List of men's national association football teams facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This is a list of the men's national association football teams in the world. There are more nations with football teams than for any other sport, with teams representing 191 of the 193 UN member states, as well as several dependent territories, sub-national entities, and states that are not members of the United Nations. This list divides teams into three main groups:

Teams that are either members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world's football governing body (211 teams), or have membership in a FIFA-affiliated continental confederation without being members of FIFA (11 teams).
Teams that are not members of FIFA or any continental federation, but which represent sovereign states. This group includes United Nations members and observer states, as well as states that are not members of the UN (11 teams).

This list excludes other teams, which generally play outside FIFA's recognition. Excluded teams include those who represent ethnic groups, sub-national entities,

Members of FIFA affiliated confederations
National teams not affiliated to FIFA confederations
Former national football teams
- New names
See also

Members of FIFA affiliated confederations

Map of the World with the six confederations: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)

This section lists the current:

211 men's national football teams affiliated to FIFA, through their national football associations.
11 men's national football teams who have membership in one of FIFA's affiliated continental confederations, but are not members of FIFA.

FIFA members 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 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:

Asia – Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
Africa – Confederation of African Football (CAF)
North and Central America and the Caribbean – Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
South America – South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL)
Oceania – Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
Europe – Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)

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:

AFC – AFC Asian Cup
CAF – Africa Cup of Nations
CONCACAF – CONCACAF Gold Cup
CONMEBOL – Copa América
OFC – OFC Nations Cup
UEFA – UEFA European Football Championship

The Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) contains Arab League member nations outside of the confederations structure. 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, organized historically by UAFA and by FIFA in 2021.

The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA) is an organization 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 organized 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. The ConIFA World Football Cup is the top tournament for ConIFA member nations.

AFC (Asia)

Due to the geographical size of Asia, the AFC is subdivided into five sub-federations:

West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) – represents countries at the western extremity of the continent, except Israel.
East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) – represents nations in East Asia, plus Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) – represents countries in Central Asia, comprising Afghanistan, Iran, and most of Soviet Central Asia, except Kazakhstan.
South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) – represents countries in South Asia.
ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) – represents countries in Southeast Asia, plus Australia.

National governing body was formerly a member of OFC (1966–2006)
National governing body is a member of UAFA
Official name used by FIFA and AFC for People's Republic of China
Official name used by FIFA and AFC for Republic of China (Taiwan); national governing body was a member of OFC from 1975 to 1989
Official name used by FIFA and AFC for Islamic Republic of Iran
Official name used by FIFA for Democratic People's Republic of Korea; official name used by AFC is DPR Korea
Official name used by FIFA and AFC for Republic of Korea
Official name used by FIFA and AFC for Kyrgyzstan
National governing body is a full member of AFC but not a FIFA member
National governing body was formerly a member of OFC (2005–2009)
Official name used by FIFA and AFC for national team representing the Palestinian Territories

CAF (Africa)

Due to the geographical size of Africa, CAF is divided into five regional federations:

Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) – represents nations generally regarded as forming the regions of East Africa and some nations of Central Africa.
Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) – represents nations generally regarded as forming Southern Africa, as well as island states off the coast of Southern Africa.
West African Football Union/Union du Football de l'Ouest Afrique (WAFU/UFOA) – represents 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.

National governing body is a member of UAFA
Official name used by FIFA for Democratic Republic of the Congo; official name used by CAF is DR Congo
National governing body is an associate member of CAF but not a FIFA member
National governing body was a full member of CAF briefly during 2017
National governing body is a member of ConIFA. Was previously a member of the N.F.-Board.

CONCACAF (North, Central America, and the 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 27 nations in the Caribbean, plus Bermuda and three nations in South America.
North American Football Union (NAFU) – represents the three countries in North America (not including Central America).
Union Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF) – represents the seven countries in Central America.

National governing body is a full member of CONCACAF but not a FIFA member

CONMEBOL (South America)

OFC (Oceania)

National governing body is an associate member of the OFC but not a FIFA member
National governing body is a member of ConIFA
National governing body was formerly a member of AFC (1964–1966)

UEFA (Europe)

The constituent nations of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) are each represented in FIFA and UEFA competitions by their own governing body and national team. While there is no single football governing body for the entire kingdom, a combined United Kingdom team has occasionally been formed for exhibition matches (see 'National teams not affiliated to FIFA confederations' below).
National governing body was formerly a member of AFC (1954–1974); joined UEFA in 1994
National governing body was formerly a member of AFC (1993–2002)
Suspended from participation in FIFA and UEFA competitions as a result of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine
Official name used by FIFA and UEFA for Turkey

National teams not affiliated to FIFA confederations

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. Several national associations for teams included in this section are members of ConIFA; these are indicated in the lists below.

This section lists:

7 teams representing sovereign states which are member states of the United Nations or non-member observer states with the United Nations General Assembly.
8 teams representing states which are not members of the United Nations.

Unaffiliated United Nations states

Three UN members and one UN 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.

Official name used by the Pacific Games Council for Micronesia.
National governing body is a member of ConIFA. Was previously a member of the N.F.-Board.
Palau has been an associate member of the OFC in the past, but does not currently appear to be part of the confederation.
The United Kingdom is not a member of FIFA or UEFA in its own right, being represented instead by the teams of its four constituent nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). However, an exhibition UK team has played a small number of friendly matches. The UK has also been represented in the Summer Olympic and Universiade football competitions by its own national teams.

Two UN member states (the Marshall Islands and Nauru), have never fielded a national association-organised football team.

Unaffiliated non-UN states

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 eight associated, de facto, or partially recognized states with no UN membership have fielded football teams in non-FIFA football tournaments or FIFA-unsanctioned friendly matches. 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.

Abkhazia¹
Artsakh^1,2
Northern Cyprus^1,3
Niue⁴
Somaliland¹
South Ossetia¹
Transnistria⁵
Western Sahara^1,3

National governing body is currently a member of ConIFA.
Previously known as Nagorno-Karabakh national football team. As of August 2021, the ConIFA world rankings designate the team as Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
National governing body was previously a member of the N.F.-Board.
National governing body was previously an associate member of the OFC (membership revoked in March 2021).
National governing body was previously a member of ConIFA.

Others

Membership criteria of FIFA and affiliated confederations

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), 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". In 2011, UEFA had already changed its statutes so that only countries recognised as independent states by the United Nations could join the organization., 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. 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), Bonaire (FIFA application rejected in 2019), and Greenland (applied to CONCACAF in 2022 due to lack of prospects of being accepted into UEFA).

Separatist, subnational, and ethnic teams

Beyond this list, a variety of teams representing dependent territories or national, separatist, sub-national, ethnic, and diaspora groups have been formed. These teams often play in international tournaments against each other, and in some cases in unsanctioned friendly games against FIFA members (for example, teams representing specific Spanish autonomous communities). Some subnational and dependent territory teams with no FIFA membership participate in regional football tournaments against FIFA or UN member nations (for example, the Mayotte and Reunion teams at the Indian Ocean Island Games or individual Micronesian state teams at the Micronesian Games).

The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA), was founded with the aim of regularising non-FIFA international football, by having a two-year international tournament cycle, with the ConIFA World Football Cup in even numbered years, and continental tournaments in odd-numbered years. This developed the work of the now-defunct N.F.-Board (Nouvelle Fédération-Board), founded in 2001, which also organized football tournaments between FIFA-unrecognised teams. ConIFA aims to help unrecognised national teams gain recognition, but also to provide a platform for representative teams of regions or diasporas, which do not have a place in a system of international football based on nation-states. As of August 2021, 59 member associations from all over the world are affiliared with ConIFA. ConIFA is not the only body dedicated to organising football tournaments between non-FIFA national teams; other initiatives include the Island Games football tournament, the now-defunct Coupe de l'Outremer for French overseas territories, and the CSANF competitions between (mostly) South American regional and ethnic communities, among others.

Former national football teams

These national teams no longer exist due to the dissolution of the nation or territory that they represented. Only national teams that were once members of FIFA are listed below.

Preceding team	Successor team (inherited position/results)	Other successor team(s)	Notes
Czechoslovakia (Representation of Czechs and Slovaks in 1993)	Czech Republic	Slovakia	Represented Czechoslovakia until its dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Joinly represented both nations during the remainder of their 1994 World Cup qualifying games.
Saar		West Germany	Represented the Saarland Protectorate from 1950 to 1956 before its union with the Federal Republic of Germany.
East Germany (officially German Democratic Republic)		Germany	Represented East Germany between 1952 and 1990, before reunification with West Germany.
Ireland	Northern Ireland	Republic of Ireland	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.
Malaya	Malaysia		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.
Tanganyika	Tanzania		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.
South Vietnam	Vietnam		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.
North Yemen (officially Yemen Arab Republic)	Yemen		Represented North Yemen from 1965 until its union with South Yemen in 1990.
South Yemen (officially People's Democratic Republic of Yemen)		Yemen	Represented South Yemen from 1965 until its union with North Yemen in 1990.
United Arab Republic	Egypt	Syria	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.
Russian Empire	Soviet Union		Represented Russian Empire from 1912 to 1923 until its transition into Soviet Union.
Soviet Union (officially Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)	CIS	Estonia Latvia Lithuania	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.
CIS	Russia	Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan	Represented the Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia from January 1992 until the end of the Euro 1992 tournament.
Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia North Macedonia Slovenia	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
Serbia and Montenegro	Serbia	Montenegro Kosovo	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.
Netherlands Antilles	Curaçao	Aruba Bonaire Sint Maarten	Aruba became a separate nation in 1986 and was recognized by 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.