Maynor Figueroa

Early career

Born in Jutiapa, Atlántida, Figueroa started his career with Victoria, before moving to Olimpia in 2003. He later became club captain. In 2007, Figueroa received offers from Major League Soccer clubs, one of which was revealed to be New England Revolution, but Olimpia's administrator, Osman Madrid, turned down all the offers. Figueroa had drawn previous interest from foreign clubs aside from those in MLS, including Club Toluca of Mexico making offers during 2007. However, during an interview, Madrid indicated the terms sought by other teams had been neither agreeable nor economically favourable to Olimpia or Figueroa.

Loan to Wigan Athletic

On 20 December 2007, Honduran newspaper El Heraldo reported that, as a result of interest expressed by the Premier League club Wigan Athletic, Figueroa would travel to England. In January 2008, Figueroa joined Wigan on loan for the rest of the 2007–08 season. In July 2008, after a complicated process involving work permit and visa issues, Figueroa rejoined Wigan on loan for a further six months, after which Wigan had the option to make the deal permanent following a successful loan spell.

Permanent move to Wigan

On 23 December 2008, Wigan announced Figueroa had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract to join permanently. He scored his first goal for Wigan on 11 January 2009. He scored a close range header to secure a late winner against Tottenham Hotspur. On 12 December 2009, Figueroa scored a goal…

Club

Notes

International

Scores and results list Honduras' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Figueroa goal.

Figueroa made his debut for Honduras in 2003 and was a part of the Honduras squad at the 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cups, earning a combined total of 25 caps. He was also named in the 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. At the time, Figueroa played out of position as a centre–back at the World Cup, due to emergence of Emilio Izaguirre at the left–back position. He was again named to Honduras' squad for the 2014 World Cup. Figueroa also represented Honduras at U-20 and U-23 level from 1999 to 2003 and 2001 to 2003 respectively, scoring once in three games for the U-20s. He joined the U-23 squad as an overage player for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He has won over 180 caps, the most for Honduras, scoring six goals since his debut, and served as captain from 2014 until 2022. In June 2021, Figueroa led Honduras into the finals of the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League tournament. He would play in Honduras' 1–0 loss to the United States, and in the third place play-off, where Honduras prevailed over rivals Costa Rica 5–4 on penalties, after a 2–2 draw.

Figueroa is married to Sandra Norales, a handball player who represented Honduras in that sport. Together they have two sons and one daughter. One of their sons, Keyrol, plays as a forward for Liverpool Academy. Figueroa also has a son with Laura Moncada, named Dereck, who plays as forward for Lugano in the Swiss Super League. Figueroa is of Garifuna heritage. He is close friends with Honduran and former Dynamo teammate Boniek García. In 2020 Figueroa received his U.S. green card which qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.