In the 19th century, British migrants as well as Peruvians coming back in England began to introduce football in Peru. In 1859 people from the British community living in the nation's capital city founded the Lima Cricket Club, Peru's first club focused on the game of rugby, cricket, and football. These new sports were popular in the upper class of the city in the years following However, the initial developments were halted because of the War of the Pacific that Peru was fighting against Chile from 1879 until 1883. Following the war, Peru's coastal community adopted football as a contemporary technological advancement. In Lima's barrios, soccer was a common daily pastime and was embraced by bosses who wanted to promote cooperation and efficiency within their workforce. In the port that was adjacent to Callao and in other commercial zones, British civilian workers and sailors took part in the sport between them and with the locals. There were rivalries in sports between locals as well as foreigners developed in Callao and also between elites and the workers of Lima. When foreigners moved out, this turned into a war with Callao as well as Lima. These reasons, in conjunction with the rapid growth of football in the urban poor of Lima's La Victoria district (where, in 1901 was it was that the Alianza Lima club formed) resulted in Peru creating the Andean region's most renowned football culture. According the the historian Andreas Campomar, "some of the most beautiful and skilled soccer on the continent".
The Peruvian Football League, founded in 1912, hosted annual tournaments until it was disbanded in 1921 due to disputes between its clubs. Its successor, the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) was established in 1922 and revamped the annual event in 1926. In 1926, the FPF became a part of with the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) in 1925. The FPF after reorganizing its finances, established its Peru nation's football squad in 1927. The team was officially launched at 1927's South American Championship, hosted by the FPF in the Lima's Estadio Nacional. Peru lost 0-4 to Uruguay in the first game but won 3-2 over Bolivia in its subsequent. Peru was not able to progress beyond the first round of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930.
The 1930s was the team's initial golden age, as they were able to improve their game by the play of more experienced teams. In the 1930s, Combinado del Pacifico (a squad comprised consisting of Chilean as well as Peruvian footballers) traveled across Europe between 1933 and 1934. Beginning with Ciclista Lima in 1926, Peru's football teams traveled across Latin America with much success. On one of these trips--Alianza Lima's undefeated tour through Chile in 1935--the Rodillo Negro ("Black Roller") skilled group of forwards led by Alejandro Villanueva, Teodoro Fernandez and goalkeeper Juan Valdivieso. The sports historian Richard Witzig described these three as "a soccer triumvirate that was unmatched anywhere else at the time" with a reference to their innovativeness and efficacy on both sides on the field. Peru and Rodillo Negro performed well during the 1936 Summer Olympics and they won the first Bolivarian games in 1938. They then finished the decade with the title of South American champions.
The historian David Goldblatt assessed the decline of its earlier success: "despite all the apparent prerequisites for growth in football and the success of the sport, Peruvian football disappeared". The sudden drop in popularity is attributed in the sport to Peruvian authorities' attempts to stifle "social political, sporting and other organizations among the rural and urban poor" in the 1950s, 1940s. However, Peru performed creditably at the South American Championships, placing third in Brazil 1949 and Chile 1955, but missed qualifying to Brazil's Sweden 1958 World Cup finals, over two games to the eventual champions Brazil.
A string of successes in the late 1960s as well as the qualification for Mexico 1970 World Cup finals, ushered in a second golden age in Peruvian football. The formidable forward pairing of Teofilo Cubillas as well as Hugo Sotil was a key element in Peru's success during the 1970s. Peru made it to the quarterfinals in the year 1970, only to lose to tournament champions Brazil and securing its first FIFA Fair Play Trophy; the historian Richard Henshaw describes Peru as "the unexpected winner of the tournament in 1970 with its flair and impressive level of talent". The following year, Peru became South American champions again after winning in 1975 the Copa America (the then-rechristened South American Championship). The team then was able to qualify for the next two World Cup finals, reaching the second round in Argentina 1978, and the first Group Stage that was played in Spain 1982. The early loss of Peru in 1982 was the beginning of Peru's renowned "flowing soccer". Peru did not, however, did not make it to an opportunity to play in the Mexico 1986 World Cup finals after placing second in the qualifying group behind eventual champions Argentina.
In the 1980s, the new hopes for Peru were focused on the young group of Alianza Lima players known colloquially as Los Potrillos ("The Colts"). Social scientists Aldo Panfichi as well as Victor Vich write that Los Potrillos "became the dream of the whole country"--fans believed they would be able to qualify for their place in the Italy in the 1990 World Cup finals. However, these hopes were shattered when the team took an absence following the death of its manager as well as several of its players were killed from a fatal plane accident that killed the majority of Alianza's players and its staff in 1987. Peru then came very close to making the France 1998 World Cup finals, missing the qualification due to goal difference but they would eventually be victorious in 1998's Kirin Cup at Japan (sharing the trophy together with Belgium) and reach semi-finals in The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup (contested as an invited participant).
A place in to the FIFA World Cup finals continued as a goal that was elusive for Peru at the start of the 21st century. As per the historian Charles F. Walker, issues with discipline among players plagued the Peruvian national team as well as football league. Problems within the FPF and particularly its former president Manuel Burga, deepened the situation in Peruvian football. FIFA suspended the country from competitions in international competitions in the middle of 2008 due to the fact that the Peruvian government had a probe into possible corruption within the FPF. Burga's 12 years in the position of FPF president, which was viewed by both the public and journalists as a disaster for Peru's national team, despite a third place finish at the 2010 Copa America, ended in 2014. The FPF's leadership changed and appointed Juan Carlos Oblitas as the FPF's new director, as well as Ricardo Gareca as Peru's manager in March of 2015. Gareca is widely praised by journalists covering sports for revitalizing Peru's football skills by enhancing the training of the players as well as professional sporting conduct. under Gareca, Peru achieved third place in the 2015 Copa America, reached the quarterfinals of the Copa America Centenario, participated in the group stage of the Russia 2018 World Cup finals, and was runners-up in the 2014 Copa America.