This is a list of the men's national association football teams in the world. The International Association Football Federation (FIFA) is the world's most important governing body for association football. A majority of national association football teams in the world are members of FIFA or one of its affiliated continental confederations. A majority of them also represent sovereign states with wide international recognition, with 188 of 195 United Nations (UN) member and observer states holding membership of FIFA. A notable exception is the United Kingdom, which is not a member of FIFA in its own right but is represented in the governing body by the teams of its four constituent countries. Other UN members and one observer state have either held membership in a confederation in the past and subsequently lost it, or have never belonged to either FIFA or one of its recognised confederations.
Membership of FIFA and its confederations also includes national teams representing a few states with limited international recognition, one associated state with no UN membership, a significant number of dependent territories, and a limited number of autonomous areas. A majority of states with limited recognition, however, have no membership of FIFA or any of its confederations.
This list divides national teams into three main groups:
This list excludes other teams described by their supporters as 'national', which represent specific ethnic groups, cultural/historical regions, separatist or autonomist movements, speakers of specific languages, and micronations. These teams have historically participated in matches and tournaments outside FIFA's recognition, though some of them have sporadically or regularly played in friendly matches and tournaments against FIFA members.
Some national teams with FIFA membership have disappeared due to belonging to a sovereign state or dependent territory which split into two or more states or territories (examples include the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, or the Netherlands Antilles), or by part of the territory becoming independent (such as the Ireland national football team, which ceased to exist as such after reaching a compromise with FIFA and recognising the Republic of Ireland national football team as representative of the independent part of Ireland). Other teams have disappeared by virtue of the states or territories they represented forming a new state by joining another entity or entities (examples include the teams representing Tanganyika and Malaya, which merged with other former colonies to respectively form the Tanzania and Malaysia football teams), or becoming part of an already existing state (as is the case with East Germany, which joined West Germany to form the unified Germany football team). In several cases the football records of dissolved teams are considered by FIFA as belonging to a successor entity (the Russia national team, for example, carries over the records of the Soviet Union national team). Defunct teams are listed on this page for historical purposes.
Even if only members of FIFA and its affiliated confederations are taken into account, there are more national association football teams in the world than those of any other sport.[1]
This section lists the current:
FIFA members are eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup and matches between them are recognised as official international matches. Based on their match results over the previous four-year period, the FIFA Men's World Rankings, published monthly by FIFA, compare the relative strengths of the national teams.
Some national teams that are members of a confederation but not FIFA members compete in confederation-level and subregional tournaments. These teams, however, are not allowed to participate in the World Cup.
The six confederations are:
FIFA runs the World Cup as a tournament for national teams to find the world champion. Each confederation also runs its own championship to find the best team from among its members:
The Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) organises competitions between Arab League member nations.[3] All 22 national governing bodies that form UAFA are also members of both FIFA and either the AFC or CAF. National teams from UAFA member countries are noted in the list below. The Arab Cup is the top championship tournament for national teams, organised historically by UAFA and by FIFA in 2021.
The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA) is an organisation for teams representing unrecognised states, subnational regions, and stateless minorities, as well as teams from recognised states that have not managed to gain entry into FIFA. ConIFA is a successor to the Nouvelle Fédération-Board (N.F.-Board), which also organised tournaments for non-FIFA member teams. While none of the current ConIFA members are also members of FIFA, a few hold associate membership in one of the confederations affiliated with it. These teams are also noted in the list below.[4] The ConIFA World Football Cup is the top tournament for ConIFA member nations.
Due to the geographical size of Asia, the AFC is subdivided into five sub-federations:
Due to the geographical size of Africa, CAF is divided into five regional federations:
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The CONCACAF federation is divided into three regional federations that have responsibility for part of the region's geographical area:
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The national football teams included in this section are not members of FIFA, or of any of its affiliated continental confederations. The teams are not eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup or any continental confederation championships. FIFA's statutes do not allow member teams to compete against these sides without FIFA's prior permission.[6] Several national associations for teams included in this section are members of ConIFA; these are indicated in the lists below.
This section lists:
Three UN members and one UN General Assembly observer state do not have any sort of membership in FIFA or any continental federation, but have fielded national association-organised teams in unofficial friendly matches or in tournaments held outside the auspices of FIFA. Another UN member state, while being officially represented in FIFA and UEFA by the teams of its constituent nations, has also fielded a team representing the entire state in exhibition matches. The national teams of these five states are listed below.
Two UN member states (the Marshall Islands and Nauru), have never fielded a national association-organised football team.[9] [10]
Three states with limited international recognition and no UN membership are members of both FIFA and an affiliated confederation: the Republic of China (as Chinese Taipei), Kosovo, and Palestine. The Cook Islands is an associated state with no UN membership, but it is a member of both FIFA and the OFC. The national teams representing these states are all listed above.
A further seven associated, de facto, or partially recognised states with no UN membership have fielded football teams in non-FIFA football tournaments or FIFA-unsanctioned friendly matches.[11] [12] [13] [14] [15] None of these states, however, are currently members of FIFA or any of its affiliated continental confederations. The teams representing these states are listed below.
Historically, the majority of FIFA and confederation members have been sovereign states with wide diplomatic recognition. Exceptions to this rule have included the British Home Nations (due to their seminal role in the development of football), Palestine (accepted into FIFA after the creation of the Palestinian National Authority),[17] the Republic of China (which does not enjoy wide recognition but is still accepted as representative of the Taiwan area), and certain dependent territories, autonomous areas, and protectorates which, on the grounds of their political autonomy, separate status, and/or distance from their parent state, have been allowed to hold membership in FIFA and/or one of its affiliated confederations. At present, FIFA members include 23 subnational and dependent territories, as well as three states with limited international recognition. A further nine overseas, dependent, and autonomous territories with close ties to a sovereign state do not have membership in FIFA, but are members of one of its affiliated confederations (either in a full or associate capacity).
In 2016, FIFA made changes to its statutes to define 'country' as "an independent state recognized by the international community".[18] In 2011, UEFA had already changed its statutes so that only countries recognised as independent states by the United Nations could join the organisation.,[19] while CAF rescinded Zanzibar's full membership (which had been approved only months before) in 2017 on the grounds that Zanzibar is not a country as defined by the African Union and the United Nations.[20] [21] With some exceptions (such as the acceptances of Gibraltar and Kosovo into FIFA and UEFA in 2016), these regulations have made it harder for aspiring national associations to join FIFA or its affiliated confederations. Examples include Jersey (UEFA application rejected in 2018),[22] Bonaire (FIFA application rejected in 2019),[23] Sint Maarten (FIFA application rejected in 2022 or before),[24] and Greenland (applied to CONCACAF in 2022 due to lack of prospects of being accepted into UEFA).[25]
See also: Non-FIFA international football. International football matches have historically taken place without approval or sanctioning from FIFA or its associated confederations. Some national teams who are currently members of FIFA or a regional confederation played in matches or even official tournaments against FIFA members before being accepted into FIFA (examples include the Croatia, Kosovo, Palestine, Slovakia, and Slovenia football teams, among others). Some national teams have even participated in major international competitions against FIFA member nations without having ever been part of FIFA or one of its confederations (examples include the North Vietnam national football team's participation in the Games of the New Emerging Forces football competitions or Northern Cyprus national football team's participation in the 1980 Islamic Games football tournament). There have also been unsanctioned national teams set up to further the aims of national independence movements, such as the FLN football team.
In addition to the above, since the early 20th Century there have existed teams representing dependent territories or cultural regions which have played or continue to play in matches and tournaments against club sides and FIFA-affiliated national teams without any sanctioning from FIFA or regional confederations (including the Jersey, Gibraltar, Catalonia, Brittany, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Mayotte football teams, among others).
Whereas teams representing dependent territories have played matches and tournaments against each other since the early 20th century, in more recent times there has been a significant increase in the number of "national" teams representing states with limited recognition, former states, dependent territories, autonomous areas, or regional, sub-national, ethnic, cultural, diaspora, immigrant, language, and micronational groups. This has led to the organization of international tournaments where these teams compete against each other, without recognition or approval from FIFA or any of its associated confederations. Several organizing bodies not associated with FIFA have been in charge of these tournaments, providing an outlet to groups and regions who are not allowed to participate in FIFA-sanctioned football and in some cases functioning as a platform for teams which later began playing in competitions organized by FIFA and its confederations (including the Faroe Islands, Kosovo, and Gibraltar football teams). Notable bodies sanctioning non-FIFA football include the International Island Games Association (IIGA), the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA).,[26] as well as the now-defunct N.F.-Board (Nouvelle Fédération-Board).[27] As of August 2021, 24 member associations are affiliated with IIGA and 59 member associations are affiliared with ConIFA.[28]
Some non-FIFA tournaments are open to participants from all over the world (such as the Island Games, UNPO Cup, VIVA World Cup, and ConIFA World Football Cup), while others are limited to a specific geographical area (such as the ConIFA regional tournaments, the Europeada, and the CSANF Cup.)
These national teams no longer exist due to the dissolution of the nation or territory that they represented. Only teams that held FIFA membership at some point are included on the table. Teams representing former states which never achieved FIFA membership (such as the Manchukuo and North Vietnam teams) are not included.
| width=245 | Preceding team | width=100 | Successor team (inherited position/results) | width=200 | Other successor team(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(Representation of Czechs and Slovaks in 1993) | [29] [30] | Represented Czechoslovakia until its dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Jointly represented both nations during the remainder of their 1994 World Cup qualifying games.[31] | ||||
| Represented the Saarland Protectorate from 1950 to 1956 before its union with the Federal Republic of Germany.[32] | ||||||
(officially German Democratic Republic) | Represented East Germany between 1952 and 1990, before reunification with West Germany.[33] | |||||
| Represented Ireland from 1882. From 1922, when the Irish Free State (later Republic of Ireland) left the United Kingdom, until 1953, it continued to pick players from across the Island of Ireland, before becoming restricted to players solely from Northern Ireland under pressure from FIFA.[34] | ||||||
| Represented the Federation of Malaya from 1953 until its union with Sarawak, North Borneo and Singapore to form Malaysia in 1963. Singapore, which gained independence in 1965, retained its preexisting national team. | ||||||
| Represented Tanganyika until its union with Zanzibar as Tanzania in 1964. Zanzibar is an associate member of CAF and so is not a member of FIFA. | ||||||
| Represented South Vietnam from 1949 until 1975. A separate team representing North Vietnam never received FIFA or AFC membership. On the reunification of Vietnam, both the North and South teams ceased to exist, with a unified Vietnam national football team taking the South's place in both FIFA and the AFC. | ||||||
(officially Yemen Arab Republic) | Represented North Yemen from 1965 until its union with South Yemen in 1990. | |||||
(officially People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) | Represented South Yemen from 1965 until its union with North Yemen in 1990. | |||||
| Represented the United Arab Republic from 1958 to 1961 until the secession of Syria. Was considered a continuation of the previous Egypt national football team, which became its successor team. The team continued to be known as the United Arab Republic until 1970. | ||||||
| Represented Russian Empire from 1912 to 1923 until its transition into Soviet Union. | ||||||
(officially Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) | Represented the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. This was considered a continuation of the team that had previously represented the Russian Empire. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had all had active football teams prior to their incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940, and did not participate in the CIS team.[35] | |||||
| Represented the Commonwealth of Independent States from January 1992 until the end of the Euro 1992 tournament. | ||||||
| Represented Yugoslavia between 1920 and 1992, before the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, North Macedonia and Slovenia | ||||||
| Represented the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, known as Serbia and Montenegro after 2003, from 1992 until its dissolution into Serbia and Montenegro in 2006. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and its national team was accepted into UEFA and FIFA in 2016. | ||||||
| Aruba became a separate autonomous territory in 1986 and was accepted into FIFA in 1988. The former team represented the Netherlands Antilles until the dissolution of the country in 2010. Formerly known as "Curaçao", this name was restored in March 2011 when the new constituent country of Curaçao was given the Netherlands Antilles' place in FIFA and CONCACAF. The teams representing the former Netherlands Antilles territories of Bonaire and Sint Maarten are full members of CONCACAF but not of FIFA. Two other former Netherlands Antilles territories (Saba and Sint Eustatius) have fielded national teams in unofficial friendly matches in the past, but neither has membership of FIFA or a continental federation.[36] | ||||||
In addition to the above, other teams have been renamed:
British Gambia → in 1965
Madagascar → in 1958 → in 1975 Middle Congo → in 1960 → in 1970 → in 1992Some ConIFA members represent regions which existed as sovereign states in the past, but were never members of FIFA or one of its associated regional confederations. Examples include the Artsakh,[37] Biafra,[38] and East Turkestan[39] national football teams.