The football federations of the territories discussed here are not (yet) full members of FIFA, and therefore none of their matches are considered to be full A international matches by the world body. However, many of them are members of one of FIFA's continental confederations and participate in their tournaments, in which case their opponents usually include matches against them in their own national team records.
Some current FIFA members have been in the same position until relatively recently, such as the football federations of San Marino (an independent republic since the end of the thirteenth century, but only affiliated to FIFA since 1988), the Faroe Islands (an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, which joined FIFA in 1988 as well) and Gibraltar (a British overseas territory, FIFA members since 2016 in spite of strong opposition from Spain).
There are quite a few anomalies (and controversies) with respect
to FIFA membership of such football federations.
Just as the Faroe Islands, Greenland
is a Danish autonomous territory, but its football federation is not a member of
FIFA, in spite of holding annual championships since 1971 (earlier tournaments since
the mid-fifties were run by a general sports federation). After UEFA changed its
membership rules (denying any future applications from non-independent territories,
such as the Faroes and Gibraltar), Greenland is no longer eligible to join the European
body and is now seeking CONCACAF membership.
Similarly, while Aruba and Curaçao are FIFA members, as they enjoy a so-called
status aparte within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sint Maarten (which has
the same legal status) was denied membership in 2022, and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius
and Saba (which all are "special municipalities" of the Netherlands) are considered
ineligible for FIFA membership altogether.
Likewise, while most British overseas territories are, like Gibraltar, regular
FIFA members (e.g. Anguilla, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands), others (such as the
Falkland Islands and Saint Helena) are not.
Moreover, the federation of Tahiti (which in fact represents French Polynesia, an
overseas territory of France) joined FIFA in 1990, as did the federation of
New Caledonia in 2004, but none of France's many other overseas departments and
territories followed suit, although most are members of their continental confederation.
The issue of whether a federation may become a member of FIFA or not is almost as
old as FIFA itself. At its foundation in Paris in 1904, it adopted the principle
of having only one member association per "country". In spite of this,
Austria and Hungary, then both part of the Habsburg Empire, joined one year
later, but that did not cause any problems as the two were considered separate
"states". However, when the Bohemian football federation was granted provisional
membership in 1906, Austria protested strongly, as Bohemia was part of the
Austrian "half" of the Habsburg realm, and at
the 1908 FIFA congress (held
in Vienna), Bohemia were eventually denied full membership. (Hungary would
undoubtedly have acted the same should Slovakia or Transylvania have sought
independent membership at the time.)
At the same congress, the applications of Ireland (then the entire island) and Scotland
were rejected, together with that of the AFA, an amateur federation in England opposing
the FA, which itself had joined FIFA in 1905. The denial of the AFA, although clearly
in accordance with the rules set up at FIFA's foundation, annoyed the USFSA (then the
French member federation of FIFA and one of its founders) to such an extent that it
left FIFA and set up a rival world football federation together with the AFA
and the Bohemians, the UIAFA, which
was spectacularly unsuccessful and folded within a few years.
Whereas the AFA, Bohemia, Ireland and Scotland failed in their bid to join FIFA
in 1908, Finland and Norway were granted membership at the same congress in Vienna.
While Norway had been officially independent (from Sweden) since 1905, Finland was
an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire at the time. So when the
Russian football federation later applied for membership as well, it was only
admitted (in 1912) under the
explicit condition that its rule did not include Finland.
In any case, full independence or sovereignty never was a requirement for FIFA membership.
The first non-European members were South Africa, then a dominion of the British Empire,
in 1910, and Canada, which had the same status, followed in 1912. During
the interbellum, the football federations of three Dutch colonies were admitted:
that of the Dutch East Indies in 1924, that of Surinam in 1929 and that of
Curaçao in 1932.
Please note that the following short overview is work in progress and not exhaustive.
CONCACAF
The Caribbean zone of CONCACAF, ruled by the CFU (Caribbean Football Union), includes
six overseas territories of the French Republic, whose federations are not members of
FIFA: French Guyana, Guadeloupe,
Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy,
Saint-Martin and Saint-Pierre/Miquelon; in
addition it includes four territories belonging to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
which are outside of FIFA: Bonaire, Saba,
Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten (part of
the same island as Saint-Martin).
CAF
Africa includes two French islands in the Indian Ocean, Mayotte
and Reunion, whose
federations are not affiliated to FIFA; in addition, the CECAFA (Council for East
and Central Africa Football Associations) includes Zanzibar (part
of the United Republic of Tanzania).
AFC
The EAFF zone (East Asian Football Federation) includes
the Northern Mariana Islands,
an unincorporated territory of the United States of America.
OFC
The OFC includes two associate members (Kiribati
and Tuvalu) which do not belong
to FIFA; other territories in the region are
the Federated States of Micronesia,
the Marshall Islands, Nauru,
Niue, Palau,
Tokelau, and Wallis and Futuna.
UEFA
Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but geographically belongs
to (North) America. The football federation of Northern Cyprus, a territory
which is de facto separated from the rest of the island (which
geographically is part of Asia) since 1974,
was part of the New Federations Board for non-FIFA-affiliated nations until
its dissolution in 2013. In addition, there are a number of self
governing entities (e.g. the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands) and independent
countries (Monaco, Vatican City) which are neither UEFA nor FIFA members.
Please note that the following overview is work in progress and not exhaustive.
BONAIRE CONCACAF member: 2014. Most appearances: Yurick Seinpaal. Bonaire was part of the Dutch Antilles until that entity was dissolved in 2010; it is now a "special municipality" of the Netherlands. FRENCH GUYANA CONCACAF member: 2013. Most appearances: Rhudy Yannis Evens. French Guyana is an overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America. As full citizens of France, its players are eligible to play for the France National Team. GREENLAND Not affiliated to any confederation (CONCACAF application running). Most appearances: Anders Petersen. Greenland mostly played in the Island Games (as the Faroe Islands did until 1991), finishing runners-up in 2013 and 2017. GUADELOUPE CONCACAF member: 1991. Most appearances: Jean-Luc Lambourde. Guadeloupe is an overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. As full citizens of France, its players are eligible to play for the France National Team. KIRIBATI OFC affiliation: 2008. Most appearances: Nabaruru Batiri. Kiribati is an island country and archipelago located in the central western part of the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is made up of a group of coral atolls. They can enter the OFC Nations Cup and Pacific Games (last entering in 2011). MARSHALL ISLANDS Not affiliated to any confederation. It is an island country located in Oceania, in the Pacific Ocean, in the Micronesia region. Its capital Majuro has no organized football structure, nor a league of any kind. MARTINIQUE CONCACAF member: 1991. Most appearances: Daniel Hérelle. Martinique is an overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. As full citizens of France, its players are eligible to play for the France National Team. MAYOTTE Not affiliated to any confederation. Most appearances: Abdou Lihariti Antoissi. Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France in the Indian Ocean, which chose to remain an overseas part of France when the other islands of the Comoros obtained independence in 1975. MICRONESIA Not affiliated to any confederation. The Federated States of Micronesia is a sovereign island state in the Pacific Ocean; its football side participated in the (South) Pacific Games and the Micronesia Cup, which it won in 1999. NAURU Not affiliated to any confederation (OFC application on waiting list). Nauru is a country and state of Micronesia in the central Pacific Ocean. It is not only one of the few United Nations member states that is not a member of FIFA, but in fact never played an international match. NIUE Not affiliated to any confederation (OFC affiliated: 2006-2021). Niue is a self-governing island in free association with New Zealand (meaning it has the same legal status as the Cook Islands, FIFA members since 1974), located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Tonga and Samoa. The former Niue Islands Football Association had been inactive for a decade, in breach of the OFC Bylaws; its membership was then revoked. NORTHERN CYPRUS Not affiliated to any confederation. The federation of (the Turkish Republic of) Northern Cyprus was a member of the New Associations Board for non-FIFA affiliated nations until that was dissolved in 2013. Due to a sports embargo in place against Northern Cyprus, the team is unable to play international matches with FIFA members; however, between 1962 and 2007 they played international matches against regional and club sides, and in 1980 they played four FIFA members in Izmir, Turkey. In 2006, they won the FIFI Wild Cup. NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS AFC member: 2020. Most appearances: Nicolas Benjamin Swaim. The Northern Mariana Islands are located between Hawaii and the Philippines and are north of Guam (a FIFA member regularly playing them). Its federation also is a member of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF). PALAU Not affiliated to any confederation (OFC affiliated: 2007-2009). Palau is an island country, located southwest of Micronesia and bordering the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Indonesia and the Philippines. REUNION CAF associate member. Most appearances: Jean-Michel Fontaine. Reunion is an overseas department and region of France in the Indian Ocean, which is only an associate member of CAF, and is therefore not eligible to enter either the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations. SABA Not affiliated to any confederation. Saba was part of the Dutch Antilles until that entity was dissolved in 2010; it is now a "special municipality" of the Netherlands. Until 2011 there was no football field on the island, although inter-island matches were played against Sint Eustatius since 2004. SAINT-BARTHÉLEMY Not affiliated to any confederation. Unlike most of the other teams representing French territories in the Caribbean, Saint-Barthélemy is not a member of FIFA and CONCACAF and does not participate in competitions such as the CONCACAF Gold Cup or CONCACAF Nations League. SAINT-MARTIN CONCACAF member: 2002. Most appearances: Yannick Bellechasse. Saint-Martin is an island in the northeastern Caribbean, shared between the French Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (see Sint Maarten). SAINT-PIERRE/MIQUELON Not affiliated to any confederation. Saint-Pierre and Miquelon are two neighbouring islands close to the Canadian coast. Unlike most other teams representing French territories in the Western Hemisphere, its representative side only participated in two editions of the Coupe des DOM, but never in any official CONCACAF competition. SINT EUSTATIUS Not affiliated to any confederation. Sint Eustatius was part of the Dutch Antilles until that entity was dissolved in 2010; it is now a "special municipality" of the Netherlands. It played inter-island matches against Saba since 2004. SINT MAARTEN CONCACAF member: 2002. Most appearances: Gerwin Lake. Sint Maarten is an island in the northeastern Caribbean, shared between the French Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (see Saint-Martin). TOKELAU Not affiliated to any confederation. Tokelau is an archipelago located in the south of the Pacific Ocean; it is a dependent territory of New Zealand, although officially referred to as a nation. TUVALU OFC affiliation: 2008. Most appearances: Katepu Iosua Sieni. Tuvalu is an island country in the Pacific Ocean, part of Polynesia. They can enter the OFC Nations Cup and Pacific Games (last entering in 2023). WALLIS AND FUTUNA Not affiliated to any confederation. Wallis and Futuna is a French overseas collectivity consisting of two island groups in the South Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Samoa. They entered the South Pacific Games between 1966 and 1995. ZANZIBAR Not affiliated to any confederation (CAF affiliated: 2017-2017). Most appearances: Suleiman Kassim "Selembe". Zanzibar is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean consisting of two main islands, Unguja and Pemba, and numerous small ones, off the coast of the mainland of Tanzania, a country formed in 1964 by the union of Tanganyika (the old name for the mainland) and Zanzibar. Its football association was founded in 1926, much earlier than that of Tanganyika (1945). It was affiliated to CAF for four months in 2017, before having its membership rescinded on the grounds of not being a sovereign nation. It thus cannot enter any official CAF or FIFA competitions, but has participated in the CECAFA Cup (and its forerunners) since 1949, winning in 1995.
Prepared and maintained by Roberto Mamrud and Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Roberto Mamrud
(roberto.mamrud@gmail.com)
and Karel Stokkermans
(karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 1 Apr 2025
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