Aruba national football team
History
History
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Between 1924 and 1933, Aruba only played against [Curaçao](/wiki/Cura%C3%A7ao_national_football_team "Curaçao national football team"), although these matches are not considered official. In the 1950s these matches were used to select the best players for the Netherlands Antilles team. Aruban players like [Jani Brokke](/wiki/Adriaan_Brokke "Adriaan Brokke") played for the Netherlands Antilles at the [1952 Olympic Games](/wiki/Football_at_the_1952_Summer_Olympics "Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics"). Group photo of the seven Aruban footballers in the Olympic team. Under the flag of the [Curaçao Football Association](/wiki/Cura%C3%A7ao_Football_Association "Curaçao Football Association") (C.V.B.), they won gold with the Netherlands Antilles team at the [1950 Central American and Caribbean Games](/wiki/Football_at_the_1950_Central_American_and_Caribbean_Games "Football at the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games") and participated in the [1953 CCCF Championship](/wiki/1953_CCCF_Championship "1953 CCCF Championship").

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](/wiki/Botafogo_de_Futebol_e_Regatas "Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas") (3\-1\) and the 1953 series between Aruba, [Surinam](/wiki/Surinam_%28Dutch_colony%29 "Surinam (Dutch colony)"), [British Guiana](/wiki/British_Guiana "British Guiana") and professional club [La Salle F.C.](/wiki/La_Salle_F.C. "La Salle F.C.") from [Venezuela](/wiki/Venezuela "Venezuela"). Pages 5 to 7\. Aruba participated in its first tournament at the [1955 CCCF Championship](/wiki/1955_CCCF_Championship "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](/wiki/Netherlands_Antillean_Football_Union "Netherlands Antillean Football Union"). Aruba took part in the [Netherlands Antilles national football team](/wiki/Netherlands_Antilles_national_football_team "Netherlands Antilles national football team") until their secession in 1986\.

Following its split from the Netherlands Antilles, the [Aruba Football Federation](/wiki/Aruba_Football_Federation "Aruba Football Federation") was affiliated in 1988 with [CONCACAF](/wiki/CONCACAF "CONCACAF") and [FIFA](/wiki/FIFA "FIFA"). Aruba entered qualifying for the [1989 Caribbean Cup](/wiki/1989_Caribbean_Cup "1989 Caribbean Cup"), and in its first group match it suffered the worst defeat in its history, at the hands of [Trinidad and Tobago](/wiki/Trinidad_and_Tobago_national_football_team "Trinidad and Tobago national football team"), which crushed them 11–0\. They played their first World Cup qualifying match against the [Dominican Republic](/wiki/Dominican_Republic_national_football_team "Dominican Republic national football team") as part of the [1998 World Cup qualifying](/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%28CONCACAF%29 "1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)"). 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](/wiki/Caribbean_Cup "Caribbean Cup"). However, they showed some progress in the preliminary round of the [2014 Caribbean Cup](/wiki/2014_Caribbean_Cup "2014 Caribbean Cup") by getting two wins against [Turks and Caicos](/wiki/Turks_and_Caicos_national_football_team "Turks and Caicos national football team") (1–0\) and [British Virgin Islands](/wiki/British_Virgin_Islands_national_football_team "British Virgin Islands national football team") (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](/wiki/French_Guiana_national_football_team "French Guiana national football team") and were eliminated.

Aruba began their [2018 World Cup qualification](/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%28CONCACAF%29 "2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)") in the second round against [Barbados](/wiki/Barbados_national_football_team "Barbados national football team"), 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](/wiki/Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines_national_football_team "Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national football team") who won 3–2 on aggregate. Aruba failed to progress in the [2022 World Cup qualifiers](/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_CONCACAF_first_round "2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF first round"), finishing 4th in the first round.


How can Aruba improve its performance in World Cup qualifying tournaments?