The Last Country on Earth Without a Football Team

Now, it is common knowledge that San Marino, despite their recent first competitive win, are found at the bottom of the FIFA world rankings. Usually sitting in 211th place, 210th currently, due to ongoing issues in Eritrea who have withdrawn from football for the time being, with the thought of players seeking political asylum on away trips being the key factor. Is 211th the lowest rank in football though? What if there is a nation that hasn’t played an official game of football yet? Where do they rank? This is the story of the Marshall Islands.

The Marshall Islands are located in Oceania, specifically in the Micronesia region and consists of 29 coral atolls and five islands. Just over 50,000 people call this place home but that number is only decreasing. Talking with the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation (MISF) it’s said a new family leaves the island every day and moves to the US. The mass immigration away from the islands is in part due to the rising sea levels and global warming. The islands have a very low elevation and at the current rate of melting ice sheets, scientists estimate that it won’t be long until the region has to be abandoned. The Islands sit roughly 2.1m above sea level, estimations suggest that by the year 2100 the sea level will increase by another 1.3m, leaving the islands less than a meter above sea level. The locals are doing what they can to preserve their beloved home by building sea barriers but there’s only so much they can do.

So how does a country that is disappearing play football? The first port of call is to find a location suitable to hold sporting events. The idea was of Land Reclamation to provide a sports facility, otherwise known as landfill, a process to create new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The process was long and with several obstacles to overcome but the facility was finally completed in 2024 under the name, Track and Field Stadium in Majuro. A 2,000 capacity Olympic-grade multi-purpose stadium used mainly for football and athletics events.

So, with a place to play, now all that’s needed is a team, but how does an island of only 50,000 people find capable footballers? Talking with the MISF it was clear to see that there was already a popularity for the sport. Many of the islands’ youngsters had an interest in the larger competitions such as the Champions League and the World Cup. The islands have a sizeable immigrant population, many Solomon Islanders now call the Marshall Islands home and with the huge popularity of football in the Solomon Islands there was always an enthusiasm to grow the sport in the Marshall Islands.

A huge obstacle for a project so large in a place so relatively small is always finance. Improvements need to be made on a shoestring budget. There are ways in which the MISF is combating this, mainly through charitable donations. There is a Go Fund Me page set up taking donations, the money will go towards setting up youth sessions, education workshops, starting a men’s league, travel costs and shipping costs. You can purchase the first ever Marshall Islands football shirt through their website, with every purchase helping fund the project.

Talking with the MISF Commercial and Technical Director Matt Webb there is a lot of positivity around the camp, there is a belief in the ability of the players and a belief that this project will be a huge success. He said ‘Marshallese people in general are highly adaptable and incredibly skilled sports people - they pick up skills quickly. We've been really impressed by the overall skill level. Even during the Outrigger Challenge Cup, the difference in our skill and tactical nous between the first game and last game was marked’. How would the Marshall Islands compare though if they were to play against some recognised football nations? It is difficult to comment on this as there has been no official 11-sided game as of yet, but this is a future ambition. As Matt Webb said though they have competed in the Outrigger Challenger Cup.

You can be forgiven for not knowing what this competition is. It is tiny in comparison to what we see in the news and on the screens, but to the Marshallese it is the biggest competition in the history of the MISF. Proving that the funding from football shirt purchases and donations is going back into the project. The sales from the first shirt have allowed the MISF to bring the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Kiribati to the islands to play in this competition. This was a Futsal tournament as the island is still awaiting its first ever 11 aside goal posts.

The competition was a huge success, bringing football to this part of the globe isn’t easy but the MISF accomplished that and ran a successful competition. Talking to Matt Webb it was understood that Kiribati was a level above the rest of the competition at this tournament. Kiribati has an incredible football program in place, they have regular competitive games over all of their 23 islands and host inter-island tournaments throughout the year. At this competition each nation had two teams compete, an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ team. The ‘A’ teams would form one group with the ‘B’ teams forming a second group. Both Kiribati teams comprehensively won each group but the Marshall Islands in their first ever competition were not there to simply host and make up the numbers.

The Marshallese beat the FSM convincingly in the group games and due to the format of the competition beat the FSM again in the first semi-final 8-3. Kiribati ran out 6-2 winners in the final but a silver medal in their first ever competition is something to be proud of. This is going to set a bench mark for all future competition the MISF take part in. The MISF understands that the journey is going to be a long and daunting one but they are ready for the challenge. There might not be an 11 aside game for another couple of years but plans are being put into place.

The main focus of the MISF is still to discover and develop talent on the islands and the more interest this story gathers the more it will benefit the project. The women’s game is also a part of this project and the MISF are hoping to arrange a fixture for the women’s futsal team in the US at some point too. The long-term ambition is for the Marshall Islands to become a member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and eventually a fully recognised FIFA member. As the islands are currently not a part of either of these, funding comes from sponsors and donations, with volunteers helping to grow the game.

So, don’t be looking on Sky Sports for the news of the Marshall Islands football results, they won’t be there yet. With generosity though there may be a day that they will be featured. The final country without a football team is aiming to no longer have that title. Perhaps the ‘newest footballing nation’ would be a more fitting title in the next couple of years. With the ambition of those involved in this project it’s difficult to see why the Marshall Islands won’t become an affiliated nation. Keep your eyes on this story and remember you can be a part of it. Simply doing your part to help the environment will have a positive impact on the success of this project by keeping the islands alive. Let’s support this project and do our bit before it’s too late.    

Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell