The Nauru national soccer team is the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

that represents the

Pacific island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

nation of Nauru in soccer. It is under the auspices of the Nauru Soccer Federation which hopes to become a member of the OFC and FIFA and compete in official competitions of the organizations.

Stadium

Currently under construction for the 2026 Micronesian Games, Nauru's

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

will be the

New Nauru Stadium New Nauru Stadium is a planned stadium for the Pacific island nation of Nauru. History Since at least 2011 the government of Nauru had planned to construct a new 10,000-seat national stadium on reclaimed phosphate mining land in the interio ...

in the Meneng District’s interior plateau, also known as Topside. Previously, the home of soccer on Nauru was the Denig Stadium.

History

The Nauru Soccer Federation had reportedly applied for membership in both the OFC and FIFA but was denied, presumably because of a lack of infrastructure and league system. In 2009 the Nauruan Minister of Sport Rayong Itsimaera indicated that the island nation desired to become a member of FIFA and the OFC and the organizations wanted to accept them, but reiterated that there were challenges preventing Nauru from joining both bodies. Previously, Nauru had never played any official international matches. However, a Nauruan representative team had played twice, including a 2–1 victory over phosphate miners representing the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

in 1994. The second match featured a Nauru selection playing refugees from the

Nauru Regional Processing Centre The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and run by the Gover ...

at the Denig Stadium in 2014 in recognition of

World Refugee Day World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on 20 June by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world. The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th anniv ...

. After a long hiatus, the Nauru Soccer Association was relaunched in 2018. In 2020, the association’s vice-president Kaz Cain announced that Nauru was considering creating its first-ever official national side for a tournament in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

in 2021. After issues caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the association was relaunched again in 2023 as the Nauru Soccer Federation under the

Nauru Olympic Committee Nauru Olympic Committee (IOC code: NRU) is the National Olympic Committee representing Nauru. It represents and organises the Olympic movement on the island. The NNOC was founded in 1991 and was recognised by the International Olympic Committee ...

umbrella. The federation’s intent was to build a grassroots soccer culture on the island and field its first-ever official national team. In December 2023, Englishman Charlie Pomroy was appointed by Head of Nauru Soccer Federation Gareth Johnson as Nauru’s first ever national team head coach. Nauru's goal was to join the likes of 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 ...

and the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...

in increasing participation in the sport in their countries. Joining Pomroy in Nauru's project were

Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. Th ...

and acting NSA president, local Kaz Cain. The team’s first jersey was also expected to be available to the public sometime in 2024. Johnson stated: "If we do not play at least one match in a Nauru kit I will see 2024 as a failure." In March 2024, the Nauru Soccer Federation announced that they had signed a deal with Stingz Sportswear, who had just designed and manufactured kits for Micronesia, to produce the Nauru jersey.

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

-based Giordano International had also joined the project as the team's main sponsor, providing funding for the team's kits and matchday apparel. The kit design was expected to be announced in the weeks following the announcement as Stingz and the NSF were finalizing a new logo for the federation. Later that month, the association announced that it was in discussions with the

Football Federation American Samoa Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS) is the governing body for competitive football in the nation of American Samoa. History It came into existence following inaugural elections held in late 2007. The new general secretariat took office und ...

to travel to the territory to face the American Samoa national team as part of a small friendly tournament. In addition to shirt sales, the federation planned to document the team's journey with a film similar to American Samoa's own '' Next Goal Wins''. With enough funding, the team could afford to bring in players of Nauran heritage from Australia to supplement the squad. On 14 March 2024, former Premier League striker

Dave Kitson David Barry Kitson (born 21 January 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He made 420 appearances in the Premier League and Football League, including 135 for Reading. Kitson began his career with non-L ...

was announced as Nauru's first ever national team manager, in addition to a role as international ambassador. The Nauru Soccer Federation also unveiled plans to organize a new regional sub-confederation, the Micronesia Football Federation, with other associations in

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

. The group had begun planning to hold a tournament in summer 2025.

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

, the

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 ...

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

and the

planned to participate, in addition to Nauru.

Coaching staff

Current staff

Coaching history

* Charlie Pomroy (2023–present)

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last twelve months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2024

References

External links

Official NSF website