Four decades later, the case of “el Cachirulazo” is revived thanks to productions such as the film Mexico 86 from Netflix and serves as a starting point to remember the three Olympic participations of the Blue and White.
The sports writer Gustavo Adolfo Velásquez, witness to several decades of Guatemalan soccer, remembers those three classifications with special interest. For him, each one has a particular story.
Seoul 1988: the quota after the “Cachirulazo”
In April 1988, Guatemala hosted the Concacaf U-20 Youth Tournament. What should have been a regional competition led to a complaint against the Mexican team for the use of players who exceeded the permitted age limit.
The investigation, initially promoted by Mexican journalists such as José Ramón Fernández and Antonio Moreno, and supported by the formal protest of the Guatemalan Soccer Federation, culminated in the disqualification of Mexico.
FIFA ratified a two-year sanction for the Mexican teams. As Mexico had won the Concacaf Pre-Olympic, Guatemala, which had finished in second place, obtained a place for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
Under the technical direction of Jorge “El Grillo” Roldán, the team competed in its third Olympic participation. In Group C they lost to Italy (5-2), Iraq (3-0) and Zambia (4-0). They did not advance to the next round, but achieved a classification that was linked to one of the most memorable cases of soccer in the region.
Mexico 1968: the best participation
Ten years earlier, Guatemala had achieved its most outstanding performance in the Olympic Games.
The classification was defined against Costa Rica after tying 3-3 on aggregate score. Since penalty shootouts did not exist at that time, the score was decided by tossing a coin. After a first attempt that fell on edge, Guatemala won the second throw and secured its classification.
In the Olympic tournament, the team captained by Jorge “El Grillo” Roldán reached the quarterfinals. They beat Czechoslovakia 1-0 with a goal from David Stokes, defeated Thailand 4-1 and lost 2-1 to Bulgaria.
In the quarterfinals they lost 1-0 to Hungary, who later won the gold medal. To this day, that remains Guatemala’s best participation in Olympic soccer.
Montreal 1976: the decisive penalty
The second classification came in 1976. A penalty converted by Luis Villavicencio against Cuba secured the ticket to the Montreal Olympic Games. The match was played at the “Mateo Flores” National Stadium, now Doroteo Guamuch Flores, before a crowd that filled the stands.
In Canada, Guatemala tied 0-0 with Israel, tied 1-1 with Mexico and lost 4-1 against France, a team that included Michel Platini. Although they failed to advance from the group stage, the team competed against high-level international rivals.
Three Olympic participations
Guatemala has participated in three editions of the men’s Olympic soccer tournament: Mexico 1968, Montreal 1976 and Seoul 1988.
Each classification had different circumstances: a coin toss, a decisive penalty and the quota obtained after the sanction to Mexico for the “Cachirulazo”.
Since then, the Guatemalan team has not competed in a men’s Olympic soccer tournament again.
The stories of those participations remain in the memory of national sports and are part of one of the most outstanding stages of Guatemalan soccer.