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Aruba national football team facts for kids

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This page is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Aruba women's national football team.
Quick facts for kids
Aruba
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 Rovien Ostiana (7)
Home stadium Trinidad Stadium
FIFA code ARU
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 187 Steady (7 February 2019)
Highest 112 (November 2015)
Lowest 205 (April 2021)
Elo ranking
Current 198 Increase 1 (3 March 2019)
Highest 50 (1924)
Lowest 203 (April 2020)
First international
Aruba 0–4 Curaçao 
(Aruba; 6 April 1924)
As FIFA member
 Trinidad and Tobago 7–0 Aruba 
(Netherlands Antilles; 31 March 1989)
Biggest win
Aruba 8–1 Suriname Netherlands
(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 Aruba national football team is the official football team for the island of Aruba. It's also known as the Arubaans voetbalelftal in Dutch and Seleccion Arubano di futbol in Papiamento. The team was started in 1932.

It is part of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and CONCACAF. Since 1988, it has also been a member of FIFA. The team is managed by the Arubaanse Voetbal Bond. Aruba has never made it to the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

History

Aruba's football journey began with unofficial games. Between 1924 and 1933, they mostly played against Curaçao. These early matches helped pick the best players for the Netherlands Antilles national football team. For example, Jani Brokke from Aruba played in the 1952 Olympic Games for the Netherlands Antilles.

In the 1950s, Aruba hosted friendly games and small tournaments. They played against famous clubs like Botafogo from Brazil. Aruba also took part in its first big tournament in 1955. This was the 1955 CCCF Championship, where they finished in fifth place. In 1958, Aruba's football association joined with Curaçao's. They played as part of the Netherlands Antilles team until 1986.

After becoming separate from the Netherlands Antilles, the Aruba Football Federation joined CONCACAF and FIFA in 1988. Their first game in a major tournament was in the 1989 Caribbean Cup qualifiers. They lost 11–0 to Trinidad and Tobago. This was their biggest loss ever.

Aruba played its first World Cup qualifying match in 1996. This was for the 1998 World Cup. Since then, Aruba has tried to qualify for every World Cup. However, they haven't made it past the first round yet.

The team has also tried to qualify for the Caribbean Cup. In 2014, they showed great improvement. They beat Turks and Caicos 1–0 and British Virgin Islands 7–0. The 7–0 win was their biggest victory ever. These results helped them reach their highest FIFA ranking at the time, 120th place. But they were later eliminated after losing to French Guiana.

In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Aruba lost to Barbados. However, FIFA later found that Barbados used a player who wasn't allowed to play. So, Aruba was given a 3–0 win for that game. This helped them move to the next round. But they were then defeated by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Aruba finished fourth in their group and did not move forward.

Results and fixtures

Here are the match results from the last year. Also, any games planned for the future are listed.

      Win       Draw       Loss       Fixture

2023

2024

2025

Coaching history

  • Netherlands René Notten (1995)
  • Argentina Ángel Botta (1996)
  • Aruba Marco Rasmijn (2000)
  • Argentina Marcelo Muñoz (2004)
  • Netherlands Azing Griever (2004–2006)
  • Argentina Marcelo Muñoz (2008–2010)
  • Aruba Epi Albertus (2010–2012)
  • Netherlands Giovanni Franken (2013–2015)
  • Netherlands Rini Coolen (2015)
  • Netherlands Martin Koopman (2015–2020)
  • Aruba Marvic Bermúdez (2020)
  • Netherlands Stanley Menzo (2021–2022)
  • Aruba Marvic Bermúdez (2022–)

Players

Main article: List of Aruba international footballers

Current squad

These players were chosen for the 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B games. They played against Haiti on October 11 and 14, 2024.

Caps and goals are correct as of October 14, 2024, after the match against Haiti.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Matthew Lentink (1993-08-18) 18 August 1993 (age 31) 19 0 Netherlands VV Goes
1GK Josthan Maduro (2006-08-30) 30 August 2006 (age 18) 1 0 Aruba SV Britannia
1GK Jahmani Eisden (2005-07-09) 9 July 2005 (age 19) 0 0 Netherlands FC Den Bosch U21
2DF Nickenson Paul (1997-08-24) 24 August 1997 (age 27) 32 0 Aruba SV Dakota
2DF Mark Jacobs (1999-10-28) 28 October 1999 (age 25) 15 0 Unattached
2DF Kymani Nedd (2004-06-10) 10 June 2004 (age 21) 11 0 Netherlands Excelsior
2DF Edward Clarissa (2000-03-26) 26 March 2000 (age 25) 10 0 Netherlands VV DUNO
2DF Ashton Charles (1995-03-22) 22 March 1995 (age 30) 4 1 Aruba SV Britannia
2DF Tyrese Gijsbertha (2003-12-22) 22 December 2003 (age 21) 4 0 Netherlands FC Twente
2DF Edhyon Hersilia 0 0 Aruba SV Britannia
3MF Walter Bennett (1997-03-18) 18 March 1997 (age 28) 21 1 Netherlands SC Feyenoord
3MF Stiven Melchor Rua (1990-05-12) 12 May 1990 (age 35) 17 0 Aruba SV Britannia
3MF Fernando Lewis (1993-01-31) 31 January 1993 (age 32) 13 0 Netherlands SV Zandvoort
3MF Rovien Ostiana (2002-02-14) 14 February 2002 (age 23) 11 7 Unattached
3MF Isaï Marselia (2001-06-17) 17 June 2001 (age 24) 7 1 England Sporting Khalsa
3MF Ethan Tromp (2002-01-17) 17 January 2002 (age 23) 4 0 Aruba SV Britannia
3MF Shivay Wadhwani (2005-07-03) 3 July 2005 (age 19) 3 0 Netherlands Ajax Amateurs
3MF Dimaggio Senchi (1995-05-03) 3 May 1995 (age 30) 2 0 Unattached
4FW Terence Groothusen (1996-09-16) 16 September 1996 (age 28) 20 6 Netherlands ADO '20
4FW Javier Jiménez (2000-05-27) 27 May 2000 (age 25) 12 1 Germany TSG Neustrelitz
4FW Jayden Kruydenhof (2006-12-18) 18 December 2006 (age 18) 6 1 Netherlands SC Cambuur
4FW Tyron Perret Gentil (2004-04-10) 10 April 2004 (age 21) 4 1 Netherlands Almere City
4FW Reangelo Boekhoudt (2006-04-07) 7 April 2006 (age 19) 1 0 Aruba River Plate

Recent call-ups

These players have also been called to play for the national team recently.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
DF Nathan Lo-A-Njoe (1989-03-01) 1 March 1989 (age 36) 5 0 Aruba Racing Club vs.  Puerto Rico, 9 September 2024
DF Sandro Staal (1994-02-12) 12 February 1994 (age 31) 5 0 Unattached vs.  Puerto Rico, 9 September 2024
DF Jeanpierre van der Linden (1998-01-07) 7 January 1998 (age 27) 1 0 Netherlands TAC '90 vs.  Puerto Rico, 9 September 2024
DF Diederick Luydens (1999-02-18) 18 February 1999 (age 26) 10 1 Netherlands SV DSO vs.  Saint Lucia, 11 June 2024
DF Darryl Bäly (1998-01-19) 19 January 1998 (age 27) 7 1 Netherlands FC Lisse vs.  Saint Lucia, 11 June 2024
MF Jonathan Richard (1991-06-21) 21 June 1991 (age 34) 8 0 Netherlands ODIN '59 vs.  Saint Lucia, 11 June 2024
FW Jeremy van Uunen (1993-10-28) 28 October 1993 (age 31) 4 0 Netherlands VV Zwaluwen vs.  Puerto Rico, 9 September 2024
FW Benjamin Maria (2001-09-19) 19 September 2001 (age 23) 10 3 Netherlands VV DUNO vs.  Saint Lucia, 11 June 2024
FW Conner van Kilsdonk (2006-09-24) 24 September 2006 (age 18) 0 0 Netherlands NEC vs.  Saint Lucia, 11 June 2024

Player records

Here are some records for Aruba's football players. Players in bold are still playing for Aruba.

Most appearances

These players have played the most games for Aruba.

Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Eric Abdul 32 0 2011–2023
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 6 2019-Present

Top goalscorers

These players have scored the most goals for Aruba.

Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Rovien Ostiana 7 11 0.64 2023-present
2 Terence Groothusen 6 18 0.33 2019–present
Ronald Gómez 6 22 0.27 2002–2021
4 Glenroy Lake 5 6 0.83 1995-2002
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

Competitive record

Here's how Aruba has done in different football tournaments.

FIFA World Cup

Aruba has tried to qualify for the FIFA World Cup many times.

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
France 1998 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 3 6
South Korea Japan 2002 4 1 1 2 7 11
Germany 2006 2 0 0 2 2 10
South Africa 2010 2 0 0 2 0 4
Brazil 2014 2 1 0 1 6 6
Russia 2018 4 2 0 2 5 5
Qatar 2022 4 1 0 3 3 19
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined 2 0 1 1 2 4
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 To be determined
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/9 22 5 2 15 28 65

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Aruba has also tried to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
El Salvador 1963 Part of  Netherlands Antilles Part of  Netherlands Antilles
Guatemala 1965
Honduras 1967
Costa Rica 1969
Trinidad and Tobago 1971
Haiti 1973
Mexico 1977
Honduras 1981
1985
1989 Did not enter Did not enter
United States 1991
Mexico United States 1993 Withdrew Withdrew
United States 1996 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 5 7
United States 1998 2 1 0 1 2 7
United States 2000 3 1 1 1 4 4
United States 2002 3 0 0 3 4 14
Mexico United States 2003 2 0 0 2 0 8
United States 2005 Withdrew Withdrew
United States 2007 Did not enter Did not enter
United States 2009 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 1 3
United States 2011 Did not enter Did not enter
United States 2013 Did not qualify 3 0 1 2 5 7
Canada United States 2015 3 2 0 1 8 2
United States 2017 2 0 0 2 1 4
Costa Rica Jamaica United States 2019 4 1 1 2 5 6
United States 2021 6 0 0 6 5 18
Canada United States 2023 4 1 1 2 5 5
Total 0/18 34 6 5 23 38 85

CONCACAF Nations League

This table shows Aruba's performance in the 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 Fall United States 2021 Ineligible
2022–23 C B 4 1 1 2 5 5 Same position United States 2023
2023–24 C B 4 4 0 0 14 4 Rise United States 2024
2024–25 B C 6 0 0 6 5 17 Fall United States 2025
2026–27 C To be determined United States 2027
Total — — 20 5 1 14 29 44 — Total 0 Titles — — — — — — —

CFU Caribbean Cup

This table shows Aruba's results in the Caribbean Cup.

CFU Championship & Caribbean Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Martinique 1988 Did not enter Did not enter
Barbados 1989 Did not qualify 4 0 0 4 4 27
Trinidad and Tobago 1990 2 0 1 1 3 4
Jamaica 1991 Did not enter Did not enter
Trinidad and Tobago 1992 Did not qualify 3 0 0 3 0 10
Jamaica 1993 Did not enter Did not enter
Trinidad and Tobago 1994
Cayman Islands Jamaica 1995 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 5 7
Trinidad and Tobago 1996 Did not enter Did not enter
Antigua and Barbuda Saint Kitts and Nevis 1997 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 2 7
Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago 1998 3 1 1 1 4 4
Trinidad and Tobago 1999 Withdrew Withdrew
Trinidad and Tobago 2001 Did not qualify 3 0 0 3 4 14
Barbados 2005 Withdrew Withdrew
Trinidad and Tobago 2007 Did not enter Did not enter
Jamaica 2008 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 1 3
Martinique 2010 Did not enter Did not enter
Antigua and Barbuda 2012 Did not qualify 3 0 1 2 5 7
Jamaica 2014 3 2 0 1 8 2
Martinique 2017 2 0 0 2 1 4
Total — — – – – – – – 29 4 4 21 37 89

ABCS Tournament

Aruba has also played in the ABCS Tournament.

ABCS Tournament record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA
Curaçao 2010 Third place 2 0 1 1 3 6
Suriname 2011 Runners-up 2 0 2 0 2 2
Aruba 2012 Champions 2 2 0 0 4 2
Curaçao 2013 Fourth place 2 0 0 2 1 4
Suriname 2015 Runners-up 2 0 1 1 0 1
Curaçao 2021 Third place 2 0 1 1 3 9
Curaçao 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.

Head-to-head record

This table shows Aruba's all-time record against other national teams. This includes only official international matches. Teams in italics are historical teams that no longer exist or are not FIFA members.

As of 15 November 2024

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 3 0 1 2 5 9 –4
 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 4 1 1 2 7 10 –3
 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 107 17 23 72 128 265 −137

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Aruba para niños

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