Aruba national football team
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The Aruba national football team (Dutch: Arubaans voetbalelftal; Papiamento: Seleccion Arubano di futbol) is the national team of Aruba. It was founded in 1932 and is affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), CONCACAF and FIFA (since 1988) and is controlled by the Arubaanse Voetbal Bond.
| Association | Arubaanse Voetbal Bond | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | CONCACAF (North America) | ||
| Sub-confederation | CFU (Caribbean) | ||
| Head coach | Marvic Bermúdez | ||
| Captain | Fernando Lewis | ||
| Most caps | Eric Abdul (32) | ||
| Top scorer | Ronald Gómez Terence Groothusen (6) | ||
| Home stadium | Trinidad Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | ARU | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 194  (19 September 2024)[1] | ||
| Highest | 112 (November 2015) | ||
| Lowest | 205 (April 2021) | ||
| First international | |||
 Aruba 0–4 Curaçao (Aruba; 6 April 1924)[2] As FIFA member  Trinidad and Tobago 7–0 Aruba  (Netherlands Antilles; 31 March 1989)[3] | |||
| Biggest win | |||
| Aruba 8–1 Suriname (Surinam; 6 June 1946) Aruba 7–0 British Virgin Islands  (Oranjestad, Aruba; 1 June 2014) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| Trinidad and Tobago 11–0 Aruba (Arima, Trinidad and Tobago; 23 April 1989) | |||
The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Between 1924 and 1933, Aruba only played against Curaçao, although these matches are not considered official.[5] In the 1950s these matches were used to select the best players for the Netherlands Antilles team. Aruban players like Jani Brokke played for the Netherlands Antilles at the 1952 Olympic Games.[6] Under the flag of the Curaçao Football Association (C.V.B.), they won gold with the Netherlands Antilles team at the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games and participated in the 1953 CCCF Championship.[7]
In the 1950s the A.V.B. organised friendly matches and mini tournaments on the island. Examples are the 1952 match between Aruba and football club Botafogo (3-1)[8] and the 1953 series between Aruba, Surinam, British Guiana and professional club La Salle F.C. from Venezuela.[9] Aruba participated in its first tournament at the 1955 CCCF Championship, where they finished in 5th place. In 1958, A.V.B. and C.V.B. merged into the Netherlands Antillean Football Union. Aruba took part in the Netherlands Antilles national football team until their secession in 1986.
Following its split from the Netherlands Antilles, the Aruba Football Federation was affiliated in 1988 with CONCACAF and FIFA. Aruba entered qualifying for the 1989 Caribbean Cup, and in its first group match it suffered the worst defeat in its history, at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago, which crushed them 11–0. They played their first World Cup qualifying match against the Dominican Republic as part of the 1998 World Cup qualifying. Aruba has participated in all the qualifying tournaments for the World Cup since, without being able to get past the first qualifying round.
Aruba has also yet to qualify for the Caribbean Cup. However, they showed some progress in the preliminary round of the 2014 Caribbean Cup by getting two wins against Turks and Caicos (1–0) and British Virgin Islands (7–0), the latter being the biggest victory in its history. These results allowed them to reach 120th place in the FIFA World Ranking for the month of June 2014, their best ranking to date. Following these victories, Aruba lost 2–0 against French Guiana and were eliminated.
Aruba began their 2018 World Cup qualification in the second round against Barbados, losing 2–0 at home and 1–0 away, however FIFA ruled that Barbados had fielded an ineligible player, giving Aruba a 3–0 second leg victory and advancing them to the third round. Despite that, in the next round they were defeated again, this time by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines who won 3–2 on aggregate. Aruba failed to progress in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, finishing 4th in the first round.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
- René Notten (1995)
- Ángel Botta (1996)
- Marco Rasmijn (2000)
- Marcelo Muñoz (2004)
- Azing Griever (2004–2006)
- Marcelo Muñoz (2008–2010)
- Epi Albertus (2010–2012)
- Giovanni Franken (2013–2015)
- Rini Coolen (2015)
- Martin Koopman (2015–2020)
- Marvic Bermúdez (2020)
- Stanley Menzo (2021–2022)
- Marvic Bermúdez (2022–)
The following players were called up for the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B matches against Sint Maarten and Puerto Rico on 6 and 9 September 2024, respectively.[10]
Caps and goals correct as of 9 Septemeber 2024, after the match against Puerto Rico.
The following players have been recently called up by the national squad.
- As of 10 September 2024[11]
- Players in bold are still active with Aruba.
| Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Abdul | 32 | 0 | 2011–present |
| 2 | Nickenson Paul | 30 | 0 | 2014–present |
| 3 | Theric Ruiz | 28 | 1 | 2004–2016 |
| 4 | Erik Santos de Gouveia | 27 | 3 | 2011–2021 |
| 5 | Leroy Oehlers | 24 | 0 | 2013–2019 |
| 6 | Francois Croes | 23 | 0 | 2008–2021 |
| 7 | Ronald Gómez | 22 | 6 | 2002–2021 |
| 8 | Raymond Baten | 21 | 3 | 2011–2019 |
| 9 | Walter Bennett | 19 | 1 | 2018–present |
| 10 | Terence Groothusen | 18 | 3 | 2019-Present |
| Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terence Groothusen | 6 | 18 | 0.33 | 2019–present |
| Ronald Gómez | 6 | 22 | 0.27 | 2002–2021 | |
| 3 | Glenroy Lake | 5 | 6 | 0.83 | 1995-2002 |
| Rovien Ostiana | 5 | 9 | 0.56 | 2023-present | |
| 5 | Wander Gross | 4 | 5 | 0.8 | 2000–2001 |
| Joshua John | 4 | 9 | 0.44 | 2018–present | |
| Dwaynalex Raven | 4 | 10 | 0.4 | 2012–2015 | |
| Rensy Barradas | 4 | 11 | 0.36 | 2011–2015 | |
| Maurice Escalona | 4 | 12 | 0.33 | 2004–2014 | |
| 10 | Lesley Felomina | 3 | 4 | 0.75 | 2000–2001 |
| Benjamin Maria | 3 | 10 | 0.3 | 2022–present | |
| Jean-Luc Bergen | 3 | 10 | 0.3 | 2011–2015 | |
| Annuar Kock | 3 | 17 | 0.18 | 2011–2019 | |
| Raymond Baten | 3 | 21 | 0.14 | 2011–2019 | |
| Erik Santos de Gouveia | 3 | 27 | 0.11 | 2011–2021 |
| FIFA World Cup | Qualification | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| 1930 to 1986 | Part of Netherlands Antilles | Part of Netherlands Antilles | |||||||||||||
| 1990 and 1994 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1998 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||
| 2002 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | |||||||||
| 2006 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| 2010 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2014 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | |||||||||
| 2018 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | |||||||||
| 2022 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 | |||||||||
| 2026 | To be determined | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2030 | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
| 2034 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 0/9 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 28 | 65 | ||||||||
| CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record | Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1963 | Part of Netherlands Antilles | Part of Netherlands Antilles | ||||||||||||||
| 1965 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1967 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1971 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1977 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1981 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
| 1991 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1998 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 2000 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 2002 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 2003 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 2005 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 2011 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Did not qualify | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2015 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 2019 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2021 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 2023 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Total | 0/18 | 34 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 38 | 85 | |||||||||
CONCACAF Nations League
| CONCACAF Nations League record | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Finals | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Division | Group | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | P/R | Finals | Results | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | |
| 2019−20 | B | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 18 | 2021 | Ineligible | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | C | B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| 2023–24 | C | B | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| 2024–25 | B | C | To be determined | 2025 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | — | — | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 27 | — | Total | 0 Titles | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| CONCACAF Nations League history | |
|---|---|
| First Match | Aruba 0–1 Guyana (6 September 2019; Willemstad, Curaçao) |
| Biggest Win | Aruba 3–0 Saint Martin (6 June 2022; Willemstad, Curaçao) U.S. Virgin Islands 1–4 Aruba (16 November 2023; Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands) |
| Biggest Defeat | Aruba 0–6 Jamaica (15 October 2019; Willemstad, Curaçao) |
| Best Result | — |
| Worst Result | — |
| CFU Championship & Caribbean Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1988 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1989 | Did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 27 | ||||||||
| 1990 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 1991 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1992 | Did not qualify | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | ||||||||
| 1993 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1994 | |||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||
| 1996 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | Did not qualify | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||
| 1998 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||
| 1999 | Withdrew | Withdrew | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | Did not qualify | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 14 | ||||||||
| 2005 | Withdrew | Withdrew | |||||||||||||
| 2007 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 2008 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2010 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
| 2012 | Did not qualify | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||
| 2014 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | |||||||||
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| Total | — | — | – | – | – | – | – | – | 29 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 37 | 89 | |
| ABCS Tournament record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
| 2010 | Third place | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 2011 | Runners-up | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2012 | Champions | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 2013 | Fourth place | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2015 | Runners-up | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | Third place | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 2022 | Third place | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Total | 1 Title | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 26 |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
Note: teams that are in italics indicates that the team is a historical team of a polity not existing anymore, or a team which is not a FIFA member.[12]
As of 9 September 2024[13]
These all-time records are exclusively class 'A' internationals matches.[14]
| Against | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigua and Barbuda | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 11 | −7 |
| Barbados | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 16 | −9 |
| Bermuda | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | –3 |
| British Virgin Islands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 |
| Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | –7 |
| Cayman Islands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 |
| Costa Rica | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 |
| Cuba | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 |
| Curaçao | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 |
| Curaçao | 22 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 19 | 47 | −28 |
| Dominica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 |
| Dominican Republic | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 |
| El Salvador | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
| French Guiana | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 |
| Grenada | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 |
| Guadeloupe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guam | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 |
| Guatemala | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guyana | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 12 | −10 |
| Haiti | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Honduras | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jamaica | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | −14 |
| Montserrat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
| Netherlands Antilles | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 20 | −11 |
| Panama | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Puerto Rico | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 |
| Saint Lucia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 11 | −1 |
| Saint Martin | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 |
| Sint Maarten | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
| Suriname | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 46 | −40 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | −11 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 |
| Venezuela | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 |
| Total | 104 | 17 | 23 | 69 | 123 | 252 | −129 |
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Aruba - List of International Matches". RSSSF. Rec.Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
- ^ "Aruba national team". international-football.net. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ Courtney, Barrie. "Aruba - List of International Matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Olympic Players, Helsinki Bound". Aruba Esso News on Coleccion Aruba, Biblioteca Nacional Aruba. 6 June 1952. Group photo of the seven Aruban footballers in the Olympic team.
- ^ "Adriaan Brokke". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "Oncena Arubano a derrota Botafago cu un score di 3-1". Arubaanse Courant on Internet Archive (in Papiamento). 11 August 1952.
- ^ "Football: Aruba Wins Interland Series". The Local on Internet Archive. 14 February 1953. Pages 5 to 7.
- ^ "CNL Squad List". Facebook. Arubaanse Voetbal Bond - AVB.
- ^ "Aruba". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "World Football Elo Ratings". www.eloratings.net. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "World Football Elo Ratings: Aruba". Elo Ratings. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ "Aruba national football team statistics and records: All-time record". 11v11.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2020.