History
Beginnings
Football in Guam began in the 1960s, on the initiative of two pioneers: an Irish priest, Tony Gillespie, and an owner of a construction company, Charles Whang, who settled in Guam and created the Guam Soccer Cup before becoming the first president of the Guam Football Association in 1975. Guam played its first international match at the Football at the 1975 South Pacific Games, 1975 Pacific Games against Solomon Islands national football team, Solomon Islands, losing 5–1. This result was followed by an 11–0 loss to Fiji national football team, Fiji, eliminating them from the competition. In the Football at the 1979 South Pacific Games, 1979 Games, Guam again lost twice to New Caledonia national football team, New Caledonia 11–1 and New Hebrides national football team, New Hebrides 5–0. Progressing to the Consolation Tournament, Guam registered their first victories, beating Western Samoa national football team, Western Samoa 4–2, and Tuvalu national football team, Tuvalu 7–2 before losing again to New Hebrides national football team, New Hebrides, 5–1. Despite being considered part of Oceania, and having never faced an Asian team to that point, Guam became an associate member of the Asian Football Confederation, AFC in 1991 but continued to participate in the Pacific Games. In 1996, Guam became both a full member of the AFC and of FIFA.1996-2011
A full member of the AFC and FIFA, Guam played its first matches against Asian teams as part of the 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification, 1996 Asian Cup of Nations qualifiers losing all three matches against South Korea national football team, South Korea (9–0), Vietnam national football team, Vietnam (9–0) and Chinese Taipei national football team, Chinese Taipei (9–2). In 1998, Guam played in the Micronesian Games, though the tournament was a 9-a-side competition with 80 minute matches. Guam finished top of the group stage but lost to Northern Mariana Islands national football team, Northern Marianas in the final 3–0. Guam entered the 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, 2000 Asian Cup qualification but finished last in their group again, losing to China national football team, China 19–0. Guam became one of the founding members of the East Asian Football Federation in 2002 and participated in the qualifiers for the inaugural 2003 East Asian Football Championship, finishing last again without registering a goal. The same is true for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification, beaten by Bhutan national football team, Bhutan and Mongolia national football team, Mongolia. For the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Guam entered and were scheduled to face Nepal national football team, Nepal in the first round but both Nepal and Guam withdrew for financial reasons before their first match. In the 2005 East Asian Football Championship qualifiers, Guam lost all four matches heavily, against Chinese Taipei national football team, Chinese Taipei (9–0), Hong Kong national football team, Hong Kong (15–0), Mongolia national football team, Mongolia (4–1) and North Korea national football team, North Korea (21–0). Following these defeats, Guam entered the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup, a competition designed for ''emerging nations'' to help develop their football. Guam again lost all three matches to Palestine national football team, Palestine (11–0), Bangladesh national football team, Bangladesh (3–0) and Cambodia national football team, Cambodia (3–0). Guam advanced to the second stage of qualifying in the 2008 East Asian Football Championship by beating Northern Mariana Islands national football team, Northern Marianas 12–2 over two legs but they were eliminated in the next round by Chinese Taipei national football team, Chinese Taipei (10–0) and Hong Kong national football team, Hong Kong (15–1). In the 2010 East Asian Football Championship, 2010 East Asian Football Championship qualifiers, Guam managed to get its first victory over a FIFA member, beating Mongolia national football team, Mongolia 1–0. They would go on to top the group before being eliminated at the next stage. Guam returned to the Football at the 2011 Pacific Games – Men's tournament, 2011 Pacific Games after a sixteen-year absence, but only managed to beat American Samoa national football team, American Samoa 2–0, finishing second last and failing to advance to the knock-out stages.2012-present
Gary White (footballer), Gary White became Guam's manager in 2012 and called-up players of Guamanian origin based in the United States like Ryan Guy or A. J. DeLaGarza to improve the level of his team. In the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, ''Matao'' managed to advance past the first round by beating Northern Mariana Islands national football team, Northern Marianas (3–1) and Macao national football team, Macao (3–0). Guam then participated in the 2012 Philippine Peace Cup, replacing Hong Kong national football team, Hong Kong, losing against Philippines national football team, Philippines (1–0) and Chinese Taipei national football team, Chinese Taipei (2–0) but beat Macao national football team, Macao (3–0) in its final group game to finish third. Guam advanced to the second qualifying stage of both the 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup, 2015 and 2017 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, 2017 EAFF Championship finishing third and fourth respectively and failing to advance the final competition. In 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, Guam beat Turkmenistan national football team, Turkmenistan (1–0) and India national football team, India (2–1), finishing fourth in their group and qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Third Round, 2019 Asian Cup third round qualifiers, although Guam withdrew before the draw took place. Guam then failed to progress past the first qualifying round for the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, 2019 EAFF Championship. During the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Guam beat Bhutan national football team, Bhutan 5–1 over two legs but lost all eight of their second round matches and finished bottom of their group, scoring two goals and conceding 32.Nickname
Until 2011, the nickname of the Guamanian selection was ''Chamorros'', in reference to the local population of Guam. When Gary White (footballer), Gary White took charge of Guam, the team has changed their nickname to ''Matao'', meaning "courage" in the Chamorro language. ''Matao'' also refers to Matua, the greatest leader in ancient Chamorro society. White also promoted the use of a ritual song before each match of the selection, the ''Inifresi''.Results and fixtures
2022
Current coaching staff
Coaching history
* Willie McFaul (1999–2003) * Sugao Kambe (2003–2005) * Norio Tsukitate (2005–2009) * Kazuo Uchida (2011–2012) * Gary White (footballer), Gary White (2012–2016) * Darren Sawatzky (2016–2017) * Karl Dodd (2017–2021) * Seo Dong-won (footballer, born 1973), Seo Dong-won (2021) * Kim Sang-hoon (2021–present)Players
Current squad
The following 22 players were called up for 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Play-off Round, 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches against Cambodia national football team, Cambodia on 9 and 12 October 2021 respectively. ''Caps and goals correct as of 13 June 2021, after the match against Philippines national football team, Philippines.''Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Guam squad within last 12 months. RET INJ Withdrew due to injuryPlayer records
:''Players in bold are still active with Guam.''Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
AFC Asian Cup
* 2019 AFC Asian Cup, 2019 – Withdrew from the third tournament due to financial constraints.East Asian Football Championship
AFC Challenge Cup
*2006 AFC Challenge Cup, 2006 – Round 1 *2008 AFC Challenge Cup, 2008 – 4th in qualifying groupPacific Games
Pacific Mini Games
Micronesian Games
*1998 – Winners (According to AFC profile)Mariana Cup
*2007, 2008, 2010References
External links
* {{National sports teams of Guam Guam national football team, Asian national association football teams Football in Guam 1975 establishments in Guam