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The Sápmi national football team is a national football (soccer) team representing the Sámi people, who inhabit northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The team is not a member of UEFA or FIFA, and therefore do not participate in their competitions.
The goal of the Sámi Football Association, which controls the team, is to gain official status. Since 2003 they have been a member of NF-Board, which organizes matches for non-official national teams.
Sápmi footballers who have resisted the call to play for the national side, instead preferring to play for traditional Scandinavian teams, include Morten Gamst Pedersen and Sigurd Rushfeldt. Steffen Nystrøm, of Moss FK has played for the Norway under-21 team, and made his Sápmi debut in the VIVA World Cup.
They participated to the KTFF 50th Anniversary Cup in 2005 in Northern Cyprus. They lost both matches against Northern Cyprus and Kosovo, finishing third.
[edit] Achievements
In November 2006, Sápmi took part in - and won - the inaugural VIVA World Cup in Occitania, organised by the NF-Board. Although the competition was hit by withdrawals of many of the major players in non-FIFA football, the Sápmi overcame both the host nation and Monaco to win the trophy, scoring an impressive 42 goals in 3 games.
[edit] VIVA World Cup Record
2006 - Champions
[edit] Sápmi Squad, autumn 2006
This was the Sápmi squad picked for the VIVA World Cup in November 2006. Caps and goals are as of 27 November 2006, and only include games played under the auspices of the New Federations Board since 2004.
[edit] Goalkeepers
[edit] Defenders
[edit] Midfielders
[edit] Strikers
[edit] Selected international matches
[edit] External links