Honduras is making its third appearance in the World Cup (1982 Spain World Cup and 2010 South Africa World Cup), having finished in third place in the CONCACAF qualifiers, earning a rare victory over Mexico at Estadio Azteca to punch its ticket to Brazil.

Honduras, which has never won a World Cup game and has an overall record of 0-3-3 in tournament competition, hopes to finally earn its first tournament victory since making their first appearance in the Spain 1982 World Cup. Los Catrachos face stiff competition in 1998 World Cup winner France (ranked 17th by FIFA), a tough Ecuador (ranked 26th) that finished fourth in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers and Switzerland (ranked sixth) in Group E.

Honduras features young players who are competing in Europe, such as Celtic left-back Emilio Izaguirre, who won the 2010-2011 Scottish Premier League Player of the Year award; Wilson Palacios, playing for Stoke City of the English Premier League (EPL); Maynor Figueroa of Hull City in the EPL; Roger Espinoza, playing for Wigan of England's Football League Championship; Rony Martinez, playing in La Liga's Real Sociedad team; and Andy Najar of the Belgian Pro League club Anderlecht.

While the team is young, Figueroa is hoping that the heartbreak of going goalless in South Africa will give the team to the drive to push harder this time around.

"We come [to the World Cup] with the desire and determination that things will work out better than they did in the last World Cup," Figeroa, who played with team in the 2010 South Africa World Cup, told Univision.

But despite a large portion of their team getting quality experience in Europe, Major League Soccer (MLS) or even their previous World Cup run, their inexperience in the spotlight may come back to haunt them, especially in their opener against France -- which features world-class players like Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

"We know we are not the favorites," said Honduras coach Luis Fernando Suarez said to ESPNFC.com. "We know that of the four teams, the world sees us as the fourth team. We see that as incentive. We see that as a challenge."

Honduras also faces the prospect of closing out their tournament run playing in Arena da Amazônia in Manaus against Switzerland with the facility having issues with the condition of the pitch. Honduras and Switzerland are the fourth game and last game slated for Arena da Amazônia with officials hopeful that the soccer field will be presentable and playable by the time Italy and England play the first game in the venue.

"Frankly, Manaus is in bad shape," said Carlos Botella, head groundsman for the Royal Verd company responsible for maintenance at six of the World Cup stadiums including Arena da Amazônia. "We've started to implement an emergency plan to try to save the field and improve it as much as possible, but I don't think it'll be in good condition [by the weekend]."

Despite a confident squad with players looking to reverse their World Cup fortunes for the impoverished nation, all these factors working against Honduras will likely leave the team winless yet again, ending their tournament run with an early trip back home to Tegucigalpa. Still, Suarez will not allow the expectations of others dampen his team's positivity.

"We want to go further than we have in the past in previous appearances in Spain and last time in South Africa, but we also know it's a great challenge," Suarez said.