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

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This article is about the national men's football teams from around the world. The most important organization for football worldwide is the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). Most national football teams are members of FIFA or one of its big regional groups, called confederations. Many of these teams represent independent countries that are recognized internationally. For example, 188 out of 195 countries that are part of the United Nations are also FIFA members.

A special case is the United Kingdom, which isn't a single FIFA member. Instead, its four parts—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales—each have their own teams in FIFA. Some teams represent places with limited international recognition, or dependent territories.

This list helps us understand national teams by dividing them into three main groups:

Teams that are members of FIFA (211 teams), or are members of a FIFA-affiliated regional group but not FIFA itself (11 teams).
Teams that are not members of FIFA or any regional group, but represent countries recognized by the United Nations (6 teams).
Teams representing places with limited international recognition that are not members of FIFA or a regional group (6 teams), plus one associated state.

This list does not include other teams that call themselves 'national' but represent specific groups, regions, or movements. These teams often play in matches and tournaments that are not officially recognized by FIFA.

Some national teams have disappeared over time because the countries or territories they represented changed. For example, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia teams no longer exist because those countries split into several new ones. Sometimes, when countries merge, their football teams also combine, like when Tanganyika and Malaya became parts of the Tanzania and Malaysia football teams. FIFA often considers the records of these old teams to belong to their successor teams. For example, the Russia team carries on the records of the Soviet Union team. We include these old teams here for historical reasons.

There are more national football teams in the world than in any other sport, even if we only count those connected to FIFA.

Football Teams Around the World: FIFA and Its Confederations
Teams Not Part of FIFA
- Countries Not in FIFA or Confederations
- Other Teams Not in FIFA
Other Football Organizations
Historical Football Teams
Teams with New Names
See also

Football Teams Around the World: FIFA and Its 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 men's national football teams that are part of FIFA or one of its regional groups.

There are 211 men's national football teams that are full members of FIFA.
There are 11 men's national football teams that are members of a FIFA-affiliated regional group but are not FIFA members themselves.

FIFA members can play in the FIFA World Cup, which is the biggest football tournament in the world. Matches between FIFA members are considered official international games. FIFA also publishes the FIFA Men's World Rankings each month, which shows how strong national teams are based on their recent match results.

Some national teams that are members of a regional group but not FIFA can play in regional tournaments. However, they cannot participate in the World Cup.

The six main regional football groups (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 organizes the World Cup to find the world champion. Each regional group also has its own championship to find the best team among its members:

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

The Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) organizes competitions for teams from Arab countries. All 22 national football bodies in UAFA are also members of FIFA and either the AFC or CAF. The Arab Cup is their main tournament.

The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA) is an organization for teams that represent places not recognized as independent countries, or regions and groups that don't have a FIFA team. None of the current ConIFA members are also FIFA members. The ConIFA World Football Cup is their top tournament.

AFC (Asia)

This team was formerly a member of the OFC.
This team was formerly a member of the OFC.
This team is a full member of AFC but not a FIFA member.

¥ AFC Asian Cup winner

CAF (Africa)

This team is a member of UAFA.
This team is an associate member of CAF but not a FIFA member.

₳. African Cup of Nations winners

CONCACAF (North America)

This team is a full member of CONCACAF but not a FIFA member.

₵. CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup winners

CONMEBOL (South America)

$. South American Championship / Copa América winners

OFC (Oceania)

This team is an associate member of the OFC but not a FIFA member.
This team was formerly a member of the AFC.

₴. Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup winners

UEFA (Europe)

This team was formerly a member of the AFC.
This team was formerly a member of the AFC.
This national team is currently not allowed to play in FIFA and UEFA competitions.

€. UEFA European Championship winners

Teams Not Part of FIFA

Some national football teams are not members of FIFA or any of its regional groups. This means they cannot play in the FIFA World Cup or other major continental championships. FIFA rules usually don't allow its member teams to play against these non-FIFA teams without special permission.

This section lists:

6 teams representing countries that are members of the United Nations or observer states.
7 teams representing places that are not members of the United Nations.

Countries Not in FIFA or Confederations

Five UN member countries and one UN observer state do not belong to FIFA or any regional football group. However, they have their own national football teams that play matches outside of FIFA's official system.

Federated States of Micronesia
Marshall Islands
Monaco¹
Palau
United Kingdom²
Vatican City

This team was previously a member of ConIFA.
The United Kingdom is not a FIFA member itself; its four parts (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales) are members. However, a UK team has played in the Summer Olympics.

Nauru is the only UN member country that has never had an organized national football team.

Other Teams Not in FIFA

Some places with limited international recognition or special status also have football teams that are not FIFA members. These teams play in non-FIFA tournaments or friendly matches.

Abkhazia¹
Niue²
Northern Cyprus¹
Somaliland¹
South Ossetia¹
Transnistria¹
Western Sahara¹

This team is currently a member of ConIFA.
This team was previously an associate member of the OFC.

Other Football Organizations

While FIFA sets the main rules for international football, many other teams play in matches outside of FIFA's system. FIFA has rules about what counts as a "country" for membership, which can make it hard for new teams to join. However, several organizations exist to help these teams play football:

Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA)
International Island Games Association (IIGA)
Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA)
Indian Ocean Island Games
Pacific Games

Historical Football Teams

National football teams sometimes disappear when the country or territory they represented changes. This table lists teams that once existed and were members of FIFA, or represented places with limited recognition and were members of organizations like the N.F.-Board or ConIFA.

Old Team Name	Main Successor Team	Other Successor Team(s)	What Happened
Czechoslovakia	Czech Republic Slovakia		Represented Czechoslovakia until the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
Saar	Joined the German Football Association; now part of the Germany national football team.		Represented the Saarland Protectorate from 1950 to 1956 before it joined West Germany.
East Germany	Joined the German Football Association; dissolved in 1990.		Represented East Germany from 1952 to 1990, before it reunited with West Germany.
Ireland	Northern Ireland	Republic of Ireland	Represented the island of Ireland from 1882. After 1922, it became restricted to players from Northern Ireland.
Malaya	Malaysia		Represented the Federation of Malaya until it formed Malaysia with other territories in 1963.
Tanganyika	Tanzania		Represented Tanganyika until it united with Zanzibar to form Tanzania in 1964.
South Vietnam	Vietnam		Represented South Vietnam from 1949 to 1975. After Vietnam reunited, a new unified team took its place.
North Yemen	Yemen		Represented North Yemen from 1965 until it united with South Yemen in 1990.
South Yemen	Joined the Yemen Football Association; now part of the Yemen national football team.		Represented South Yemen from 1965 until it united with North Yemen in 1990.
United Arab Republic	Egypt	Syria	Represented the United Arab Republic from 1958 to 1961. The team continued as Egypt.
Mandatory Palestine	Israel	Palestine	Represented the British Mandate of Palestine from 1934 to 1940. After 1948, the Israel national football team became its successor, and a separate Palestine national football team was created later.
Russian Empire	Soviet Union		Represented the Russian Empire from 1912 to 1923 before it became the Soviet Union.
Soviet Union	CIS	Estonia Latvia Lithuania	Represented the Soviet Union from 1940 until it dissolved in 1991.
CIS	Russia	Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan	Represented the Commonwealth of Independent States from January to June 1992.
Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia North Macedonia Slovenia	Represented Yugoslavia from 1920 to 1992, before the country split into several new nations.
Serbia and Montenegro	Serbia	Montenegro Kosovo	Represented Serbia and Montenegro from 1992 until it split into Serbia and Montenegro in 2006.
Netherlands Antilles	Curaçao	Aruba Bonaire Sint Maarten	The team represented the Netherlands Antilles until the country dissolved in 2010. Aruba had already become a separate team. The new country of Curaçao took the Netherlands Antilles' place in FIFA.