The 1969 play-off match between El Salvador and Honduras (two teams that are not only neighbors but rivals) was filled with anticipation and aggression. This playoff match would decide which nation would be attending the world cup, and which would be staying home. El Salvador and Honduras had each won one match which forced a third, and final, play-off match.1 In the prior matches, fights had broken out between fans in the street and in the stands during the game. But on the day of the final play-off, a much more significant event would take place. The game was scheduled in Mexico City: a third-party country with no bias toward either team. The day of the playoff, El Salvador dissolved all diplomatic ties with Honduras right before the match.
In the first game between the two nations, Honduras won the match 1-0 in its own capital. Some Hondurans stayed outside of the hotel that the El Salvador team had been staying at and threw rocks, set off car alarms and threw firecrackers.2 The 2nd match took place in San Salvador, where the home fans would watch their team win by a commanding score of 3-0. Before the 2nd match took place, the Honduran National team had a security force with them at all times. During the game the security at the stadium was extremely tight with lots of alcohol and weapons confiscated as a security precaution. As the Honduran national anthem played, the home team and fans were extremely disrespectful towards the players and their country. This caused some whiplash for El Salvadorians living in Honduras as their businesses were boycotted and vandalized.3 Leading up to the series of matches, the two nations were in a deep dispute over land reform and immigration. El Salvador was sending its poorest citizens into Honduras so the wealthy could maintain their land.4 El Salvador had a much bigger population than Honduras. Honduras had a population of about 2 million, where as El Salvador had a population of almost 4 million.5
However, they had a significantly smaller amount of land which forced more than 275,000 El Salvadorians to flee into Honduras, causing poverty and crime.6 Honduras accused the El Salvadorians of stealing jobs from the native people of Honduras. But after the 2nd games violence, El Salvador accused Honduras of staying silent while El Salvadorians living in Honduras were raped, murdered, robbed, and oppressed. Neither side was willing to negotiate to the smallest extent, which led to tensions building up even more. In the final match between the two teams, El Salvador won the game in overtime with the score of three to two.7 This caused numerous Salvadorians to be killed in Honduras.8
On July 14th, 1969, almost 3 weeks after the final playoff game, El Salvador bombed targets inside of Honduras. They crippled Honduras by attacking their main airport which left them unable to react to the attack at optimal speed.9 El Salvador then attacked from the ground by marching through the two main roads that connect the countries. Only one day later, the El Salvadorian army had pushed Honduras back over 8 kilometers. The El Salvadorian Army continued to make steady progress. They were nearing the capital city of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, when Honduras finally pushed back. The Honduran Air Force attacked Llopango base. The bombers eventually progressed to Acajutla port, which was important because it was home to El Salvadorian oil refineries. Later that evening huge smoke clouds covered the coast as the the oil refineries were bombed.10
Fearing that the nearing El Salvadorian army would overtake the capital, Honduras called the Organization of American States for help. The Organization of American States (OAS) had an urgent meeting on the evening of July 15th and called for El Salvador to withdraw its troops from Honduras ensuring that its people living in Honduras would not be harmed.11 El Salvador refused, demanding reparations be paid to them and their citizens. El Salvador attempted to further the attack the capital city, but they were unable to proceed with the attack. The previous strike on their oil refineries had destroyed their line of fuels and supplies and they no longer had supplies arriving every other day. Somoza Debayle, the dictator of Nicaragua was also helping Hondurans by arming them with weapons and providing ammunition. The OAS worked night and day in order to provide a cease-fire that would please both parties. Finally, on the night of July 18th, a ceasefire was arranged and became effective two days later.12
Although the cease-fire had been called, El Salvador refused to leave Honduras. They stayed until they were threatened by the OAS with economic sanctions against them. The El Salvador government finally withdrew troops on August 2, 1969. The aftermath of the 100-hour war was anything but slim. More than 2000 civilians were killed, with more than 100,000 immigrants displaced.13 Although they were no longer at war with each other, these two nations peace treaty only came into force on December 10, 1980.14
- Paul Joseph, The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives, 2017 s.v . “Soccer War.” ↵
- Hatcher Graham, Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2013, s.v “Soccer War.” ↵
- Steve C. Ropp, 1982, “The War of the Dispossessed: Honduras and El Salvador, 1969. Thomas P. Anderson.” The Hispanic American Historical Review, no. 2: 296. JSTOR Journals, EBSCOhost (accessed February 5, 2018). ↵
- Richter, Ernesto, John Beverly, Bob Dash, and Irma Fernandez Dash. “Social Classes, Accumulation, and the Crisis of “Overpopulation” in El Salvador” Latin American Perspectives, 7, 1980 ↵
- Ernesto Richter, John Beverly, Bob Dash, and Irma Fernandez Dash. “Social Classes, Accumulation, and the Crisis of “Overpopulation” in El Salvador”, Latin American Perspectives, 7, 1980. ↵
- Charles Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984). ↵
- Hatcher Graham, Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2013, s.v “Soccer War.” ↵
- Charles Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984). ↵
- Charles Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984). ↵
- Charles Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984). ↵
- Charles Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984). ↵
- Charles Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984). ↵
- Charles, Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984). ↵
- Charles Clements, Witness to War: an American Doctor in El Salvador (New York; Bantam Book, 1984); and United Nations -Treaties Series, General Peace Treaty Between the Republics of El Salvador and Honduras, 1980, https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/HN-SV_801030_GeneralTreatyOfPeaceElSalvadorHonduras.pdf. ↵
106 comments
William Ward
It absolutely amazes me how a petty soccer rivalry between two small nations could result in invasion and the killing of each other’s people. Yes, the two nations were already in tension over immigration and demographic problems, but to engage in war because of a soccer match is crazy. This is especially disappointing when three thousand people die due to an inability to exercise diplomacy. Very well written article.
Taylor Rech
Being a fan of soccer, reading this article is very disturbing. Violence of any kind for any reason is always terrible to hear about; however, hearing that the result of a soccer match sparked this much aggression and crime is heart breaking. Soccer is a unifying sport, played across the world by people of all races, genders, and social classes; it is “the beautiful game” that is meant to allow people to put their differences aside and come together to enjoy the game that both parties love. On the other hand, it is reassuring to hear that in the end the two countries found peace, even if it took years to get to that point.
Ariana Melendez
This article was very informative, yet shocking to me. As a Salvadorian, I did not know the history behind the rivalry with Honduras. I heard about the soccer match, but never knew it was intense enough to cause a war between El Salvador and Honduras. It is also sad to know that rather than helping each other, the two smallest countries in Central America turned their backs on each other because of soccer.
Bictor Martinez
It truly is crazy to think that a series of soccer matches led to a war between two nations. This comes to show how El Salvador and Honduras take much pride in their soccer teams. This war all started between some miscommunication with fans between each nation. I guess they never heard of the phrase “It’s just a game.” Soccer back then was probably every thing for each nation. Meaning that if a soccer team from a nation got in the world cup, this mean’t that, that nation is one of the more developed and better countries. I can see how the war disputed between the nations, however it is something that should not have taken place and gone to that extent.
Caden Floyd
I’m glad that both countries have pride in their soccer teams, but I had no idea that it could ever escalate to this level. The detail in this article really described all of the hardships of everyone in both countries during this troubling time. I’m sure both countries lost respect for each other as soon as the fights broke out on the field. It seems like all of the conflicts snowballed up into a war that none of them intended.
Robert Freise
This article really demonstrates the pride that both nations have in soccer. It is crazy to think that soccer was the main cause of the war between Honduras and El Salvador. But how this article was composed and written, it reinforces that the soccer match had very much to do with the aggression instilled between the two countries. The violence that took place at the matches probably fueled anger towards both the citizens of each country, and it forced resentment. In all the article was very well crafted and each part of historical context was very well composed.
Anais Del Rio
The title of the article was very fitting for the story, seeing as the game had more than one meaning. It is crazy that people were killed in either country just because the other one was winning. It goes to show that there is discrimination even in the smallest places of the world. But soccer has many passionate fans and I can see how the game could escalate to a war.
Elias Garza
Soccer is a game that is popular all around the world and the more pride the country has the more defensive they get. I could only imagine the chaos that occurred since El Salvador and Honduras are neighbors and rivals. This game is intense and the citizens of the country were definitely out of hand. I yearn to experience a world cup at least once in my life.
Matthew Wyatt
It’s always fascinating to read stories that remind us how geopolitics and sports can be so closely intertwined. I’ve heard plenty of stories about how soccer rivalries around the world can get violent, but I never knew that one such rivalry actually led to war. Though we can debate whether it is logical for a game to invoke so much emotion and bloodshed, there’s no denying the passion that people of all backgrounds and cultures feel for their favorite sports.
Esperanza Mauricio
I had never heard of this war and was astounded at how quickly the fighting became from a simple soccer match to full war. Thinking about this I can’t imagine a war coming from a sport. In all honestly I am quite speechless with both countries. I think it might be because I never viewed any sport as something to be valued and so I can’t relate myself to this type of escalation of violence.