Dominican Republic men's national association football team

The Dominican Republic national football team represents the Dominican Republic in men's international football, and is governed by the Dominican Football Federation. The team is a member of the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF, the governing body of football in North and Central America and the Caribbean. As of 13 September 2023, the Dominican Republic is currently ranked 152nd in the FIFA World Rankings. As is the case in many other Caribbean nations, association football has not traditionally been the most popular sport in the Dominican Republic. Interest in baseball diverts away from football and contributes to the country's lack of success in any major football tournament qualification. As of 2022, the Dominican Republic has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, nor the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In spite of this, the country's youth football team has enjoyed recent success, qualifying for both the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2024 Olympic football tournaments. History The Dominican Football Federation was founded in 1953 and joined FIFA in 1959. The national team played their first games in May 1967 – a two-legged qualifier against Haiti for a place in the football at the 1968 Summer Olympics of Mexico. The first leg was played at home on 21 May and Haiti won 8–0. The second leg in Haiti was won by the hosts 6–0 on 27 May, as Haiti went through 14–0 on aggregate. The Dominican Republic did not play another match until March 1970, when they entered at the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama. They were placed in a group with Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The Dominican Republic lost 5–0 to Venezuela on 4 March, then gained their first ever win on 6 March by beating Puerto Rico 5–0. They did not advance to the next round.