Progreso, Guatemala City, Guatemala2-4 2025 Central American GamesChristopher Guardado Nelson Díaz December 5, 2025Yappy Park, Panama City, Panama2-4 2025 UNCAF U-19 TournamentWilber Díaz Uriel Miranda December 7, 2025Yappy Park, Panama City, Panama0-3 2025 UNCAF U-19 TournamentNilDecember 9, 2025Yappy Park, Panama City, Panama2-2 2025 UNCAF U-19 TournamentJefferson Roque Johann Ortíz December 11, 2025Yappy Park, Panama City, Panama3-5 2025 UNCAF U-19 TournamentGabriel Arnold Uriel Miranda February 23, 2026Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago, Managua, Nicaragua3-0 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifyingJohan Ortiz Luis Tobar February 25, 2026Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago, Managua, Nicaragua4-1 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifyingChristian Coreas Diego Peña Wilber Díaz Gerson Robles February 27, 2026Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago, Managua, Nicaragua2-02026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifyingHugo Aguilar Wilber Díaz March 1, 2026Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago, Managua, Nicaragua7-02026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying Christian Coreas Darwin Saravia Johann Ortiz William Cabrera Jonathan Aguirre Gabriel Arnold March 3, 2026Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago, Managua, Nicaragua0-22026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying Nil Key F = Friendly UF = Unofficial Friendly U-20 CCQ = 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying U-20 CC = U-20 Championship U-20 WC = U-20 World Cup GS = Group stage QF = Quarter-finals SF = Semi-finals Fi = Final PSO = Penalty shootout a.e.t. = After extra time El Salvador's scores listed first
Players
Current squad The following 21 players were called up for the 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying.
Recent call-ups The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.
INJ Player withdrew from the current squad due to injury. COV Player withdrew due to testing positively for COVID-19 or having to self-isolate because of it. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Player had announced retirement from international football. SUS Player is serving a suspension. WD Withdrawn.
Formers players
2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad Head coach: Mauricio Alfaro
Personnel
Current staff As of November 2025 Head coach Eduardo Lara Assistant coach Helmer Silva Assistant coach Ernesto de la Ocomo Goalkeeper Coach Adolfo Menéndez Physical Trainer Mauricio Roldán Medical Trainer Kinesiologist Equipment Manager Abraham Beltrán
Manager history Conrado Miranda (1964, 1979) Raul Magana (1985,1994) Carlos Recinos (2000–2001) Ricardo Herrera (2002–2003) Cesar Acevedo (2004–2005) José Luis Rugamas (2006–2007) Norberto Huezo (2008–2009) Mauricio Alfaro (2009–2015) Eduardo Lara (2016–2017) Alexsander Rodriguez (2017–2018) Ernesto Gochez (2018–2020) Gerson Perez (2021–2022) Manuel Torres Núñez (2023) Juan Cortez (2024) Erick Dowson Prado (2025-2026) Eduardo Lara (2026-Present)
Honours CONCACAF U-20 Championship Winners (1): 1964 Third place (2): 1984, 2013
See also El Salvador national football team El Salvador national under-17 football team El Salvador national under-21 football team El Salvador national under-23 football team CONCACAF Under-20 Championship
References
External links Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol Official Site (Spanish) El Salvador national football team (Non-Official Site) (Spanish)