The Vanuatu men's national football team () represents

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

in men's international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competitions. The team is governed by the Vanuatu Football Federation, which is currently a member of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and 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 ...

History

Early years (1951–2022)

It was known as the New Hebrides until the New Hebrides became Republic of Vanuatu in 1980. It finished fourth in the

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. In the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup, Vanuatu beat

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

4–2, preventing the regional powerhouse from making the final and, consequently, the running for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. Vanuatu caused another shock in the 2007 South Pacific Games by knocking out the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

for bronze medal and also enable to enter the second stage of qualification for the OFC Nations Cup and consequently a chance with a playoff for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

held in South Africa. The last time they had won against Solomon Islands was back in 1998 and had since been on the receiving side of many losses save for one draw against them. In July 2008, Vanuatu faced two national teams from the Solomon Islands during the inaugural edition of the Wantok Cup. Vanuatu lost 1–2 to the Solomons' team A, but defeated their team B by two goals to one.

Recognition of the team efforts (2023–''present'')

In 2023, Vanuatu was invited for the 2023 Intercontinental Cup tournament held in India which is the team first tournament outside

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

. In the first match on 9 June 2023, they would face

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

but suffered a 3–1 defeat. In the next match, Vanuatu conceded a late goal losing to host

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on a narrow 1–0 lost. On 15 June 2023, Vanuatu found themselves with a bright smiles as they would go on to win

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

1–0 thus earning them the 3 points and finishing in third place.

FIFA Series tournament

In 2024,

invited Vanuatu to the 2024 FIFA Series tournament held from 21 to 26 March 2024 in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

where they would face

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

(CAF) and

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

(AFC). On 21 March, Vanuatu faced their first ever opponent from the Africa continent, Guinea in a 6–0 lost.

First Oceanian final

Vanuatu progressed to the final of the

for the first time in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

and finished as runners-up of the tournament on 30 June 2024 after losing to

with a 3–0 scoreline.

Team image

Kit sponsorship

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2024

Coaching staff

Coaching history

New Hebrides * P. Reichert (1973–1987) Vanuatu * Terry O'Donnell (1987–1993) * Saby Natonga (1996) * Alwyn Job (1998) * Juan Carlos Buzzetti (2000–2004) * Joe Szekeres (2004–2007) * Robert Calvo (2007–2008) * Willian Malas (2008) * Jorge Añón (2009) * Saby Natonga (2011–2012) * Percy Avock (2012–2015) * Moise Poida (2015–2017) * Etienne Mermer (2017–2018) * Paul Munster (2019) * Etienne Mermer (2019–2022) * George Amos (2022) * Juan Carlos Buzzetti (2022) * Emerson Alcântara (2022) * Etienne Mermer (2022–2023) * Emerson Alcântara (2023–2024) * Juliano Schmeling (2024–)

Players

Current squad

The following 23 players were called up for the PacificAus Sports Football Series in September 2024. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 30 June 2024, after the match against .''

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the national squad in the last twelve months.

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Vanuatu.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

OFC Nations Cup

Pacific Games

Melanesia Cup

Wantok Cup

Head-to-head record

''Up to matches played on 15 November 2024.''

Honours

Major competitions

** Runners-up (1):

Regional

* Pacific Games ** Silver medal (1):

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

** Bronze medal (3):

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* Melanesia Cup ** Champions (1): 1990 ** Runners-up (1):

1998 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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

** Third place (3): 1988,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Wantok Cup ** Runners-up (1):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Summary

Historical kits

Sources:

References

Notes

External links

Vanuafoot – Vanuatu Football Federation Official site

Vanuatu
at OFC
Vanuatu
at

Vanuatu Football Federation Official Blog site

VFFFoot.over-nlog.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanuatu Men's National Football Team Oceanian national association football teams