List of men's national association football teams
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This is a list of the men's national association football teams in the world.
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[edit] Current FIFA affiliates
There are currently 208 men's national football teams affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world's football governing body, through their national football associations. They are eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup and matches between them are recognized as official international matches. Based on their match results over the previous four-year period, the FIFA World Rankings, published monthly by FIFA, compare the relative strengths of the national teams.
Each of these national teams is also affiliated to one of the six confederations, according to their continental zones:
- Asia - Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- Africa - Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF)
- North and Central America and the Caribbean - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
- South America - Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL)
- Oceania - Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
- Europe - Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
Below is a list of the national football teams by their confederations. Some national teams are full members of their confederation, but do not have membership of FIFA; these are listed with a note explaining this. There are also notes of teams who have left one confederation to join another.
[edit] AFC (Asia)
Due to the geographical size of Asia, the AFC is subdivided into five sub-federations:
- West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) - represents nations at the western extremity of the continent. The WAFF has six members, but the AFC groups those non members into a single geographical region.
- East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) - represents nations generally agreed to constitute the "far east".
- Central and South Asian Football Federation (CESAFA) - represents nations in central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
- ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) - represents nations from Southeast Asia, plus Australia
- South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) - represents nations from South Asia
1: Formerly member of OFC (Joined AFC in 2006)
2: Official name of the national team of the Republic of China (Taiwan); OFC member 1975-1989
3: Official names used by FIFA and AFC; official names used by EAFF are "Hong Kong, China" and "Macau, China"
4: Iran is member of two sub-federations (WAFF and CESAFA).
NB:
Northern Mariana Islands is an associate member of the EAFF, but also has associate membership of the OFC
[edit] CAF (Africa)
Due to the geographical size of Africa, CAF is divided into six regional federations:
- Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECACAF) - represents nations generally regarded as forming the regions of East Africa and some nations of Central Africa.
- Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) - represents nations generally regarded as forming Southern Africa, as well as island states off the coast of Southern Africa.
- Union of West African Football Associations (WAFU) - one of two bodies that represent nations in West Africa.
- Union of North African Federations (UNAF) - represents nations regarded as forming North Africa.
- Union des Fédérations du Football de l'Afrique Centrale (UNIFFAC) - represents some of the nations that form Central Africa.
- Union du Football de l'Ouest Afrique - one of two bodies that represent nations in West Africa.
1: Associate member of CAF but not FIFA member
2: Provisional member of NF-Board
[edit] CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean)
The CONCACAF federation is divided into three regional federations that have responsibility for part of the region's geographical area:
- Caribbean Football Union (CFU) - represents all nations in the Caribbean
- North American Football Union (NAFU) - represents the three sovereign nations of North America
- Union Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF) - represents the seven nations of Central America
1: Geographically considered as part of North America, but member of the CFU.
2: Full CONCACAF member but not FIFA member.
3: Geographically part of South America, but member of CONCACAF (CFU).
[edit] CONMEBOL (South America)
[edit] OFC (Oceania)
1: Associate member of OFC but not FIFA member
2: Provisional member of NF-Board
3: Northern Mariana Islands is also an associate member of EAFF
4: Official Football Team Name of French Polynesia since 1970
[edit] UEFA (Europe)
1: Constituent country of the United Kingdom, but individual member of UEFA and FIFA
2: Formerly member of AFC (AFC 1972-1994; Joined UEFA in 1994)
3: Formerly member of AFC (Joined UEFA in 2002)NB:
Gibraltar was a provisional member of UEFA between 8 December 2006 and 26 January 2007 until the GFA had its application for full membership rejected.
[edit] Teams not affiliated to FIFA
These national teams are not affiliated to FIFA or their local confederation. Because their national associations are not FIFA members, they are ineligible to enter the FIFA World Cup, and their matches are not recognized as official. Some of these teams are affiliated to the NF-Board.
[edit] Associate members
These teams represent sovereign nations or territories: they have full, associate or provisional membership of their local confederations, but are not members of FIFA:
French Guiana1
Guadeloupe1
Kiribati2
Martinique1
Federated States of Micronesia2
Niue2
Northern Mariana Islands2
Palau2
Réunion3
Saint-Martin1
Sint Maarten1
Tuvalu2
Zanzibar3
1: Full member of CONCACAF
2: Associate member of OFC
3: Associate member of CAF
[edit] NF-Board
These teams are full or provisional members of the Nouvelle Fédération-Board, an organisation to promote international football among sovereign nations, unrecognised nations, regions and stateless peoples that are not members of FIFA, and to assist in their possible future membership of FIFA.
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Full Members |
Provisional Members |
1: Team name of British Indian Ocean Territory.
[edit] Federations
The NF-Board have begun to mirror the structure of FIFA with the admittance of regional confederations to its structure. At present, it has one confederation affiliated, the Consejo Sudamericano de Nuevas Federaciones (CSNAF), with 17 members from South America. A second confederation, the Confederation of European New Federations (CENF) is in discussions to join the NF-Board.
[edit] CSANF
Potencial Members
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Special Members
- Armenians in Argentina
[edit] Currently unaffiliated sovereign nations
The football teams that represent the following sovereign nations are not members of FIFA, the NF-Board, or their local confederation:
The
Marshall Islands are the only sovereign nation state which has no national football team with any records.
1. The Republic of Kosovo was unilaterally declared in February 2008. As of 2008-05-24, 41 countries have formally recognised Kosovan independence.
2. The United Kingdom has only traditionally played as a single team at the Olympic football tournament. The four constituent countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) all have their own national teams who are individual members of FIFA and UEFA.
[edit] Teams of non-sovereign or unrecognized nations
The following teams are either recognised in tables of international football teams, or operate as if they were full national teams, although the territories or ethnic groupings they represent are not sovereign nations.
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar[1]
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Jersey
Kosovo
Mayotte
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Wallis and Futuna
- Further information: List of non-national representative teams in men's football
[edit] Former national football teams
These national teams no longer exist due to the dissolution of the nation they represented.
[edit] China PR
- Integrated into
China PR in 1945.
- Integrated into
China PR in 1948.
[edit] Czechoslovakia
- Dissolved in 1993 into the independent nations of
Czech Republic and
Slovakia. - FIFA recognizes the Czech Republic as the successor of the Czechoslovakia national team and attributes its records to it.
- Between 1918 and 1920 played international matches as
Bohemia; between 1939 and 1945 as
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ; and in 1993 as
Czech And Slovak Republic.
[edit] French Equatorial Africa
- Dissolved in 1960 into the four independent nations of
Congo,
Gabon,
Central African Republic,
Chad. - FIFA recognizes
Congo as the successor of the French Equatorial Africa national team and attributes its records to it.[dubious ]
[edit] French West Africa
- Dissolved in 1960 into the nine independent nations of
Mali,
Senegal,
Mauritania,
Guinea,
Burkina Faso,
Benin,
Togo,
Côte d'Ivoire,
Niger. - FIFA recognizes
Mali as the successor of the French West Africa national team and attributes its records to it.[dubious ]
[edit] Germany
- Merged in October 1990 to form the unified national team of
Germany. - FIFA recognizes Germany as the successor of the West Germany national team and attributes their records to it.
Germany was the official name until 1949 when it became
West Germany.
- Reintegrated in 1957 into
West Germany.
[edit] Ireland
- Dissolved in 1922 into
Northern Ireland and
Republic of Ireland. - FIFA recognizes
Northern Ireland as the successor of
Ireland and attributes its record to it. - Between 1922 and 1937 Republic of Ireland played international matches as
Irish Free State.
[edit] Korea
- Dissolved in 1945 into two independent nations
Korea Republic and
Korea DPR. - FIFA recognizes
Korea Republic as the successor of
Korea and attributes its records to it.
[edit] Netherlands Antilles
- Reintegrated in 1954 into
Netherlands Antilles.
- Since 1991 has a representative team which is a full member of CONCACAF, but not a FIFA member.
[edit] Panama Canal Zone
- Integrated into
Panama in 1979.
[edit] Sikkim
- Integrated into
India in 1975.
[edit] Tanzania
- Merged in 1964 to form the unified national team of
Tanzania. - FIFA recognizes
Tanzania as the successor of the
Tanganyika national team and attributes their records to it. - The island of Zanzibar, part of Tanzania (and once an independent nation), is also an associate member of CAF and has played matches with other nations.
[edit] USSR
Estonia,
Latvia and
Lithuania had already seceded from the Soviet Union and had formed national teams before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 into 12 independent nations, which played as
CIS in 1992, and subsequently launched their own national sides:
- FIFA recognizes
Russia as the successor of the CIS, which was itself the successor of the USSR national team, and attributes the records of these two previous entities to it.
Russia was the official name till 1917 when it became
USSR.
[edit] Vietnam
- Merged in 1976 to form the unified national team of
Vietnam. - FIFA recognizes Vietnam as the successor of the South Vietnam national team and attributes its records to it.
[edit] Yemen
- Merged in 1990 to form the unified national team of
Yemen. - FIFA recognizes Yemen as the successor of the North Yemen national team and attributes its records to it.
[edit] Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (Socialist Federal Republic)
- Dissolved in 1992 into 5 independent nations:
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
FYR Macedonia
Slovenia
Yugoslavia (Federal Republic)
Yugoslavia (Federal Republic) - later renamed to
Serbia and Montenegro
- Dissolved in 2006 into the independent nations of
Serbia and
Montenegro - FIFA recognizes
Serbia (and its predecessors
Yugoslavia and
Serbia and Montenegro) as the successor of the Yugoslavia SFR team and attributes its records to it.
[edit] New names
In addition to the unification or dissolution of nations, other nations have been renamed:
Palestine/Eretz Israel became
Israel in 1948
Dutch East Indies became
Indonesia in 1949
Gold Coast became
Ghana in 1957
Egypt became part of
United Arab Republic in 1958, then seceded to become
Egypt again in 1972
Madagascar became
Malagasy Republic 1958, and reverted to
Madagascar in 1975
Belgian Congo became
Congo-Leopoldville in 1960 then became
Congo-Kinshasa in 1963, and then
Zaire in 1971, and then became
Congo DR in 1997
French Equatorial Africa became
Congo-Brazzaville in 1960, then became
Congo in 1992
French Togo became
Togo in 1960
Tanganyika became
Tanzania in 1962
Malaya became
Malaysia in 1963
Northern Rhodesia became
Zambia in 1964
Southern Rhodesia became
Rhodesia in 1964, and then
Zimbabwe in 1980
British Gambia became Gambia in 1965
British Guiana became
Guyana in 1966
Nyasaland became
Malawi in 1966
French Somaliland became French Territory of the Afars and Issas in 1967 and subsequently
Djibouti in 1977
Ceylon became
Sri Lanka in 1972
Khmer Republic became
Kampuchea in 1975, then
Cambodia in 1979
Dahomey became
Benin in 1975
Dutch Guiana became
Suriname in 1975
Portuguese Guinea became
Guinea-Bissau in 1975
Central African Republic became
Central African Empire in 1976, then became
Central African Republic in 1979
New Hebrides became
Vanuatu in 1980
Ivory Coast became
Côte d'Ivoire in 1983
Upper Volta became
Burkina Faso in 1984
Burma became
Myanmar in 1989
Western Samoa became
Samoa in 1996
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup
- List of non-national representative teams in men's football
- List of FIFA country codes
- List of women's national football teams
- NF-Board
- Non-FIFA Football
[edit] Sources
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International football
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