A place in the World Cup via the play-offs would have been the most realistic route for Honduras. 

So when they gained automatic qualification to the finals, the nation celebrated with big parties up and down the country.

Brazil 2014 will be their second successive finals but qualification out of the group stage is likely to be a step too far for coach Luis Fernando Suarez.

He guided his side to third in the qualification group stage, behind USA and Costa Rica which saw them avoid the play-offs.

But despite making it to the group stages, it is very difficult to see where they will pick up a point.

They have no stand-out players and their game is based more of the defensive side on the game rather than the attacking.

Suarez likes to set his teams out in a 4-4-2 formation with two holding midfielders in Wilson Palacios and Roger Espinoza. 

Neither are known for their attacking flair but most of the play will go through Palacios, despite the ex-Tottenham player not being the most creative midfielder.

Their most creative outlet tends to be the left-back, Celtic’s Emilio Izaguirre.

The 27-year-old has become an important part of the Scottish and national side and Suarez will need him to continue his fine form this summer.

His crosses for strikers Jerry Bengston and Carlo Costly will be the main source for goals.

Honduras can draw hope from the 2010 World Cup, where they were narrowly defeated by Spain 2-0 and Chile 1-0.

However, they have lost both their World Cup friendlies, first a 2-0 defeat to Turkey last Thursday and then on Sunday they were brushed aside by Israel 4-2.

And with France their first opponents at the tournament,  Suarez is going to need a lot of improvement from his players in a short amount of time if they are to avoid a heavy opening match defeat.