The Suriname national football team (, ) represents Suriname in men's international football. The team is controlled by the Surinamese Football Association (SVB), which is a member of CONCACAF (despite Suriname being geographically located in South America).
Suriname featured in the now-defunct CCCF Championship once, finishing fourth in the 1960 tournament. More recently, the country has played in four editions of the North American continental championship (the former CONCACAF Championship and its successor the CONCACAF Gold Cup), with the team's best ever finish coming in the 1977 tournament, when they finished sixth. The country has never played at the FIFA World Cup, though qualified for the inter-confederation playoffs for the first time ahead of the 2026 tournament. In a bid to reach the World Cup for the first time, the SVB has began selecting many uncapped Dutch-born players eligible to play for the country for the national team, of which there are many due to the country being a former Dutch colony. The SVB has also selected Dutch coaching staff.
Although the former Dutch colony is located in South America, it competes in CONCACAF, together with Guyana and French Guiana. Suriname was one of the founding members of CONCACAF in 1961. Suriname won the CFU Championship in 1978, were runners-up in 1979 and have achieved three fourth-place finishes in the CFU Championship/Caribbean Cup. Suriname discourages dual citizenship and Surinamese-Dutch players who have picked up a Netherlands passport â which, crucially, offers legal work status in almost any European league â are barred from selection to the national team. Many Suriname-born players and Dutch-born players of Surinamese descent, like Gerald Vanenburg, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Michael Reiziger, Aron Winter, Georginio Wijnaldum, Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries, Ryan Gravenberch, Xavi Simons and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink have turned out to play for the Dutch national team. In 1999, Humphrey Mijnals, who played for both Suriname and the Netherlands, was elected Surinamese footballer of the century. Another famous player is André Kamperveen, who captained Suriname in the 1940s and was the first Surinamese to play professionally in the Netherlands.
Suriname has participated in the qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup since 1962, but has never qualified for the finals. Suriname's strongest showing in World Cup qualification was the campaign for the 1978 finals, when the national team reached the final group stage.
Suriname also came second in CONCACAF qualifying for the 1964 Olympics, behind qualifiers Mexico and third in qualifying for the 1980 Olympics, behind qualifiers Costa Rica and United States. The US then boycotted the Moscow Olympics, and were replaced by Cuba in the football tournament, after Suriname opted to boycott the games as well.
In 2008 Suriname advanced to the group stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying despite using only local players. With their two-leg victory over neighbours Guyana, Suriname moved on to face Haiti, Costa Rica, and El Salvador in the third round.
Inspired by the success of teams with dual nationals, especially Algeria, SVB president John Krishnadath submitted a proposal to the national assembly to allow dual citizenship for athletes with the then-goal of reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals. In order to support this project, a team with professional players of Surinamese origin was assembled and played an exhibition match on 26 December 2014 at the Andre Kamperveen Stadion. The project is managed by Nordin Wooter and David Endt, who have set up a presentation and sent invitations to 100 players of Surinamese origin, receiving 85 positive answers. Dean Gorré was named to coach this special selection. FIFA supported the project and granted insurance for the players and clubs despite the match being unofficial.
As of May 2015, Gorré was the national team coach who oversaw both the official and unofficial teams. The professional team consisted of players willing to commit to Suriname if the dual-citizenship bill was approved, and played two international matches. In 2016, Roberto Gödeken became the head coach once again. In qualification for the 2017 Caribbean Cup, Suriname secured a spot in the third round, but finished second behind Jamaica in their group. However, as one of the three best second-place finishers, Suriname advanced to face Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti in the 5th place play-off. Suriname won the match against Trinidad and Tobago, but lost against Haiti, hence once again a failed attempt to make an appearance in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
In 2018 Dean Gorré signed a new 2 year contract with the SVB to manage Natio once more. His first game ended in a draw against Dominica in Nations League qualifiers. Gorré became not only the head coach of the senior team, but also oversees the youth teams and also has a helping hand in the introduction of a professional league in the country. Gorré also managed to arrange training camps for the national team in the Netherlands, where Natio have tested their strength against professional and amateur football clubs.
Suriname qualified for the CONCACAF Nations League B after wins against Saint Kitts and Nevis and British Virgin Islands, draw against Dominica and a loss against Jamaica. Suriname got to share a group with Nicaragua, SVG and Dominica. After a narrow away win against Dominica, Suriname got to bag a massive 6âÂÂ0 win at home against Nicaragua.
In November 2019, it was announced that a so-called sports passport would allow Dutch professional footballers from the Surinamese diaspora to represent Suriname. On 19 November, Suriname qualified for the 2021 Gold Cup with 2âÂÂ1 CONCACAF Nations League win over Nicaragua. It will be their debut in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and their first appearance in a CONCACAF tournament since 1985.
In the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Suriname played against Costa Rica, Jamaica and Guadeloupe in Group C. Suriname lost its first two matches against Jamaica and Costa Rica, but ended third in the group following a 2âÂÂ1 win against Guadeloupe.
In late July, the Surinamese Football Association terminated the contract of Dean Gorré after failing to reach Natio's objectives. After the termination of Gorré, SVB announced that they have hired the services of Brian Tevreden's Tevreden Group. The Tevreden Group are involved in the search for a new national coach and the recruitment and selection of Surinamese-Dutch professionals who want to play for Natio.
Under Stanley Menzo's leadership, Suriname advances to its second CONCACAF Gold Cup (albeit its fourth continental tournament) in 2025 in the United States. Matched against Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, it is defeated by the former two, drawing 0âÂÂ0 with the Dominicans.
During the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification third round, Suriname entered as the lowest-ranked of four teams in Group A but led for most of the campaign, which would have earned them a first-ever World Cup berth. On the final match day, tied with group favorites Panama on points but with a superior goal differential, Suriname suffered a 3âÂÂ1 away loss to Guatemala while Panama defeated El Salvador, securing the automatic World Cup spot for Panama while dropping Suriname to a runners-up spot. Their only goal in the game, a second half stoppage-time own goal, kept them from elimination as they finished ahead of Honduras on goals scored as one of best two group runners-ups and qualified for the inter-confederation play-offs. However, Suriname suffered a 2âÂÂ1 defeat to Bolivia in the inter-confederation play-offs, ending their World Cup hopes.
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
'
â Indicates that they managed in no official matches
The following players have also been called up to the Suriname squad within the last twelve months.
<sup>INJ</sup> Withdrew due to injury<br/> <sup>PRE</sup> Preliminary/Standby squad<br/> <sup>RET</sup> Retired from the national team<br/> <sup>SUS</sup> Serving suspension<br/> <sup>WD</sup> Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
As of 26 March 2026
<small>1. Tournament follows a knock-out format, and matches cannot end on a draw.</small>