 | |||
| Nickname(s) | La Blanquirroja (The White and Red) Los Incas (TheIncas) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) | ||
| Confederation | CONMEBOL (South America) | ||
| Captain | Emilio Saba | ||
| Home stadium | Estadio Nacional | ||
| FIFA code | PER | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Peru 7–3Finland  (Berlin,Germany; 6 August 1930) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Peru 6–0Uruguay  (Lima,Peru; 16 December 1959) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Paraguay 7–1Peru(Asuncion,Paraguay; 7 February 1992) | |||
| Olympics | |||
| Appearances | 2 (first in1936) | ||
| Best result | Quarter-finals (1936) | ||
| Pan American Games | |||
| Appearances | 2 (first in2015) | ||
| Best result | Group stage (2015,2019) | ||
Peru Olympic football team (also known asPeru under-23,Peru U23) representsPeru in internationalfootball competitions inmulti-sport events such as theOlympic Games and thePan American Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three overage players. The team is controlled by thePeruvian Football Federation (FPF).Peru has participated in twoOlympic football tournaments and twoPan American football tournaments under this category.
The squad requirements to participate in the Summer Olympics has changed multiple times through the history of the competition. Since 1992, squads forFootball at the Summer Olympics have been restricted to three players over the age of 23 with similar changes occurring in thePan American Games in 1999. The achievements of such teams are not usually included in the statistics of the international team.
Peru qualified the Olympics for its first time in 1936,[1] after finishing third in the1935 South American Championship. Argentina and Uruguay, who had finished ahead, refuse to participate because of economic issues.
Among the line of players featured in this first participation of theBlanquirroja wereAlejandro Villanueva,Teodoro Fernández,Juan Valdivieso, andAdelfo Magallanes.[2] The Peruvian players, after arriving in Germany via an Italian ship, were awestruck by the modern stadiums and the German idolatry ofAdolf Hitler.[1] The first match againstFinland was played on 6 August 1936, and was won with great ease by the Peruvians with a 7-3 result.[2] Peru's next match was againstAustria in the quarterfinals. The match was highly contested, and the game went into overtime where the Peruvians tied against the Austrians after being two goals behind. Peru scored 5 goals during overtime, of which 3 were nullified by the referee, and won by a final score of 4-2.[1]
The Austrians demanded a rematch on the grounds that Peruvian fans had stormed the field, and because the field did not meet the requirements for a football game.[1][2] Austria further claimed that the Peruvian players had manhandled the Austrian players and that spectators, one holding a revolver, had "swarmed down on the field."[3] Peru was notified of this situation, and they attempted to go to the assigned meeting but were delayed by a German parade.[1] At the end, the Peruvian defense was never heard, and the Olympic Committee andFIFA sided with the Austrians. The rematch was scheduled to be taken under close grounds on 10 August, and later rescheduled to be taken on 11 August.[2][3]
As a sign of protest against these actions, which the Peruvians deemed as insulting anddiscriminatory, the complete Olympic delegations of Peru andColombia left Germany.[4][5] Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico expressed their solidarity with Peru.[3] Michael Dasso, a member of the Peruvian Olympic Committee, stated: "We've no faith in European athletics. We have come here and found a bunch of merchants."[6] The game was awarded to Austria by default.[3] In Peru, angry crowds protested against the decisions of the Olympic Committee by tearing down an Olympic flag, throwing stones at the German consulate, refusing to load German vessels in the docks ofCallao, and listening to inflammatory speeches which included PresidentOscar Benavides Larrea's mention of "the crafty Berlin decision."[3] To this day, it is not known with certainty what exactly happened in Germany, but it is popularly believed thatAdolf Hitler and theNazi authorities might have had some involvement in the situation.[5]
After 24 years, Peru once again qualified for the football tournament at the1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome with their U-23 football team. It defeatedUruguay in the two-leg play-off round by 6-0 inLima and then by 3-2 inMontevideo. The five play-off winners faced each other in a special tournament held in Lima in April 1960.Los Incas finished third ahead ofMexico andSuriname and thus qualified for the tournament in Rome.
In their first match of the tournament, Peru started out with a surprise asAngel Uribe scored a 1st-minute goal againstFrance.[7] Peru would go on to lose 2-1 against the French, and were later beaten byHungary in a result of 6-2, with onlyAlberto Ramírez scoring goals for theBlanquirroja.[8] Their last match was againstIndia, which was a comfortable 3-1 score in favor of the Peruvians with goals byNicolas Nieri andThomas Iwasaki.[9]
Peru has not qualified again to the tournament since 1960, but were close to qualifying again in the 1964 and 1980CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournaments.
An official multi-sport event squad was created once again for the first time since the 1960 Summer Olympics in 2015 for Peru's first participation in the Pan American football tournament held inCanada. Peru had qualified to this tournament once before in 2007.CONMEBOL only accepted to play with Under-17 teams that year (qualified through the2007 South American Under-17 Football Championship), since the Under-20 teams had to participate in theU-20 World Cup at the same time. Peru declined to participate because theUnder-17 team preferred to play friendlies in Asia in preparation of theU-17 World Cup, soBolivia took its place.
Thus Peru qualified once again in 2015 via the2015 South American U-20 Championship. That year the top three teams in thefinal stage of the tournament qualified to the2016 Olympic tournament and the bottom three to the 2015 Pan American tournament of which Peru finished 5th.
The team's first game was againstPanama on July 12. Panama put themselves ahead viaJorman Aguilar at the beginning of the first half. Peru then equalized the score through a goal byGonzalo Maldonado twelve minutes later. The deadlock was broken in the 90th minute whenElsar Rodas committed a foul against the PanamanianCecilio Waterman who was awarded a penalty that was converted byFidel Escobar for a final score of 2–1. The second game was againstBrazil with a final score of 4–0 with goals ofLuan,Clayton,Rômulo, andDodô. This was enough to mathematically eliminate Peru out of the tournament before its third game againstCanada. During that gameElsar Rodas scored the first and thenManjrekar James scored anown goal in the second half for a final 0–2 against the locals.
Peru qualified to the 2019 tournament as host. It lost its first game by 2–0 againstUruguay. Peru's second game was againstHonduras who scored two goals ininjury time of the game for a 2–2 draw. Peru's two goals were scored byKevin Quevedo andJordan Guivin. On the last match day, Uruguay defeated Honduras by 3–0 which would qualify Peru the second round of the tournament if it was able to defeat Jamaica. In the end Jamaica defeated Peru with two goals in the second half, relegating Peru to the 7th place match againstEcuador. There, a final score of 1–1 forced both teams to decide the match in penalties which Peru won by 4–2 to finish 7th of eight teams.
The Bolivarian Games (Spanish:Juegos Bolivarianos) are a regionalmulti-sport event held in honor ofSimón Bolívar, and organized by theBolivarian Sports Organization (Organización Deportiva Bolivariana, ODEBO). The games' football tournament has changed category multiple times during the history of the competition with full national teams participating only on the first edition in1938. At times the competition was limited to only amateur sides or youth teams:
Win Draw Loss Fixture
v
Peru| 9 DecemberFriendly | Colombia | 1–1 | Peru | Cartagena, Colombia |
| 17:30 UTC−5 |
|
| Stadium:Estadio Jaime Morón |
v Peru| 12 DecemberFriendly | Colombia | 3–1 | Peru | Barranquilla, Colombia |
| 17:00 UTC−5 |
| Stadium:Estadio Romelio Martínez |
v
Bolivia| 19 DecemberFriendly | Peru | 4–0 | Bolivia | Lima, Peru |
| 21:00 UTC−5 | Stadium:Villa Deportiva Nacional Referee:Jesús Cartagena (Peru) |
v Bolivia| 22 DecemberFriendly | Peru | 1–1 | Bolivia | Lima, Peru |
| 15:30 UTC−5 | Roca 21' | Carlos 18' | Stadium:Villa Deportiva Nacional Referee:Bruno Pérez (Peru) |
v
Chile| 21 January2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament | Peru | 1–0 | Chile | Valencia, Venezuela |
| 15:00 UTC−4 | Flores 67' | Stadium:Estadio Misael Delgado Referee:Jhon Ospina (Colombia) |
v
Argentina| 24 January2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament | Peru | 0–2 | Argentina | Valencia, Venezuela |
| 19:00 UTC−4 | Stadium:Estadio Misael Delgado Referee:Gery Vargas (Bolivia) |
v Peru| 27 January2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament | Paraguay | 1–0 | Peru | Valencia, Venezuela |
| 16:00 | Fernández 18' | Report | Stadium:Estadio Misael Delgado Referee:Augusto Aragón (Ecuador) |
v Peru| 30 January2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament | Uruguay | 3–0 | Peru | Valencia, Venezuela |
| 16:00 UTC−4 |
| Report | Stadium:Estadio Misael Delgado Referee:Gery Vargas (Bolivia) |
The following 23 players were called up for the2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament from 20 January to 11 February.
Caps and goals are correct as of 24 January 2024, after the match againstArgentina.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1GK | Jeferson Nolasco | (2002-01-24)24 January 2002 (age 23) | 4 | 0 | Cienciano |
| 1 | 1GK | Diego Romero | (2001-08-17)17 August 2001 (age 24) | 2 | 0 | Universitario |
| 12 | 1GK | Jhefferson Rodriguez | (2000-03-13)13 March 2000 (age 25) | 0 | 0 | Universitario |
| 7 | 2DF | Emilio Saba(captain) | (2001-03-26)26 March 2001 (age 24) | 6 | 1 | Mannucci |
| 14 | 2DF | Marco Huamán | (2002-09-25)25 September 2002 (age 23) | 6 | 0 | Alianza Lima |
| 4 | 2DF | Erick Noreiga | (2001-07-22)22 July 2001 (age 24) | 5 | 0 | Comerciantes Unidos |
| 15 | 2DF | Julinho Astudillo | (2005-01-07)7 January 2005 (age 20) | 4 | 0 | Universitario |
| 13 | 2DF | Mathias Llontop | (2002-05-22)22 May 2002 (age 23) | 4 | 0 | Carlos A. Mannucci |
| 3 | 2DF | Alejandro Posito | (2005-08-05)5 August 2005 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Sporting Cristal |
| 2 | 2DF | Anderson Villacorta | (2005-07-25)25 July 2005 (age 20) | 2 | 0 |  Zacatecas |
| 5 | 2DF | Rafael Lutiger | (2001-07-03)3 July 2001 (age 24) | 2 | 0 | Sporting Cristal |
| 24 | 2DF | Brian Arias | (2009-09-02)2 September 2009 (age 16) | 1 | 0 | Alianza Lima |
| 8 | 3MF | Álvaro Rojas | (2005-03-12)12 March 2005 (age 20) | 6 | 0 | Universitario |
| 6 | 3MF | Ian Wisdom | (2005-09-14)14 September 2005 (age 20) | 5 | 0 | Sporting Cristal |
| 23 | 3MF | Franchesco Flores | (2001-06-15)15 June 2001 (age 24) | 4 | 1 | Universidad César Vallejo |
| 16 | 3MF | Eslyn Correa | (2005-06-29)29 June 2005 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Cusco FC |
| 18 | 3MF | Alessandro Burlamaqui | (2002-02-18)18 February 2002 (age 23) | 2 | 0 |  Intercity |
| 17 | 4FW | Bassco Soyer | (2006-10-17)17 October 2006 (age 19) | 2 | 0 | Alianza Lima |
| 20 | 4FW | Juan Pablo Goicochea | (2005-01-12)12 January 2005 (age 20) | 6 | 1 | Platense |
| 9 | 4FW | Víctor Guzmán | (2006-03-25)25 March 2006 (age 19) | 5 | 3 | Alianza Lima |
| 19 | 4FW | Guillermo Larios | (2002-05-11)11 May 2002 (age 23) | 4 | 0 | Alianza Atlético |
| 11 | 4FW | Diether Vásquez | (2003-06-06)6 June 2003 (age 22) | 3 | 0 |  UE Santa Coloma |
The players listed below were not included in the current squad, but have been called up by Peru in the last 12 months.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Diego Enríquez | (2002-01-24)24 January 2002 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | Binacional | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| GK | Diego Romero | (2001-08-17)17 August 2001 (age 24) | 0 | 0 | Universitario | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| DF | Leonardo Rugel | (2001-06-02)2 June 2001 (age 24) | 1 | 0 | Universitario | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| DF | Anderson Villacorta | (2005-07-25)25 July 2005 (age 20) | 0 | 0 | Universidad César Vallejo | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| MF | Catriel Cabellos | (2004-08-18)18 August 2004 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | Racing | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| MF | Adrián Ascues | (2002-11-15)15 November 2002 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | Deportivo Municipal | |
| MF | Álvaro Rojas | (2005-03-12)12 March 2005 (age 20) | 0 | 0 | Universitario | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| MF | Gonzalo Aguirre | (2003-05-06)6 May 2003 (age 22) | 0 | 0 | Sporting Cristal | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| FW | Didier La Torre | (2002-03-21)21 March 2002 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | Cienciano | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| FW | Kenji Cabrera | (2003-01-27)27 January 2003 (age 22) | 0 | 0 | Melgar | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| FW | Enrique Peña | (2005-04-25)25 April 2005 (age 20) | 0 | 0 | Real Valladolid | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| FW | Tiago Cantoro | (2001-01-06)6 January 2001 (age 24) | 0 | 0 | Cusco | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
| FW | Maycol Infante | (2005-07-20)20 July 2005 (age 20) | 0 | 0 | UTC | Mycrocicle #1, 8–16 October 2023 |
INJ Withdrew due to injury | ||||||
| Olympic Games record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad |
 1896 | No football tournament | ||||||||
| From1900 to1928 | Did not enter | ||||||||
 1932 | No football tournament | ||||||||
 1936 | Quarter-finals | 5th | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | Squad |
| From1948 to1956 | Did not enter | ||||||||
 1960 | Round 1 | 11th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | Squad |
| From1964 to1980 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1984 | Withdrew | ||||||||
| From1988 to2024 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2028 | To be determined | ||||||||
 2032 | |||||||||
| Total | Quarter-finals | 2/26 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 14 | — |
| Pan American Games record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| From1951 to2003 | Did not qualify | |||||||
 2007 | Withdrew | |||||||
| 2011 | Did not qualify | |||||||
 2015 | Round 1 | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 2019 | 7th Place | 7th | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 2023 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2027 | Qualified as hosts | |||||||
| Total | 7th Place | 2/19 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 |
| CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1980 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 5 |
| 1964 | Third Place | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 1968 | Group Stage | 6th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1971 | Fourth Place | 4th | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| 1976 | Group Stage | 6th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 1980 | Third Place | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
 1984 | Withdrew | |||||||
 1987 | Group Stage | 9th | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 1992 | Group Stage | 7th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
| 1996 | Group Stage | 9th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| 2000 | Group Stage | 5th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8 |
| 2004 | Group Stage | 7th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| 2020 | Group Stage | 9th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
 2024 | Group Stage | TBD | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Total | Runners-up | 13/14 | 59 | 21 | 10 | 28 | 79 | 92 |
| Bolivarian Games Record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
| 1938 | Gold Medal | 1/5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 |
| 1947-48 | Gold Medal | 1/3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
 1951 | Bronze Medal | 3/5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 1961 | Gold Medal | 1/4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 |
| 1965 | Did not enter | |||||||
| 1970 | ||||||||
 1973 | Gold Medal | 1/4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 |
| 1977 | Bronze Medal | 3/3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
 1981 | Gold Medal | 1/4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 1985 | SeePeru Under-20 team | |||||||
| Since 1993 | SeePeru Under-17 team | |||||||
| Total | 5 Gold Medals 2 Bronze Medal | 7/9 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 4 | 65 | 24 |
| National teams | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League system | |||||
| Domestic cups |
| ||||
| Friendly cups |
| ||||
| Youth |
| ||||
| Women's |
| ||||
| Related articles | |||||
