Honduras emerged out of a much weaker selection of teams to book their spot in Brazil compared to Turkey; the Turks had to compete with many more tough sides and could not secure qualification. However, the players they have in their squad are arguably stronger than those Honduras possess. Honduras nonetheless gave a good account of themselves in the previous World Cup in 2010.
Honduras has a very tough group to navigate their way through in the World Cup. They have been placed with international powerhouses France, talented Switzerland and Ecuador in the World Cup. The French tend to shoot themselves in the foot while the Swiss tend to underwhelm despite the talent at their disposal.
Nonetheless, Honduras has to work extremely hard to overcome any of the sides in their group.
Six of Honduras’ stars ply their trade in England. Hull City’s Maynor Figueroa and Stoke midfielder Wilson Palacios are amongst the more common names. Wigan Athletic is home to Juan Carlos Garcia and Roger Espinoza. International experience will definitely aid Wigan’s cause ahead of a tournament nobody expects them to do well in.
Honduras has played only one friendly this year; the match came against Venezuela. Honduras recorded a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Jerry Bengtson and Jerry Palacios. In 2013, their results were quite good. They lost to their more glorious neighbors, USA, 3-1, in the Gold Cup. They had beaten Costa Rica and El Salvador by a solitary goal and Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti by two goals earlier in the tournament. Overall, the performances in the Gold Cup were good ones.
Their opponents, Turkey, recorded three friendly victories in this year itself. They beat Republic of Ireland, 1-2 and hammered Kosovo 1-6 away from home. They also beat Sweden, 2-1. Turkey most recently faced Honduras in 2010. They earned a 2-0 win.
Can Turkey win this match? Or will Honduras record a good win?
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels
Watch Honduras vs Turkey live on Thursday, May 29, 2014
In Canada at 20:00 ET on beIN Sports Play Canada, beIN Sports Canada
In the UK at 00:00 BST on Premier Sports
In the USA at 20:00 ET on beIN Sports en Español, beIN Sports Play, Univision Deportes, beIN Sports USA
In Turkey, Show TV will broadcast the match.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Honduras-Turkey match page.
