July 14 in Sports History: The El Salvador – Honduras Soccer War

In 1969: We’ve all heard of soccer riots. But a soccer war? Border tensions were escalating between Honduras and El Salvador for years, and a series of World Cup qualifying matches between the two countries spilled over into violence. Visiting fans were attacked and brutalized in each country. In the second game in El Salvador on June 27, Hondurans were attacked, their flag burned, and a girl committed suicide on the field. While the Soccer War was not directly related to soccer and more about the economic disparity between the two countries, the actions during the game in San Salvador caused the two governments to break off diplomatic relations, thus leading to combat. It was believed that over 6,000 people died in the Soccer War, which lasted only four days.