Diriangén FC

Cacique Diriangén Fútbol club is a Nicaraguan professional football club based in Diriamba which competes in Nicaraguan Premier Division (Primera Division). It is one of the oldest clubs in not only Nicaragua but also in Central America.

Founded in 1917, Diriangén has won a total of 30 domestic titles, including at least one in every decade since the 1940s. They are also the only club in Nicaragua to have competed in every season of the league's top flight. As a result of this success, the club has become associated with the motto "Diriangén no tuvo infancia, porque nació grande" ("Diriangen never had a childhood because it was born big")'.

Diriangén's strongest era was in the 1940s, when they won six consecutive championships (1940–45). They won a seventh championship in 1949, and hoisted the crown three times in the 1950s (1953, 1956, and 1959). A long drought followed in the 1960s, but the club rebounded with consecutive titles in 1969–70 and again in 1974.

The 1980s saw a return to the form of glory days past. It opened with a threepeat (1981, 1982, and 1983) and included other championships in 1987 and 1989. The 1990s were similar—a threepeat from 1994–97, followed by a title win in 1999–2000. However, the 2000s didn't go quite as well. Although Diriangén managed to win the championship in 2004–2005 and 2005–2006, the real power in Nicaragua had shifted to Real Esteli, winners of thirteen championships in 16 years.

Meanwhile, Diriangén struggled through a thirteen year title drought. That year was finally broken in Clausura 2018, when they knocked off Real Esteli 3–1 on aggregate.

The club celebrated its 100-year celebration in 2017 [1] Archived 2019-05-05 at the Wayback Machine

As of: July, 2025 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

• Douglas Forvis
• Brayan Rodriguez
• Jose Rodolfo Montiel

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

As of May 2025

Diriangén is historically the most successful team in Nicaraguan football, as they have won the most Primera División de Nicaragua with thirty-three (33) and won 3 Copa de Nicaragua.

• Primera División de Nicaragua and predecessors
  • Champions (33) : 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2006, Clausura 2018, 2021 Clausura, 2021 Apertura, Clausura 2022, 2023 Apertura, Clausura 2024, Apertura 2024

• Copa de Nicaragua and predecessors
  • Champions (4) : 1996, 1997, 2020, 2024

Below are the notable former and current players who have represented Diriangen in Primera Division and international competition since the club's foundation in 1917. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club, and or who has been called up by their national team.

• CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup: 2 appearances

1994 – Quarter-Finals

1997 – Qualifying Stage (Central Zone)

As of 2013-09-13

The Concacaf opponents below = Official tournament results: (Plus a sampling of other results)

• claro (2001–06)
• Movistar (2007–2015)
• claro (2015–present)
• totto (2014–present)
• U de M (2014–present)
• Alcaldía de Diriamba (2014–present)
• CrediFacil
• Proplasa
• betcris
• Victoria Frost
• Iresa
• Flor de Cana

• Joma (2003–2022)
• Macron (2022-present; also the shirt manufacturers) [2]

José María Bermúdez holds the distinction of scoring the most goals in one match, he notched 9 goals in 1997 match against Xiletepelt.[3]

Top Goalscorer (TBD)

The following players have won the league top Goalscorer while playing for Diriangén [4]:

• Manuel Cuadra (-) - 1968
• Manuel Cuadra (-) - 1969
• Mauricio Cruz (-) - 1983
• Mauricio Cruz (-) - 1984
• Mauricio Cruz (-) - 1985
• Mauricio Cruz (-) - 1987
• Livio Bendana (-) - 1990
• José Maria Bermúdez (-) - 1997-1998
• Sergio Gago (-) - 1998-1999
• Lester Gonzalez (-) - 1999-2000
• Carlos Novoa (-) - 2002-2003
• Emilio Palacios (8) - Apertura 2004
• Herberth Cabrera (15) - 2010-2011
• Maycon Santana (10) - 2021
• Luis Coronel (11) - 2024 Clausura

The stadium, Estadio Cacique Diriangén, holds 7,500 people. It is a multi-purpose stadium, and has been the home stadium of the Nicaragua national football team for many years. The stadium has much history: In this stadium the club Diriangén FC won against many teams from Central America.

Diriangen has had permanent managers since it first appointed Napolen Parrales Bendaña as coach in 1917. The longest-serving manager was Mauricio Cruz Jiron, who managed Diriangen for fourteen years from 1992 to 2006. Hungarian Eduardo Kosovic was the foreign coach in the club. Mauricio Cruz Jiron is the most successful manager as he led the club to seven primera division titles.

The following managers have won at least one trophy while in charge at Diriangen:

The women's team has won the Nicaraguan women's football championship four times in 2000, 2001, 2003 and lately in 2010.

• Soccerway profile
• Los inmortales caciques (history) – La Prensa (in Spanish)
• Historias del Fútbol Diriambino: Nacimiento del Diriangen Papyfutbol – Futbol de Nicaragua (in Spanish)
• De la gloria a la inmortalidad – La Prensa (in Spanish)
• El Equipo Diriangen de Futbol – Multicampeon Nica – Diriamba (in Spanish)
• Livio Bendaña Espinoza – El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish)
• Luis Mario "El Mesie" Orellana Castro – Notifutbol (in Spanish)
• Diriangen FC: 92 Años de Orgullo y Pasión – Notifutbol (in Spanish)
• Defendamos 83 años de historia – El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish)
• Trece técnicos han pasado durante la sequía – Barra Cacique (in Spanish)