The Northern Mariana Islands national football team represents the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwea ...

in international men's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. The team is controlled by the governing body for

football in the Northern Mariana Islands The sport of association football in the country of the Northern Mariana Islands is run by the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association. The association administers the men's national football team, the women's national football team, youth n ...

, the

Northern Mariana Islands Football Association The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) is the governing body of football in the Northern Mariana Islands. It was founded in 2005 by US-Attorney Peter Coleman to replace the now-defunct NMISF, who had aministered the sport on th ...

, which is a member of the

East Asian Football Federation The East Asian Football Federation (EAFF), founded on 28 May 2002, is an international governing body of association football in East Asia. History Competitions Current title holders Presidents Member associations EAFF has 10 member a ...

(EAFF) and since December 2020 a full member of the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

(AFC). The association is not a member of the world governing body

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, although it had applied for membership, and so while the national team is eligible to enter AFC and EAFF-run competitions, they are currently ineligible for global competitions such as the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. As such, they do not have an official FIFA ranking. However, the team have been consistently ranked as one of the worst teams in the world on the

Elo ratings The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor. The Elo system was invented as an improved c ...

and were in fact, in July 2016 rated as the worst men's senior international team in the world in a ratings system that also includes a number of other non-FIFA teams. Following the completion of the preliminary qualifying round for the

2017 EAFF East Asian Cup The 2017 EAFF E-1 Football Championship was the 7th edition of the EAFF E-1 Football Championship, the football championship of East Asia. It was held in Japan in December 2017. Through the agreement between EAFF and ASEAN Football Federation (AF ...

the team have won only one official competitive match against international opposition and have a goal difference of −78 in official matches. The team have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament and beyond friendlies and qualifying matches, their only official competition has been in an exhibition tournament in the regional

Micronesian Games The Micronesian Games (or Micro Games, MicroGames) are a quadrennial international multi-sport event within the Micronesian region. The Games were first held in 1969 in Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands). The 2010 Micronesian Games were initially d ...

in 1998, which they won, to date their only tournament success. They are one of the youngest international teams, having played their first match in an exhibition tournament associated with the 1998 Micronesian Games. Following this appearance, they played only one more match, against the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

before the original governing body for football in the country, the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation, became defunct and the team withdrew from international competition. During the time of the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, eligibility criteria for the national team were quite lax, a minimum residency requirement of two years meant that the national team often included a number of contractors working on

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

who were not of Northern Marianan heritage. Following the foundation of a new governing body, the

, the national team was reestablished and, having resigned their associate membership of the

Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...

(OFC), they joined the EAFF in 2006, becoming full members in 2008. Since that date, their international appearances have mainly been restricted to qualifying competitions for the

EAFF East Asian Cup EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the Eas ...

, although they also attempted to qualify for the

AFC Challenge Cup The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. "Vision Asia", created by former AFC president, ...

once, having been admitted as associate members in 2009, and have played several

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against neighboring nation

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, in which the two countries compete for the perpetual trophy, the Marianas Cup.

History

1998 Micronesian Games

The Northern Mariana Islands made their international debut in an exhibition football tournament associated with the 1998 Micronesia Games. The original governing body for football in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation had been accepted as an associate member of the

, but this was the first time records indicated they had participated in any international tournament. The tournament was officially called the W.C.T.C. Shell Soccer Exhibition and was a demonstration event only at the games, not having medal status. Furthermore, the tournament did not meet established regulations; the matches played were only 9-a-side, the games lasted only 80 minutes and the pitch was smaller than regulation size. Nonetheless, the Northern Mariana Islands team performed well in the group stage playing against

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

, Yap (then considered essentially the

Federated States of Micronesia national football team The Federated States of Micronesia national football team is the national team of the Federated States of Micronesia and is controlled by the Federated States of Micronesia Football Association. The team is not a member of FIFA, or a regional co ...

), a team representing the Micronesian state of

Pohnpei Pohnpei "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')" (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic: ''*Fawo ni pei)'' is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei ...

and a "Palau B" team consisting of Bangladeshis living on

. The team won their first two matches 8–0 against Palau B and Yap respectively. A 2–1 loss to Guam in their third game was quickly forgotten as they went on to record resounding victories in their final two group games defeating Palau 12–1 and Pohnpei 11–2 to finish second in the group with a +35 goal difference after their five games, qualifying for the final match. The team avenged their earlier group stage defeat to Guam in the final, beating them 3–0 to claim the tournament title.

Charles Kewo Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and Christopher Guerrero scored in the opening quarter of an hour to give the Northern Mariana Islands a 2–0 half time lead, a lead they extended in the second half through an unknown goalscorer (although other sources suggest Guerrero was the scorer) to seal their victory.

1999 Micronesian Cup

The following year, the team travelled to

Yap Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micro ...

to compete the first Micronesian Soccer Cup. This was a three team tournament consisting of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and an international team known as Crushers (or Crusaders according to other sources). Their performance here was less successful than at the Micronesian Games the previous year. In their first game, they lost 7–0 to the Federated States of Micronesia. It is not recorded whether they played their other group match against Crushers / Crusaders, but given that the final was contested between the Federated States of Micronesia and Crushers / Crusaders, it can be extrapolated that if the match did take place, the best result the Northern Mariana Islands could have achieved was a draw.

Hiatus

The country then entered something of a hiatus in footballing terms. The original governing body for football in the country, the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation became defunct sometime between 2002 and 2003 and after that, no international competition took place until the current governing body, the

(NMIFA) was founded in 2005. Around this time, reports indicate that there was no official men's football of any kind in the country. In 2006, discussions were held with the NMIFA concerning the establishment of an official men's league. At the time it was hoped that the establishment of an official men's competition would provide the means by which players who could meet the citizenship and eligibility criteria to represent the country at future tournaments might become involved. Under the auspices of the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation, teams entered into tournaments such as the 1998 Micronesian Games included a number of foreign players working on

as contractors. This was not uncommon in the area at this time and some other teams also included players of similar status. For the Northern Mariana Islands specifically, the only eligibility requirements players needed to fulfill was a two-year residency.

Return

In December 2006, the

admitted the Northern Mariana Islands as a provisional member. This membership entitled them to a $120,000 annual grant from the EAFF to further football development in the country. The EAFF then granted full membership in September 2008.

2007–08: Marianas Cup

Following their acceptance as an associate member of the EAFF, their first participation in EAFF competition was in the 2008 East Asian Football Championship Preliminary Round, a two legged tie against

. The first leg, played in Saipan, resulted in a 3–2 loss for the Northern Mariana Islands Mark McDonald twice equalized after Guam had taken the lead only for

Zachary Pangelinan Zachary James "Zach" Pangelinan (born June 16, 1988) is a rugby international for the United States and plays for the Houston SaberCats in Major League Rugby (MLR). Nonetheless, the performance of the home team was positively received and was still remarked upon a year later. Unfortunately the return leg in Hagatna a week later produced a much more one-sided result as Guam were victorious 9–0, Pangelinan scoring five times and four other players scoring once to ensure that Guam not only progressed to the next round of the EAFF competition but also that they were the winners of the inaugural Marianas Cup, a perpetual trophy contested each time the two nations play each other. The two teams met again the following year in Saipan and for the third time in a row, Guam were the victors. Guam took the lead halfway through the first half through David Manibusan, but

Joe Wang Miller Joe Wang Miller (Chinese: 王喆; born 3 February 1989) is a footballer who primarily plays as a forward for Tan Holdings. Born in China, he represents the Northern Mariana Islands national team. Club career MP United Miller was part of ...

equalized four minutes later and the teams went into half time tied at 1–1. Guam again took the lead in the 52nd minute through and own goal but the Northern Mariana Islands equalized with ten minutes left in normal time through Steven McKagen. With the teams tied at the end of 90 minutes, two periods of extra time of seven and a half minutes were played and in the 95th minute, Matthew Cruz scored the deciding goal with Guam running out victors 3–2 and retaining the Marianas Cup. Although there was disappointment in not winning, national newspapers commented that the performance was an improvement over the "shocking" 9–0 defeat in their previous encounter.

2009: AFC membership

Prior to their AFC membership being accepted, the team made the short trip to

Yona, Guam Yona ( ch, Yoʼña ) is a village in the United States territory of Guam. History Yona was historically a farming community but today is mostly residential. During World War II, the Japanese forced the indigenous Chamorros to march from camps i ...

to compete in the preliminary round of the

2010 East Asian Football Championship The 2010 EAFF East Asian Football Championship was the fourth edition of the tournament which was held between 6 and 14 February 2010. Two preliminary competitions were held during 2009. Participating teams Preliminary Round 1 * * * * Round ...

. This time, instead of the two-legged playoff against Guam contested in the previous edition, the Northern Mariana Islands took part in a four team group, the winner of which would advance to the next round. The team was drawn against hosts Guam,

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. The team prepared for the tournament for several months prior to departing for Guam, although in that time, they were only able to train with new coach Sugao Kambe for a month. It was acknowledged by their coach prior to their departure that they would be the least experienced of the four teams competing at this stage and this was to prove true as they lost all three of their games: 6–1 to Macau, 2–1 to Guam (a third successive Marianas Cup victory for Guam) and 4–1 to Mongolia. The team returned home without a positive result, although it was noted in the national press that they had been able to score in each of their three games. In July 2009, the AFC Executive Committee agreed to accept the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) as an associate member of the

, after the association received permission for release from the

in June 2009, paving the way to join AFC. It was the NMIFA which resigned from the OFC, despite it being the earlier governing body, the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation which had become a member in the first place.

2010: First draw

On 19 June 2010 the NMI earned a 1–1 draw with neighbor Guam in the 2010 Marianas Cup. The match ended in a draw as there was insufficient lighting to continue the match after the end of regulation.

scored for the NMI in the 68th minute and

Jason Cunliffe Jason Ryan Quitugua Cunliffe (born 23 October 1983) is a Guamanian footballer who plays as a striker and midfielder for Bank of Guam Strykers in the Guam Soccer League, and is the current captain of Guam. Youth and club career Cunliffe first ...

answered in the 89th minute to salvage a draw for Guam. Despite the efforts of the NMIFA, delays in decision making around whether the 2011 Pacific Games football tournament would double as a

qualifying event meant that the national team were unable to enter. As a result, no games were played for the next two years until July 2012 when The Blue Ayuyus entered the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup First Preliminary Round, hosted again by Guam. New coach Chikashi Suzuki was conscious of the need to snap the losing run of matches against Guam, had recognized that previous squads had contained a large number of veteran players and called up a number of younger players such as Lucas Knecht and Bo Barry who were playing college and high school football respectively in the United States. However, the team still included a wide age range of players, Enrico del Rosario and Brian Lee were the youngest at 15 with Dan Westphal the oldest at 42. Optimism that the team might finally be able to beat Guam appeared well placed when

opened the scoring for the Northern Mariana Islands, but two fouls from William Dunn allowed Guam to score through a penalty and a free kick before a handball from

Kirk Schuler The Northern Mariana Islands national football team represents the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in international men's football. The team is controlled by the governing body for football in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Nor ...

gifted Guam their third goal confirming a fourth defeat out of five games against Guam. Despite the result, the team expressed confidence that they would be able to beat

, the other team in the three team qualification group, who still had to play Guam, and potentially secure the single qualifying berth for the next round. However, this confidence was to be misplaced. Macau took a 2–0 lead at half time, despite resolute defending from the Blue Ayuyus in the first twenty minutes, and although Kirk Schuler was able to halve the deficit in the 51st minute, Macau scored three more goals, including a penalty to eliminate the Northern Mariana Islands at the first hurdle for the third consecutive time. In 2013, the team played their first ever series of matches against opposition from outside the EAFF, taking part in the qualifying rounds for the

2014 AFC Challenge Cup The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup was the fifth and the final edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the now de ...

. With the football federation founded only a year prior to the inaugural edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, the team not only had to acclimatize to the elevated environment in which they would be playing, they would also have to face some very strong teams in the shape of

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

In their opening game against Nepal, they were dominated from the start, with

Bharat Khawas Captain Bharat Khawas ( ne, भरत खवास) (born 22 July 1991) is Nepalese footballer & Army Officer. He plays for club Tribhuvan Army Club in Martyr's Memorial A-Division League as a striker and currently ranked in captain position of ...

opening the scoring in the fourth minute and completing his hat trick in the 72nd, with three other Nepalese players completing a 6–0 rout. In their second match they fared even worse, losing 9–0 to Palestine, the middle-eastern team scoring four times in the first half and five in the second. Despite already being eliminated following their initial two defeats, the Blue Ayuyus defense performed well in their final game, despite losing 4–0 to Bangladesh, the team managed to keep the scoreline respectable with the result flattering Bangladesh as they scored two very late goals.

2014: First victory

2014 saw a return to EAFF Cup qualifying for the fourth time, drawn again in a qualifying group containing the weakest four nations in terms of ranking: Guam, Mongolia and Macau. Following an initial 4–0 loss to Mongolia, on 23 July 2014, the Northern Mariana Islands recorded their first ever international win in a match against Macau. Nicolas Swaim and

scored to beat Macau, 2–1. Following the historic victory, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association held a celebratory dinner in honour of the team's victory. Younger players commented to national media about how proud they were to be a part of the victory, while older players reflected on how their first matches consisted of a team of veteran players trying to achieve a respectable result and that the victory was the result of years of hard work behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the team was not able to carry this momentum into their final game and again lost to Guam, this time 5–0. They were again eliminated at the first hurdle. No further international matches were played until the 2017 EAFF East Asian Cup qualifying competition. During the send off to the competition,

Ralph Torres Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres (born August 6, 1979) is a Northern Marianan politician currently serving as the ninth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since December 29, 2015. He is a Republican from Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mari ...

, the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands committed to the team that the government would provide a new pitch in

Koblerville Koblerville is a settlement (sometimes termed a village or district) on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Si ...

, the ground breaking for which it took place in October 2016. The team was not able to repeat the comparative successes of the previous qualifying campaign however, losing all three games and being eliminated at the first stage again. the team lost their first match against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

8–1, a result made all the more easy for their opponents once striker

was sent off for a second yellow card in added time at the end of the first half. A second loss followed against Macau, 3–1 before the campaign was rounded out with a third loss, 8–0, to Mongolia. The team were not aided in their qualifying campaign by a pre-tournament training camp in the Philippines which saw a large number of the squad taken ill. The team played three friendly matches against club sides. Prior to their second match, five of the squad were in hospital and a further five or six were recovering from a bacterial infection that had struck the squad. Nonetheless, they fulfilled all three matches. The results of the first two were not released, but the final match was a 5–1 loss to

Kaya Kaya may refer to: People *Kaya (given name) *Kaya (surname) Places *Kaya, Burkina Faso, a town in Burkina Faso, capital of the department *Kaya Airport, serving the town * Kaya Department, a department or commune of Sanmatenga Province in centr ...

2020: Full AFC membership

On 9 December 2020 during the 30th AFC Congress, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) became the 47th full AFC member association.

2021: FIFA membership sought

FIFA Head of Member Association (MA) Governance, Rolf Tanner, announced at the 11th Northern Mariana Islands Football Association Ordinary Congress on 29 October 2021 that the global football governing organization received the islands' application for membership.

Home stadium

The Northern Mariana Islands play their home matches at the Oleai Sports Complex, a multi-use

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

. It is currently used mostly for

matches and has a capacity of 2,000 people. The surface is grass with an athletics track around the perimeter.Oleai soccer field undergoes maintenance
, ''Marianas Variety''. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2011.

Team image

Colors

The Northern Mariana Islands current home kit is all sky blue shirts, shorts and socks, with a white pattern on the shirt. Their away kit is the mirror image of this, all white shirts, shorts and socks with the pattern on the shirt in sky blue.

Kit history

Home Away

Logo

The Northern Mariana Islands men's national football team shares the same logo as the

. The logo consists of three elements in addition to the name of the federation. In the background is a

Latte stone A latte stone, or simply latte (also latde, latti, or latdi), is a pillar (Chamorro language: ''haligi'') capped by a hemispherical stone capital (''tasa'') with the flat side facing up. Used as building supports by the ancient Chamorro people, th ...

, a

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

(

Chamorro language Chamorro (; ch, Finuʼ Chamorro, links=no (CNMI), (Guam)) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people (about 25,800 people on Guam and about 32,200 in the rest of the Mariana Islands and elsewhere). It is the native and spoken ...

: ''haligi'') capped by a

hemispherical A sphere () is a Geometry, geometrical object that is a solid geometry, three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

stone

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

(''tasa'') with the flat side facing up. Used as building supports by the ancient

Chamorro people The Chamorro people (; also CHamoru) are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, signif ...

, they are found throughout most of the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

. In modern times, the latte stone is seen as a sign of Chamorro identity and is used in many different contexts. Overlaid on this is a football and overlaid again on this is a two-tone wave mirroring the colours of the

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours ...

Nickname

The team is nicknamed the "Blue Ayuyu". The Ayuyu is the name given in the

to the

Coconut crab The coconut crab (''Birgus latro'') is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, with a weight of up to . It can grow to up to in width from the tip ...

, also known as the Robber crab.

Recent results and upcoming fixtures

2022

Coaching Staff

Coaching history

Players

Current squad

Selected for the International Friendly in

Northern Mariana Island The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territories of the Unit ...

against

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Northern Mariana Islands.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Youngest appearances

Statistically, the Northern Mariana Islands have given senior international debuts in competitive matches to a larger number of very young players, those under 16 years of age, and more caps to veteran players, those over the age of forty, than any other nation. Of the nine players globally who have made their international debuts before their fifteenth birthdays, three of them are from the Northern Mariana Islands. Both Joel Fruit and Kennedy Izuka made their international debuts in the 8–0 friendly loss to Guam in 2012. Izuka was aged 14 years and 242 days and is the seventh youngest debutant in history, while Fruit was the younger at 14 years and 177 days, the fourth youngest player recorded. However, Lucas Knecht featured for the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association on 1 April 2007 in an East Asian Football Federation Championship Qualifier, again versus Guam. Knecht was 14 years and 2 days old at the time making him the youngest male player to ever appear in an international match, 91 days younger than the previous record holder,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

player

Aung Kyaw Tun Aung Kyaw Tun ( my, အောင်ကျော်ထွန်း) is a Burmese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. International career Tun became the youngest ever player to feature in a FIFA recognised match, when, at ...

. In addition to the three fourteen year old debutants, three other players: Enrico del Rosario, Jehn Joyner and

Scott Kim Scott Kim is an American puzzle and video game designer, artist, and author of Korean descent. He started writing an occasional "Boggler" column for ''Discover'' magazine in 1990, and became an exclusive columnist in 1999, and created hundreds of ...

all made their debut prior to their sixteenth birthdays. Note: It is possible that Michael Barry may also have made a senior international appearance in the teams 1–1 Marianas Cup match against Guam in 2010 aged 14 years and 251 days, which would make him the eighth youngest debutant in history. However, although it is known that he was named in the match squad, it is not known whether he actually played in the game.

Oldest appearances

In addition to being the national team to have given the most senior team debuts to under sixteen players, they are also the team to have given the most international caps to players aged over 40, of the 88 players confirmed to have played an international football match after their fortieth birthdays, 11 of them are from the Northern Mariana Islands. Of these players Wesley Bogdan is the nation's current oldest player when he made his first senior international appearance in 2007 EAFF Championship qualifying match against Guam aged 48 years and 243 days. Only two players have made international appearances at an older age:

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

midfielder

Giorgos Koudas Giorgos Koudas ( el, Γιώργος Κούδας; born 23 November 1946) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent his entire career in PAOK. Due to his fierce competitiveness and his Macedonian ...

, who played in a 2–0 defeat to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1995 aged 48 years and 301 days and Barrie Dewsbury, who played in Sark's 16–0 loss to

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

at the

2003 Island Games The 2003 Island Games were the tenth Island Games, and were held in Guernsey, from 28 June 4 to July 4 2003. Medal table Sports The sports chosen for the games were: External links Guernsey 2003 {{Island Games Island Games Sport in Guer ...

aged 52 years and 11 days.

Competitive record

The Northern Mariana Islands have only entered three formal international competitions, the

, the EAFF East Asian Championship and the

. As non-FIFA members seeking admission, they are not yet entitled to enter the

. The Marianas Cup is not noted as a separate competition in this section as it is the name given to a perennial trophy contested each time the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam meet.

AFC Asian Cup

The team were eligible to enter the

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

through the AFC Challenge Cup from 2011. However, they did not enter the

2010 AFC Challenge Cup The 2010 AFC Challenge Cup was the third edition of the tournament which was held from 16–27 February 2010 in Sri Lanka. India, the defending champions, fielded their under-23 team for this tournament in preparation for the 2010 Asian Game ...

so they did not qualify. In failing to qualify for the

, they also failed to qualify for the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

AFC Challenge Cup

Having been accepted as an associate member in 2009, the Blue Ayuyus attempted to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup once, in 2013. They were unsuccessful in qualification, losing all three matches without scoring a goal. The AFC Challenge Cup was discontinued by the AFC, with all nations now entering qualifying for the Asian Cup due to the expansion of the Asian Cup to the 24-nation format from the 16-nation one after the 2015 edition.

EAFF E-1 Football Championship

The

EAFF E-1 Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

is the primary source of competitive football for the Northern Mariana Islands since they reemerged onto the international scene and were accepted as a member of the EAFF. They have attempted to qualify for each edition of the EAFF E-1 Championship since they were admitted to the federation, each time without success.

Micronesian Games

Micronesia made their international debut at the 1998 Micronesia Games, though the tournament was not a formal part of the games, merely an exhibition. The formal name of the football tournament was the W.C.T.C. Shell Soccer Exhibition. The team were successful, winning the tournament, but have not entered since, although football has only sporadically been included in the games program. :''*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicates 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.''

Micronesian Cup

Marianas Cup

World rankings

FIFA

The Northern Mariana Islands, although a member of the

are not members of FIFA and so are not ranked. Additionally, although full members of the AFC, they have yet to be included on their ranking list of member associations. The islands have been seeking FIFA membership since October 2021.

Elo rating

The team has steadily fallen down the Elo ratings since their first official game against international opposition versus Guam in the 1998 Micronesian Games, from a starting point of 214 to their current position of 238. This is in part due to performance that has seen them gain only one win and one draw since their reemergence on the international scene in 2007 and part due to the fact that they have always been at or near the bottom of the rankings in a period where a number of new competing nations have emerged. Currently their ranking of 238 confirms their status as one of the world's worst senior international football teams. They are ranked directly below their fellow non-FIFA teams of

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

but above

, though this is perhaps somewhat skewed by the fact that all three of these teams are essentially in hibernation having not competed internationally for a number of years. The nearest FIFA affiliated team to them is Eastern (American) Samoa, who are ranked 237th.

Head-to-head record

Honors

As of 2021, the Northern Mariana Islands have won one competition: *

1998 Micronesian Games 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

: 1st (according to AFC website profile, Guam is champion instead of Northern Mariana Islands.) * 2010 Marianas Cup (shared)

References

External links

Official NMIFA website
{{National sports teams of the Northern Mariana Islands Asian national association football teams