Aruba national football team


The Aruba national football team represents Aruba in men's international football, which is governed by the Arubaanse Voetbal Bond founded in 1932. It has been a member of FIFA and CONCACAF since 1988. Regionally, it is a member of CFU in the Caribbean Zone.
Aruba has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but has participated twice in League B and twice in League C of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Aruba's debut in international competitions was in the 1955 CCCF Championship. Their first appearance in World Cup qualifiers was in the 1998 CONCACAF qualification. The team achieved its first victory in 1938, defeating [Suriname national Association football|football team|Suriname] 5–0. After its separation of the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, the modern Aruba achieved its first victory in 1997, defeating Netherlands Antilles 2–1.

History

Between 1924 and 1933, Aruba only played against Curaçao, 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 played for the Netherlands Antilles at the 1952 Olympic Games. Under the flag of the Curaçao Football Association, they won gold with the Netherlands Antilles team at the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games and participated in the 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 and the 1953 series between Aruba, Surinam, British Guiana and professional club La Salle F.C. from Venezuela. 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 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 FIFA 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 and British Virgin Islands, 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 FIFA 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 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, finishing 4th in the first round. In March 2025, Aruba then travel all the way to Southeast Asia to face against Cambodia in a friendly match which is also their first Asian opponents since 2014 against Guam.

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.

Coaching history

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF second round matches against Barbados and Haiti on 4 and 7 June 2025.
''Caps and goals correct as of 4 June 2025, after the match against Barbados.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have been recently called up by the national squad.

Player records

Most appearances

RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer
1Nickenson Paul3702014–present
2Eric Abdul3202011–2023
3Theric Ruiz2812004–2016
4Walter Bennett2722018–present
4Erik Santos de Gouveia2732011–2021
6Matthew Lentink2502014–present
7Terence Groothusen2462019–present
7Leroy Oehlers2402013–2019
9Francois Croes2302008–2021
10Ronald Gómez2262002–2021

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer
1Rovien Ostiana8172023–present
2Ronald Gómez6222002–2021
2Terence Groothusen6242019–present
4Glenroy Lake561995–2002
5Wander Gross452000–2001
5Joshua John492018–2023
5Dwaynalex Raven4102012–2015
5Rensy Barradas4112011–2015
5Maurice Escalona4122004–2014
10Lesley Felomina342000–2001
10Jean-Luc Bergen3102011–2015
10Benjamin Maria3112022–present
10Annuar Kock3172011–2019
10Raymond Baten3212011–2019
10Erik Santos de Gouveia3272011–2021

Head-to-head record

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.
As of 15 November 2025
These all-time records are exclusively class 'A' internationals matches.
AgainstPlayedWonDrawnLostGFGAGDConfederation
6015411−7CONCACAF
82151117−6CONCACAF
210136–3CONCACAF
110070+7CONCACAF
110021+1AFC
100107–7CONCACAF
3300103+7CONCACAF
201134−1CONCACAF
110041+3CONCACAF
2819162253−31CONCACAF
100123−1CONCACAF
4013510−5CONCACAF
100102−2CONCACAF
'310214−3CONCACAF
200237−4CONCACAF
'1010000CONCACAF
211042+2AFC
1010000CONCACAF
4004212−10CONCACAF
4013514–9CONCACAF
1010110CONCACAF
3003014−14CONCACAF
100102−2CONCACAF
'8116920−11CONCACAF
1010000CONCACAF
4112710–3CONCACAF
300327−5CONCACAF
41121011−1CONCACAF
'211030+3CONCACAF
210123−1CONCACAF
200203−3CONCACAF
131210646−40CONCACAF
1001011−11CONCACAF
110010+1CONCACAF
220072+5CONCACAF
200216−5CONMEBOL
Total112182574132272−140FIFA

Honours

Friendly