Northern Mariana Islands national football team results

Results

This is a list of all the football matches, both official and unofficial played by the Northern Mariana Islands national football team since their debut at the exhibition tournament held in conjunction with the 1998 Micronesian Games. Matches played prior to 2007 were played under the auspices of Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation and are considered unofficial since the team included several foreign contract workers based on Saipan. The sole requirement to be eligible for the team was two-year residency, but this requirement was not strictly enforced. Similarly, some of the other teams in the tournament included foreign workers. Additionally, for the matches played at the Micronesian games, where the official name of the tournament was the "W.C.T.C. Shell Soccer Exhibition", the matches were 9-a-side (not 11-a-side) on a smaller field and may have been less than 90 minutes duration.

As far as is known, this was the first occasion on which a representative team was assembled. The NMISF had been registered as an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) since 1983, though apparently it had not participated in any international events prior to 1998. The NMISF became defunct around 2002-3 and there was then a hiatus until a new organizing body, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA), was founded in 2005. The NMIFA has fielded senior men's and women's representative teams since 2007, and has been affiliated to the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) as an associate member since 2006 (becoming a full member in 2008), and to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as an associate member since 2009. It is not a member of FIFA at present.

Unofficial

These matches are the total games played under the auspices of Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation. As of July 2016, the 1998 Micronesian Games represents the Northern Mariana Islands only success at an international tournament of any sort.

1999 Micronesia Cup

The Northern Mariana Islands final game prior to the folding of the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation was in the 1999 Micronesia Cup. The status of this tournament is unclear, RSSSF list it among the Micronesian Games results, though they also describe it as the "first Micronesian Cup". Given that there was no Micronesian games in 1999, it seems likely this was an independent competition.

Official

Following an 8-year absence from the international scene, and having become an associate member of the East Asian Football Federation in 2006, the Northern Mariana Islands returned to international competition. Bar a friendly against Guam all their competitive matches were in unsuccessful attempts to qualify for the EAFF East Asian Championship.

2000s

Guam won by an aggregate of 12–2 and advanced to stage two of the preliminary competition.

2010s

Having lost their first seven official competitive matches in the 2000s, the Northern Marianas Islands saw a comparative uptick in their performances. While they continued to struggle to compete in EAFF qualifying, the 2010s have seen the team record their first official draw in a friendly with Guam in 2010 and their first official victory in a shock defeat of Macau in 2014. In addition to continuing to compete in the EAFF qualifiers, the team also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to qualify for one of the last additions of the AFC Challenge Cup.

By venue

As at 4 July 2016:

By year

As at 4 July 2016:

By competition

As at 4 July 2016:

By opponent

*: Unofficial matches include all games played prior to 2007 regardless of opponent on the grounds that eligibility criteria for selection fell short of acknowledged international standards.

Competitive record

The Northern Mariana Islands have only entered three formal international competitions, the AFC Challenge Cup, the EAFF East Asian Championship and the Micronesian Games. As non-FIFA members, they are not entitled to enter the FIFA World Cup. 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 through the AFC Challenge Cup from 2011. However, they did not enter the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup so did not qualify. In failing to qualify for the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup they also failed to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

**: As the first two rounds of qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup were also the first two rounds of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Northern Mariana Islands were ineligible.

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 has been discontinued by the AFC, with all nations now entering qualifying for the AFC Cup due to the expansion of the Asian Cup to the 24-nation format from the 16-nation one after the 2015 edition.

EAFF East Asian Championship

The EAFF East Asian Championship has been 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 East Asian 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 and 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 programme.