Marshall Islands national soccer team

Marshall Islands
Shirt badge/Association crest
AssociationMarshall Islands Soccer Federation (MISF)
ConfederationOFC (Oceania)
Home stadiumMajuro Track and Field Stadium

The Marshall Islands national soccer team is the national soccer team of the Pacific island nation of the Marshall Islands. It is under the auspices of the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation. It hopes to become a member of the OFC and FIFA in the "coming years" and compete in official competitions of the organizations.[1]

Stadium

The national stadium of the Marshall Islands is the Majuro Track and Field Stadium in the capital, Majuro. Originally built as a venue for the 2023 Micronesian Games, it has become the home of soccer in the nation and is a vital piece of infrastructure for the association's plans to join the Oceania Football Confederation and FIFA.[2]

Kit

From March 3 to March 18, 2023, the MISF ran a competition to determine a design for the team's first-ever kit. Over 150 designs were submitted from around the world.[3]

Players

With a population of 60,000, the Marshall Islands has a small population from which to draw. However, an additional 20,000 to 30,000 Marshallese citizens live in United States, predominantly in Hawaii and Arkansas. The soccer federation has stated that ideally the team's foundation would be players based in the Marshall Islands and supplemented by the diaspora.[4]

History

Prior to 2020, the Marshall Islands described themselves as the last nation in the world without a national football team and one of the few sovereign nations globally to not be a member of FIFA and/or a regional governing body. The nation had virtually no soccer history, with sports such as baseball and basketball being played on the islands because of the nation's close ties to the United States of America.[5]

The Marshall Islands Soccer Federation was founded in 2020. In December the following year, the organization hired its first-ever Technical Director, British UEFA-licensed coach Lloyd Owers. Owers would be responsible for creating the soccer structure for the nation from youth programs to the senior national team.[6]

Shortly thereafter it was announced that the Marshall Islands may field its first-ever national team at the 2023 Micronesian Games for which the country would be host.[7] In January 2023 it was announced that, as one of several large soccer initiatives on the islands, it was the federation's goal to play its first match against another nation by 2024.[8] In March 2023 MISF President Shev Livai stated that there would be no football tournament at the 2023 Micronesian Games. The federation investigated the possibility of having football as part of the games but hotels on the islands were already fully booked.[9] Livai later admitted that the 2027 Pacific Games would be a more realistic possibility for a competitive national team debut.[10]

References
  1. Bjerkevoll, Ola. "New Marshalls TD ready for "long-term project": Aims for OFC and FIFA membership". Football in Oceania. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  2. Long, Dan. "Marshall Islands: Lloyd Owers appointed technical director of last country without a national football team". Sky Sports. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  3. Nugraha, Dewa. "Historic-Marshall Islands Launch Competition for Nation's First-Ever Football Kit". footyheadlines.com. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  4. Whitehead, Jacob. "Marshall Islands revisited: The Englishmen taking football to the last country on Earth without a team". The Athletic. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  5. Rogers, Martin. "Marshall Islands rare nation untouched by soccer's sprawling reach". USA Today. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  6. Bjerkevoll, Ole. "Marshall Islands hire first ever technical director". Football in Oceania. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  7. Ewart, Richard. "Small beginnings as Marshall Islands sets out to join the world soccer family". ABC. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  8. Webb, Matt. "Bringing football to the Marshall Islands". Marshall Islands Soccer Federation. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  9. Hamilton, Tom. "The Marshall Islands are trying to build a soccer team, but their dreams extend far beyond sport". ESPN. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  10. Fennell, Jordan; Ewart, Richard. "World media's romantic vision masks reality of task ahead for Marshall Islands Soccer Federation". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
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