This is alist of the men's national association football teams in the world. TheFédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the world's most important governing body forassociation football. A majority of nationalassociation football teams in the world are members of FIFA or one of its affiliatedcontinental confederations. A majority of them also representsovereign states with wide international recognition, with 188 of 195United Nations (UN) member andobserver states holding membership of FIFA. A notable exception is theUnited Kingdom, which is not a member of FIFA in its own right but is represented in the governing body by the teams of its fourconstituent 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 fewstates with limited international recognition, oneassociated state with no UN membership, a significant number ofdependent territories, and a limited number ofautonomous 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 specificethnic groups, cultural/historical regions,separatist or autonomist movements, speakers of specific languages, andmicronations. These teams have historically participated in matches and tournamentsoutside 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 theSoviet Union,Yugoslavia, or theNetherlands Antilles), or by part of the territory becoming independent (such as theIreland national football team, which ceased to exist as such after reaching a compromise with FIFA and recognising theRepublic of Ireland national football team as representative of the independent part ofIreland). 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 representingTanganyika andMalaya, which merged with other former colonies to respectively form the Tanzania andMalaysia football teams), or becoming part of an already existing state (as is the case withEast Germany, which joined West Germany to form the unifiedGermany football team). In several cases the football records of dissolved teams are considered by FIFA as belonging to a successor entity (theRussia national team, for example, carries over the records of theSoviet 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 theFIFA World Cup and matches between them are recognised as official international matches. Based on their match results over the previous four-year period, theFIFA 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 theWorld Cup as a tournament for national teams to find theworld champion. Each confederation also runs its own championship to find the best team from among its members:
TheUnion of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) organises competitions betweenArab 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. TheArab Cup is the top championship tournament for national teams, organised historically by UAFA and by FIFA since 2021.
TheConfederation 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 theNouvelle 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 former members simultaneously held associate membership in one of the confederations affiliated with it. These teams are also noted in the list below.[4] TheConIFA 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:
The CONCACAF federation is divided into three regional federations that have responsibility for part of the region's geographical area:
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 ofConIFA; these are indicated in the lists below.
This section lists:
Five UN members and one UN General Assembly observer state are not members of FIFA or any continental federation, but have fielded national association-organised teams in matches outside the auspices of FIFA. The national teams of these six states are listed below.
Nauru is the only UN member state to have never fielded a national association-organised football team.[9]
Threestates with limited international recognition and no UN membership are members of both FIFA and an affiliated confederation: theRepublic of China (as Chinese Taipei),Kosovo, andPalestine. TheCook Islands is anassociated 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.[10][11][12][13][14] 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.
Many other teams compete in representative football outside of FIFA's oversight, and some of these claim 'national' status. Historically FIFA did not tightly define "country" and as such twenty-three current FIFA members represent subnational and dependent territories, as well as three representing stateswith limited international recognition.[note 3] 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 however, FIFA made changes to its statutes to define 'country' as "an independent state recognized by the international community",[16] which has made membership of FIFA harder for aspirant national teams. Nonetheless, several organisations exist to encourage, facilitate or promote representative football outside of FIFA, and many of their members claim the status of national football teams:
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, or those that representedstates with limited recognition and have been members of the N.F.-Board or ConIFA, are included on the table.
| Preceding team | Successor team (inherited position/results) | Other successor team(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Czechoslovakia(Representation of Czechs and Slovaks in 1993) | Czech Republic[17] Slovakia[18] | RepresentedCzechoslovakia until its dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.[17][18] Jointly represented both nations during the remainder of their1994 World Cup qualifying games.[19] | |
 Saar | Joined theGerman Football Association; now part of theGermany national football team. Historical results and achievements listed separately. | Represented theSaarland Protectorate from 1950 to 1956 before its union with the Federal Republic of Germany.[20] | |
 East Germany(officially German Democratic Republic) | Joined the German Football Association; dissolved in November 1990. Historical results and achievements listed separately. | RepresentedEast Germany between 1952 and 1990, beforereunification withWest Germany.[21] | |
 Ireland |  Northern Ireland |  Republic of Ireland | Represented Ireland from 1882. From 1922, when theIrish Free State (laterRepublic of Ireland) left the United Kingdom, until 1953, it continued to pick players from acrossthe Island of Ireland, before becoming restricted to players solely fromNorthern Ireland under pressure from FIFA.[22] |
 Malaya |  Malaysia | Represented theFederation of Malaya from 1953 until its union withSarawak,North Borneo andSingapore to formMalaysia in 1963. Singapore, which gained independence in 1965, retained its preexisting national team. | |
 Tanganyika |  Tanzania | RepresentedTanganyika until its union withZanzibar as Tanzania in 1964.Zanzibar is an associate member ofCAF and so is not a member of FIFA. | |
 South Vietnam |  Vietnam | RepresentedSouth Vietnam from 1949 until 1975. Aseparate team representing North Vietnam never received FIFA or AFC membership. On thereunification of Vietnam, both the North and South teams ceased to exist, with a unifiedVietnam national football team taking the South's place in both FIFA and the AFC. | |
 North Yemen(officially Yemen Arab Republic) |  Yemen | RepresentedNorth Yemen from 1965 until its union withSouth Yemen in 1990. | |
 South Yemen(officially People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) | Joined theYemen Football Association; now part of theYemen national football team. Historical results and achievements listed separately. | RepresentedSouth Yemen from 1965 until its union withNorth Yemen in 1990. | |
 United Arab Republic |  Egypt |  Syria | Represented theUnited Arab Republic from 1958 to 1961 until the secession of Syria. Was considered a continuation of the previousEgypt 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 | RepresentedRussian Empire from 1912 to 1923 until its transition intoSoviet Union. | |
| Soviet Union (officially Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) |  CIS |  Estonia Latvia Lithuania | Represented theSoviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. This was considered a continuation of the team that had previously represented theRussian Empire. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had all had active football teams prior to theirincorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940, and did not participate in the CIS team.[23] |
| CIS | Russia |  Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan | Represented theCommonwealth of Independent States from January to June 1992; until the end of theUEFA Euro 1992 tournament. |
 Yugoslavia |  FR Yugoslavia |  Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia North Macedonia Slovenia | RepresentedYugoslavia between 1920 and 1992, before the dissolution of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia intoBosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia,Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,North Macedonia andSlovenia |
| Serbia and Montenegro |  Serbia |  Montenegro Kosovo | Represented theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia, known asSerbia and Montenegro after 2003, from 1992 until its dissolution intoSerbia andMontenegro in 2006; the unified team still played the2006 FIFA World Cup, because the dissolution process was only concluded one week before the start of the tournament with Montenegro's declaration of independence, following the referendum in May of that year.Kosovodeclared 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 autonomous territory in 1986 and was accepted into FIFA in 1988. The former team represented theNetherlands Antilles until thedissolution of the country in 2010. Formerly known as "Curaçao", this name was restored in March 2011 when the new constituent country ofCuraçao was given the Netherlands Antilles' place in FIFA and CONCACAF. The teams representing the former Netherlands Antilles territories ofBonaire andSint Maarten are full members of CONCACAF but not of FIFA. Two other former Netherlands Antilles territories (Saba andSint Eustatius) have fielded national teams in unofficial friendly matches in the past, but neither has membership of FIFA or a continental federation.[24] |
In addition to the above, other teams have been renamed:
Congo →
Congo-Léopoldville in 1960 →
Congo-Kinshasa in 1963 →
Zaire in 1971 →
DR Congo in 1997
British Gambia →
Gambia in 1965
Guiana →
Guyana in 1966
Burma →
Myanmar in 1989
Cambodia →
Khmer Republic in 1970 →
Kampuchea in 1975 → Cambodia in 1979
Ceylon →
Sri Lanka in 1972
Curaçao → Netherlands Antilles in 1958 until 2010 Czechoslovakia → Representation of Czechs and Slovaks in 1993 Czech Republic → Czechia in 2022
Dahomey →
Benin in 1975 Dutch East Indies →
Indonesia in 1945
Egypt → United Arab Republic in 1958 →
Egypt in 1971 FR Yugoslavia → Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 FYR Macedonia → North Macedonia in 2019
French Somaliland →
Djibouti in 1977
French Togoland →
Togo in 1960
Germany →
Germany FR in 1945 → Germany in 1990
Gold Coast →
Ghana in 1957 Irish Free State → Ireland in 1936 → Republic of Ireland in 1954
Ivory Coast → Côte d'Ivoire in 1983
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes → Yugoslavia in 1929Madagascar →
Malagasy Republic in 1958 → Madagascar in 1975 Mandatory Palestine →
Israel in 1948Middle Congo →
Congo-Brazzaville in 1960 →
PR Congo in 1970 → Congo in 1992
New Hebrides →
Vanuatu in 1980
Northern Rhodesia →
Zambia in 1964
Nyasaland →
Malawi in 1966
Portuguese Guinea →
Guinea-Bissau in 1975
China → Taiwan in 1954 →
Chinese Taipei in 1980
Southern Rhodesia →
Rhodesia in 1964 →
Zimbabwe in 1980Surinam →
Suriname in 1954
Swaziland → Eswatini in 2018
Turkey → Türkiye in 2022
Upper Volta →
Burkina Faso in 1984 Vietnam → South Vietnam in 1955
Western Samoa → Samoa in 19974states with limited international recognition
4constituent countries of the United Kingdom |
2 constituent countries of theKingdom of the Netherlands 1 constituent country of theKingdom of Denmark | 4unincorporated territories of the United States 2overseas collectivities of France 2special administrative regions of China
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