The El Salvador national football team does actually have a history in FIFA world cup finals tournaments. Although they have never progressed past the group stages they featured in 1970 and 1982.
They have also never won or even drawn a world cup finals match in six attempts. With their qualification in 1970 they became the first Central American team to appear in a FIFA world cup. In 1982 they became the first Central American team not only to appear twice at a world cup but also the first one to score a goal. Compared to some of the other teams in their qualifying region the El Salvador national football team have a long international history. They played their first international match in 1921.
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. It is about the size of Wales. It shares borders with Guatemala and Honduras. It has a long history of natural disasters including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The country actually has 20 volcanoes with two of them classed as active. As with many of the countries in this region tourism is the largest part of the country’s economy. This is despite them only having one international airport.
With their impressive qualification record the El Salvador national football team may feel more pressure than most countries their size.