Ahead of their third World Cup campaign, Honduras has the unenviable record of being one of only two sides heading to Brazil yet to win a World Cup match.

The other is Bosnia and Herzegovina – a nation yet to even compete at the World Cup, let alone record a maiden victory.

It’s a statistic that manager Luis Fernando Suarez would love to end in Brazil and one that, for the first time in three attempts, appears a realistic ambition when they begin their journey next week in Port Alegre against France.

With a largely American-based squad, a team boasting powerful and fit midfielders could flourish in the South American heat. Their ability to adapt to a hot climate will be particularly useful in their third and final match, against Switzerland, in the Amazon region of Manaus.

Of those American-based players, the majority play in the MLS, while a select handful – such as young midfield prospect Luis Garrido – are based locally in Honduras.

Meanwhile the squad’s English contingent, mainly Wilson Palacos, Roger Espinoza, Juan Carlos Garcia and Maynor Figueroa, do a lot to eradicate the Central American stereotype of not producing physically well-built players.

Instead, raw pace and power across the pitch is the side’s biggest strength and an asset that may prove valuable in testing Brazilian conditions.

It’s a quality that made life easy for Suarez and co. throughout World Cup qualifying, with impressive victories at home to the USA and away to Mexico at the famous Azteca Stadium sealing their route to Brazil.

We speak with Wilson Palacios about his joy of playing for Honduras & the #WorldCup looming – http://t.co/vFquyLertI pic.twitter.com/trtcMxYmQO

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) April 17, 2014

Carlos Costly and Jerry Bengston were joint-top scorers in the CONCACAF qualifying region with four goals each and provide a dangerous outlet if Honduras are able to get the ball forward.

Bengston remains the key for Honduras. In the midst of an impressive season with New England in the MLS and following on from a fantastic 2012 London Olympics campaign with the nation’s Under 23s team, the striker is the focal point of an attacking side.

Behind them, Espinoza and Palacios provide a resolute midfield pairing who are equally as efficient when creating in possession as they are without the ball. Therefore there’s no lack of flair in Suarez’s side, despite the theory that Honduras are a rigid and pragmatic outfit.

Left-back Emilio Izaguirre, who made 46 appearances for Scottish Premier League winners Celtic last season, also enjoyed a fantastic qualifying campaign and could be pivotal to Suarez, both defensively and in providing overlapping runs down the flanks.

But despite their fair share of positives coming from a reasonable qualifying period, Honduras’ road to Brazil has been anything but smooth sailing in the lead-up to the competitive matches beginning.

Warm-up games against sides not playing in the World Cup, Turkey and Israel, resulted in 2-0 and 4-2 losses respectively, causing much angst within the Honduran camp.

However a goalless draw with England in Miami, where a large portion of Suarez’s first-team regulars returned to the side, brought about a renewed sense of optimism.

Arguably the most important component to Honduras’ chances in Brazil remains their experience and team spirit. When the 23-man squads for the World Cup were released early last week, Suarez’s side boasted the third most number of international caps of all 32 nations, behind only Spain and Uruguay.

The core of their squad made up the Honduras team that enjoyed a respectable, if not fantastic, campaign in South Africa in 2010 and will perhaps only have one last shot at World Cup success together.

Placed a manageable group consisting of France, Switzerland and Ecuador, Suarez will be targeting points in nearly every match. But getting off to a good start is key.

Honduras remains the rank outsiders in Group E, therefore a sound knowledge of the conditions and a squad to take advantage of that could be their best chance to escape from the group or –  at the very least – claim that elusive victory.

Riley Beveridge is a third-year Bachelor of Sport Journalism student at La Trobe University and is the editor of upstart’s sport and World Cup department. You can follow him on Twitter: @RileyBev.