List of men's national association football teams

This section lists the current 211 men's national football teams affiliated to FIFA, through their national football associations, and the 12 men's national football teams who have membership in one of FIFA's affiliated continental confederations, but are not members of FIFA. These are displayed in the main list in italics.

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 World Rankings, published monthly by FIFA, compare how good the national teams are on a point-based system.

Some national teams who are members of a confederation but not FIFA members compete in confederation-level and subregional tournaments. However, These teams are not allowed to participate in the World Cup.

The six confederations are:

• Asia – Asian Football Confederation (AFC)^{[note 1]}
• Africa – Confederation of African Football (CAF)^{[note 1]}
• North, Central America and the Caribbean – Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
• South America – Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (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 Championship

Although it is not a confederation, the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) coordinates football activities between Arabic-speaking countries. 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 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. While none of its current 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.^[2]

AFC (Asia)

The AFC is subdivided into five sub-federations:

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

CAF (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.

CONCACAF (North America, 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 nations in the Caribbean, plus Bermuda and three nations in South America.^{[note 2]}
• North American Football Union (NAFU) – represents the teams of Canada, Mexico and the USA.
• Union Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF) – represents the seven nations of Central America.

CONMEBOL (South America)

OFC (Oceania)

UEFA (Europe)

The national football teams included in this section are not members of FIFA, or of any of its affiliated continental confederations. These 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.^[3] Several national associations for teams included in this section are members of ConIFA; these are indicated in the lists below.

This section lists:

• 5 teams representing sovereign states who are members or observers of the United Nations.
• 7 teams representing states which are not members of the United Nations.

Unaffiliated United Nations states

There are seven United Nations member and observer states which are not members of FIFA or any of its affiliated continental confederations. Five of them, however, have fielded national association-organised teams in unofficial friendly matches, regional tournaments (such as the Pacific Games or Micronesian Games), or in global tournaments that are not regulated by FIFA. These teams are listed below.

•  Great Britain¹
•  Federated States of Micronesia²
•  Monaco³
•  Palau⁴
•  Vatican City

1: Senior national football teams representing the United Kingdom have only played unofficial friendly matches (usually under the name "Great Britain", though there have also been "Rest of the United Kingdom" representative teams). Otherwise, the UK is represented in FIFA and UEFA organized football by the teams of its constituent countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales (these teams are listed in the UEFA subsection above). Teams representing the entire kingdom have also competed in the Summer Olympics, such as the Great Britain Olympic football team.
2: Official name used by the Pacific Games Council for Micronesia.^[4]
3: National governing body is a member of ConIFA.
4: Listed as associate member of the OFC in 2002 and again in 2006. It is unclear whether Palau is still associated with the confederation.^[5]

Two other UN member states (the Marshall Islands and Nauru) have never fielded a national association-organised football team, though there are reports that amateur football teams claiming to represent the Nauru national soccer team have participated in local friendly matches on at least two occasions.^[6][7]

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 include the British Home Nations (due to their small role in the development of football), the Republic of China (which does not enjoy wide recognition but is still accepted as a representative of the Taiwan area), and certain dependent territories, autonomous areas, and protectorates, which have been allowed to hold membership in FIFA and/or one of its affiliated confederations based on their political autonomy, separate status, and/or distance from their parent state. At present, FIFA members include 23 subnational and dependent territories, as well as two states with limited international recognition.

The FIFA-affiliated football teams that belong to non-UN members are:

Ten other 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.

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(s) (inherited position/results)	Other successor team(s)	Notes
Czechoslovakia	Czech Republic[8]	Slovakia	Represented Czechoslovakia until its dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.[9] Competed as Representation of Czechs and Slovaks for the remainder of their 1994 World Cup qualifying games.[10]
Saarland		West Germany	Represented the Saarland Protectorate from 1950 to 1956 before its union with the Federal Republic of Germany.[11]
West Germany (officially Germany FR)	Germany		Represented West Germany between 1950 and 1990, before reunification with East Germany.[12] Was considered a continuation of the team that had represented the German state prior to 1942.[13]
East Germany (officially Germany DR)		Germany	Represented East Germany between 1952 and 1990, before reunification with West Germany.[12]
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 only from Northern Ireland under pressure from FIFA.[14]
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.
Mandatory Palestine	Israel	Palestine	Represented the British Mandate for Palestine from 1934 until the formation of the State of Israel in 1948. A team representing the Palestinian territories was formed in 1953 and was admitted into FIFA in 1998.
South Vietnam (officially Vietnam)	Vietnam		Represented South Vietnam from 1949 until 1975. North and South Vietnam maintained separate football teams from 1954 to 1975. The current Vietnam national football team is considered a successor of the South Vietnam team as North Vietnam was not a FIFA member.
North Yemen (officially Yemen AR)	Yemen		Represented North Yemen from 1965 until its union with South Yemen in 1990.
South Yemen (officially Yemen PDR)		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.
Soviet Union	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. Teams representing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had all been active independently prior to their incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940.
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, in order to take the Soviet Union's place in that competition.
Yugoslavia	Federal Republic of 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-Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, North Macedonia and Slovenia
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later renamed 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 took the Netherlands Antilles' place in FIFA and CONCACAF. The teams representing Bonaire and Sint Maarten are full members of CONCACAF, but not of FIFA.

New names

In addition to the above, other nations have been renamed:

•  Belgian Congo →  Congo-Léopoldville in 1960 →  Congo-Kinshasa in 1963 →  Zaire in 1971 →  DR Congo in 1997
• British Gambia →  Gambia in 1965
•  British 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
•  Dahomey →  Benin in 1975
•  Dutch East Indies →  Indonesia in 1945
•  FR Yugoslavia →  Serbia and Montenegro in 2003
•  FYR Macedonia →  North Macedonia in 2019
• French Somaliland →  Djibouti in 1977
•  French Togoland →  Togo in 1960
•  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 1929
• Madagascar →  Malagasy Republic in 1958 →  Madagascar in 1975
• Middle Congo →  Congo-Brazzaville in 1960 →  Congo in 1992
•  New Hebrides →  Vanuatu in 1980
•  Northern Rhodesia →  Zambia in 1964
•  Nyasaland →  Malawi in 1966
• Portuguese Guinea →  Guinea-Bissau in 1975
•  Russian Empire →  Soviet Union in 1923
•  Southern Rhodesia →  Rhodesia in 1964 →  Zimbabwe in 1980
• Surinam →  Dutch Guiana in 1954
•  Swaziland →  Eswatini in 2018
•  United Arab Republic →  Egypt in 1971
•  Upper Volta →  Burkina Faso in 1984
•  Western Samoa →  Samoa in 1996

Notes

• List of FIFA country codes
• List of women's national association football teams

• "List of FIFA Associations". FIFA. Archived from the original on 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2020-06-24.