Football War

The Football War (Spanish: La guerra del fútbol), also known as the Soccer War or 100 hour War, was a four-day war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. It was caused by political conflicts between Hondurans and Salvadorans, namely issues concerning immigration from El Salvador to Honduras. These existing tensions between the two countries coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second North American qualifying round of the 1970 FIFA World Cup. On 14 July 1969, the El Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States negotiated a cease-fire which took effect on July 20, with the El Salvadoran troops withdrawn in early August.

Eleven years later the two nations signed a peace treaty on October 30, 1980 to put the border dispute over the Gulf of Fonseca and five sections of land boundary before the International Court of Justice. In 1992, the Court awarded most of the disputed territory to Honduras, and in 1998, Honduras and El Salvador signed a border demarcation treaty to implement the terms of the ICJ decree. The total land area given to Honduras from El Salvador after the court's ruling was around 374.5 km2 (145 sq mi). As of the beginning of 2006 demarcation had not yet been completed, but Honduras and El Salvador maintain normal diplomatic and trade relations.