Page 24 - Ashton & Backwell FC v Camberley Town FA Vase 240922

The Football War

There was heavy rain in
Mexico City on 29 June 1969,
th
as the national teams of El
Salvador and Honduras lined
up against each other in the
final qualifying playoff for
qualification to the 1970
World Cup. It was the third of
three games, a match forced
by Honduras’ victory in the
first leg, and El Salvador’s in
the second, and held in a neutral venue. The first half was a relatively calm
affair, considering the violence that had taken place in the previous two games,
and the sides played out a 2-2 draw, forcing extra time. With 101 minutes on
the clock, Mauricio Rodriguez scored what would ultimately be the winner for
El Salvador, and the players celebrated they qualification. By the time the teams
had left the pitch, their countries were at war.
The problems between the two countries obviously ran much deeper than
football. El Salvador had a population about 50% higher than Honduras, with
around one fifth of the land. In both countries, most of the farmland was
owned by huge corporations (mostly American), meaning the limited land was
even more restricted. But the situation was theoretically better in Honduras,
and the extensive cultural similarities encouraged mass migration from El
Salvador, to the extent that some 20% of the population of Honduras was
Salvadoran by 1969. When Honduran’s started to fight for their land, they were
supported by the government, and El Salvador made diplomatic complains
about the lack of protection their own citizens received from their neighbours.
Tensions grew, and in the run up to their World Cup qualification playoff the
atmosphere reached fever pitch. Posters were put up and passed around by
Honduran nationalists, declaring that Salvadorans were “a thief, a drunkard, a
lecher, crook or ruffian”, and
warning them “don’t stay in
Honduras. Get out or expect
punishment.” The entire
county became a tinder box,
and that box just needed a
spark to set it alight. That
spark came at the beginning of
June, when Honduran authorities
started “forcibly removing”