The matches between El Salvador and Honduras increased political tensions between both countries, resulting the outbreak of the Football War in July 1969 causing over 2,000 deaths.
El Salvador lost all three matches it played against Belgium, Mexico, and the Soviet Union and failed to score a goal.
The match against Hungary resulted in the largest defeat in FIFA World Cup history when El Salvador lost by a score of 10–1.
El Salvador is ranked 80th (last place) all-time for its performance at the FIFA World Cup by the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
[1] During the first round of CONCACAF qualifiers, El Salvador was drawn into a double round-robin group against Suriname and Netherlands Antilles, winning all four of its matches.
[2] Prior to the matches, tensions were high between the Salvadoran and Honduran governments regarding the status of 300,000 illegal immigrants from El Salvador who were living and working in Honduras.
[4][5] A third leg was held in Mexico City on 27 June 1969 as both teams had won a match; El Salvador defeated Honduras by a score of 3–2 after an extra time goal by Pipo Rodríguez in the 101st minute.
A third leg was held in Kingston, Jamaica on 8 October 1969 as both teams had won a match, where El Salvador defeated Haiti 1–0 in extra time.
[7] For the 1970 FIFA World Cup, El Salvador was drawn into Group 1 along with Belgium, Mexico (the tournament's host), and the Soviet Union.
Both Honduras, the tournament's winner, and El Salvador, the runner-up, both qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
[16] El Salvador's squad consisted of 20 players,[17] rather than the 22 allowed as Salvadoran officials decided to bring some "cronies" in their place.
[18] Mauricio Rodríguez, who played for El Salvador at the 1970 FIFA World Cup,[9] was the manager and Norberto Huezo was the captain.
[21] Prior to the match, Belgian manager Guy Thys described El Salvador's loss to Hungary as "the most shameful" to ever occur at the FIFA World Cup.