National association football team
American Samoa
|
Nickname(s)
| The Boys from the Territory
|
---|
Association
| Football Federation American Samoa
|
---|
Confederation
| OFC
(Oceania)
|
---|
Head coach
| Ruben Luvu
[1]
|
---|
Captain
| Vacant
|
---|
Most
caps
| Nicky Salapu
(22)
|
---|
Top scorer
| Samuel Hayward
[2]
Ramin Ott
(3)
|
---|
Home stadium
| Pago Park Soccer Stadium
|
---|
FIFA code
| ASA
|
---|
|
|
|
|
Current
| 189
1 (April 4, 2024)
[3]
|
---|
Highest
| 164 (October 2015)
|
---|
Lowest
| 205 (May 2006)
|
---|
|
Western Samoa
3?1
American Samoa
(
Apia
,
Western Samoa
; August 20, 1983)
FIFA recognized
Tonga
3?0
American Samoa
(
Avarua
,
Cook Islands
; September 2, 1998)
|
|
Wallis and Futuna
0?3
American Samoa
(
Apia
,
Western Samoa
; August 22, 1983)
FIFA recognized
American Samoa
2?0
Cook Islands
(
Nuku'alofa
,
Tonga
; September 4, 2015)
|
|
Australia
31?0
American Samoa
(
Coffs Harbour
,
Australia
; April 11, 2001)
(World record for senior international matches)
|
The
American Samoa men's national football team
(
Samoan
:
Au soka Amerika S?moa
) represents
American Samoa
in men's international
association football
and is controlled by the
Football Federation American Samoa
, the governing body of the sport in the territory. American Samoa's home ground is the
Pago Park Soccer Stadium
in
Pago Pago
and their head coach is
Tunoa Lui
.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
Early history
[
edit
]
In 1983,
American Samoa
entered a football team in the
South Pacific Games
for the first time. The territory's official first match took place in
Apia
,
Western Samoa
on August 20, 1983, and ended in a 3?1 defeat to
Western Samoa
. Two days later, the team recorded their first win with a 3?0 victory against
Wallis and Futuna
however, they were eliminated from the competition at the group stage following a 3?2 loss to
Tonga
on August 24.
[6]
[7]
The following year, the
American Samoa Football Association
(ASFA) ? now known as Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS) ? was founded and took over responsibility for organizing the territory's national team.
[9]
After competing in the
1987 South Pacific Games
and the
1994 Polynesia Cup
, ASFA became full members of the
Oceania Football Confederation
(OFC) and the
Federation Internationale de Football Association
(FIFA) allowing them to compete in the
FIFA World Cup
qualifiers for the first time.
[9]
American Samoa registered their first FIFA-recognized international during the
1998 Polynesia Cup
in
Rarotonga
,
Cook Islands
when they lost 3?0 to Tonga on September 2.
[7]
[10]
World record for the worst loss in international matches
[
edit
]
During their
first qualifying campaign
for the
2002 FIFA World Cup
in April 2001, American Samoa was involved in a match which set the record for the largest margin of victory in international football when they
lost 31?0
to
Australia
.
[11]
The outcome of the match led to debates about the format of qualification tournaments, with the Australian manager
Frank Farina
and striker
Archie Thompson
? who scored 13 times in the match ? feeling that preliminary rounds should be introduced to avoid such unbalanced matches, views shared by the international footballing body
FIFA
. It eventually led to the introduction of a preliminary round in the
Oceanian zone qualification
for the
2006 FIFA World Cup
.
[12]
Stagnation
[
edit
]
Since joining FIFA, the team has been regarded as one of the world's weakest teams
[13]
and were, until November 2011, the joint-lowest ranked national team in the
FIFA World ranking
.
[14]
On November 23, 2011, American Samoa recorded their second and first FIFA-recognized win when they defeated
Tonga
2?1 in the
first round of qualifiers
for the
2014 FIFA World Cup
. It was also the team's first victory after 38 consecutive defeats.
[7]
[13]
[15]
The team's efforts to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup were chronicled in a 2014 British documentary,
Next Goal Wins
, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison.
[16]
[17]
In October 2015, the territory achieved its highest position in the FIFA World Rankings when they reached 164th following back-to-back wins against
Tonga
and the
Cook Islands
in
qualifying
for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
.
[7]
[18]
After playing in the
2019 Pacific Games
, American Samoa was removed from the
FIFA World Rankings
after it had not played a match in over four years. This hiatus was caused in part by the
COVID-19 pandemic
which forced the team out of
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
and the cancellation of the
2020 OFC Nations Cup
. American Samoa would finally compete again at the
2023 Pacific Games
.
Player pool
[
edit
]
American Samoa has struggled in part because of its small player pool. The territory has a small population, and many potential players move away for education or work or choose to play other sports such as
baseball
. Another limiting factor is that international competition regulations often require that players hold the nationality of the country that they represent, which in the case of American Samoa is
United States nationality
.
[1]
Although people born in American Samoa are
United States nationals
,
[20]
foreign nationals who immigrate to American Samoa, who comprise about a third of its population,
[21]
[22]
are ineligible to apply for United States nationality.
[23]
An option for the team would be to recruit players from the United States, as other teams of Pacific territories have done with their parent countries, such as
Tahiti
drawing players from
Metropolitan France
.
[1]
Team image
[
edit
]
Home stadium
[
edit
]
American Samoa's home ground is the
Pago Park Soccer Stadium
in
Pago Pago
with a 2,000 capacity. However, American Samoa has never played a home match at the senior level in its history.
[7]
The stadium featured in the 2023 film
Next Goal Wins
and was used as the national team's training ground in the build-up to the
2011 Pacific Games
and the
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
.
[24]
Matches at the stadium must be concluded before 6:30pm because of a village curfew which limits noise and prevents the installation of floodlighting. For this reason, the association began planning a new facility in
Tafuna
in 2023. FIFA president
Gianni Infantino
promised the association $5 million for the project during his visit around Oceania in summer of that year.
[25]
Results and fixtures
[
edit
]
2023
[
edit
]
2024
[
edit
]
Coaching staff
[
edit
]
- As of 23 November 2023
[26]
Coaching history
[
edit
]
Players
[
edit
]
Current squad
[
edit
]
The following players were called up for the
2023 Pacific Games
.
[27]
Caps and goals updated as of 30 November 2023, after the game against
Tonga
.
Player records
[
edit
]
Goalkeeper
Nicky Salapu
holds the record for the most appearances for American Samoa.
[28]
Since his debut against
Fiji
on April 7, 2001, he has made 22 appearances for the national team ? including the world record defeat to Australia and American Samoa's first FIFA-recognized victory against Tonga in November 2011.
[29]
Ramin Ott
holds the record for most goals for American Samoa after scoring three times in 15 appearances between 2004 and 2015.
[30]
In total, 10 different players have scored a goal in a FIFA-recognized match for American Samoa.
[28]
- As of 30 November 2023
.
[28]
Most appearances
[
edit
]
Rank
|
Name
|
Caps
|
Goals
|
Position
|
|
1
|
Nicky Salapu
|
22
|
0
|
GK
|
2001?2019
|
2
|
Uasi Heleta
|
16
|
0
|
DF
|
2004?2019
|
3
|
Ramin Ott
|
15
|
3
|
FW
|
2004?2015
|
4
|
Jaiyah Saelua
|
14
|
0
|
DF
|
2004?2019
|
5
|
Travis Pita Sinapati
|
12
|
0
|
DF
|
2001?2007
|
6
|
Roy Ledoux
|
9
|
0
|
DF
|
2018?present
|
Natia Natia
|
9
|
1
|
MF
|
2004?2011
|
8
|
Austin Kaleopa
|
8
|
0
|
MF
|
2019?present
|
Maika Molesi
|
8
|
0
|
DF
|
2004?2007
|
Ryan Samuelu
|
8
|
0
|
DF
|
2015?2019
|
Pesamino Victor
|
8
|
0
|
DF
|
2007?2011
|
Youngest player
Oldest player
Top goalscorers
[
edit
]
Rank
|
Name
|
Goals
|
Caps
|
Average
|
|
1
|
Ramin Ott
|
3
|
15
|
0.2
|
2004?2015
|
2
|
Demetrius Beauchamp
|
2
|
4
|
0.25
|
2015
|
Justin Mana'o
|
2
|
7
|
0.29
|
2011?2015
|
Shalom Luani
|
2
|
8
|
0.25
|
2011
|
First goal
Most goals in a match
- Demetrius Beauchamp ? 2 vs.
Samoa
on 31 August 2015
[33]
Team records
[
edit
]
- Biggest victory: 3?0 vs.
Wallis and Futuna
on 22 August 1983
- Heaviest defeat: 0?31 vs.
Australia
on 11 April 2001
[34]
- Most consecutive victories: 2; achieved September 2015
- Most consecutive matches without defeats: 2; achieved November 2011 and September 2015
- Most consecutive matches without victory: 37 between 24 August 1983 and 5 September 2011
- Most consecutive matches without scoring: 7 between 27 August 2007 and 5 September 2011
Competitive record
[
edit
]
FIFA World Cup
[
edit
]
Following FIFA affiliation in 1998,
[9]
American Samoa first entered the qualifying competition for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They have entered the qualifiers for each subsequent edition but have never made it beyond the first stage. The closest they came to reaching the second phase was in qualifying for the 2018 edition when they won two of their three matches and narrowly missed out on progressing on goal difference.
[18]
- Notes
- ^
A:
The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
B:
The men's football tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games doubled as qualifiers for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup and the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
- ^
C:
The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2012 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
D:
The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.
OFC Nations Cup
[
edit
]
Before becoming full members of OFC in 1998,
[9]
American Samoa entered the
1994 Polynesia Cup
which acted as the qualifying round for Polynesian national teams for the
1996 OFC Nations Cup
. This was the territory's first time competing for a place in OFC's flagship competition for senior men's national teams.
[10]
The
OFC Nations Cup
has often acted as part of the FIFA World Cup qualification process for Oceanian national teams and, as a result, American Samoa have competed in the qualifiers for both competitions in every edition since 1998. They have yet to qualify for either competition.
- Notes
- ^
E:
There was no fixed host for the 1996 OFC Nations Cup or the 2008 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
F:
The 1994 Polynesia Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 1996 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
G:
The 1998 Polynesia Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 1998 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
H:
The 2000 Polynesia Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2000 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
I:
The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
J:
The men's football tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games doubled as qualifiers for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup and the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
- ^
K:
The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2012 OFC Nations Cup.
- ^
L:
The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.
Pacific Games
[
edit
]
American Samoa first entered the South Pacific Games in 1983. This was the first time a team representing the territory had competed in association football and they recorded one win from their three games in the group stage by beating Wallis and Futuna 3?0 ? the only time American Samoa have recorded a win in the competition ? but that wasn't enough to progress to the next round.
[6]
American Samoa would go onto enter the 1987 edition where they were again eliminated in the group stage, losing all four of their matches.
[42]
It would be another 20 years before they again entered the competition. The 2007 edition was the last known as the South Pacific Games before becoming the Pacific Games four years later and it was also part of the qualification process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In their third appearance in the competition, American Samoa were again eliminated at the group stage, losing all four matches.
[37]
The same fate befell American Samoa in the 2011 Pacific Games as they lost all five games to finish bottom of their group.
[43]
In 2015, the Pacific Games was an age-restricted tournament that doubled as the
OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
and no team representing American Samoa took part. Four years later, they were again eliminated at the group stage however, a 1?1 draw with
Tuvalu
ended a 32-year losing streak in the competition.
[44]
- Notes
- ^
M:
The men's football tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games doubled as qualifiers for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup and the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
- ^
N:
The men's football tournament at the 2015 Pacific Games was an age-restricted competition that doubled as the OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Records and statistics
[
edit
]
American Samoa played their first full international match against
Papua New Guinea
, which ended in a 20?0 loss. Their national team have suffered the
world's biggest international defeat
, by losing to
Australia
31?0. American Samoa have won only against
Cook Islands
,
Tonga
, and
Wallis and Futuna
. American Samoa have also lost to all of these teams at least once.
Head-to-head record
[
edit
]
The following table shows the American Samoa national football team's all-time international record. The statistics are composed of
FIFA World Cup
,
OFC Nations Cup
,
Polynesia Cup
and
Pacific Games
matches, as well as international friendlies.
- ^
Includes results as Western Samoa.
Performance by competition
[
edit
]
Up to matches played on 30 November 2023.
Competition
|
Pld
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
WPCT
|
Competitive
|
54
|
4
|
2
|
48
|
32
|
365
|
−333
|
7.41
|
Friendlies
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
−6
|
0.00
|
Total
|
55
|
4
|
2
|
49
|
32
|
371
|
−339
|
7.27
|
- Notes
Performance by venue
[
edit
]
Up to matches played on 20 November 2023.
Venue
|
Pld
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
WPCT
|
Home
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
5
|
3
|
42
|
−39
|
0.00
|
Away
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
25
|
−24
|
0.00
|
Neutral
|
50
|
4
|
2
|
44
|
30
|
334
|
−304
|
8.00
|
Total
|
59
|
4
|
3
|
52
|
34
|
401
|
−367
|
6.78
|
Historical kits
[
edit
]
Sources:
[46]
[47]
[48]
[49]
[50]
[51]
[52]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Andrew Fa’asau, Asi.
"FFAS local national teams in final preparations for Pacific Games"
. Samoa News
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ^
Cloake, Martin; Dakin, Glenn; Hillsdon, Mark; Powley, Adam; Radnedge, Aidan; Saunders, Catherine (2010).
Soccer: The Ultimate Guide
(2nd ed.). New York. p. 109.
ISBN
9780756673215
. Retrieved
November 24,
2023
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
"The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking"
.
FIFA
. April 4, 2024
. Retrieved
April 4,
2024
.
- ^
"American Samoa men's National Team ready to play"
.
Football Federation American Samoa
. July 4, 2019.
Archived
from the original on July 5, 2019
. Retrieved
July 5,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Cruickshank, Mark; Morrison, Neil; Veroeveren, Pieter (October 17, 2016).
"South Pacific Games 1983 (Western Samoa)"
.
RSSSF
.
Archived
from the original on August 3, 2022
. Retrieved
December 2,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"World Football Elo Ratings: Eastern Samoa"
. World Football Elo Ratings.
Archived
from the original on October 28, 2021
. Retrieved
December 2,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Member Association ? American Samoa"
.
FIFA.com
. Federation Internationale de Football Association. Archived from
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on September 3, 2019
. Retrieved
December 2,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
Owsianski, Jarek; Pierrend, Jose Luis; Bobrowsky, Josef; Zlotkowski, Andre (March 21, 2004).
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.
RSSSF
.
Archived
from the original on October 31, 2022
. Retrieved
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2020
.
- ^
Rookwood, Dan (April 11, 2001).
"Aussie Rules as Socceroos smash world record again"
.
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.
Archived
from the original on October 18, 2012
. Retrieved
November 24,
2011
.
- ^
"Road to SA 2010 starts in Samoa"
.
FIFA.com
. Federation Internationale de Football Association. June 21, 2007. Archived from
the original
on June 24, 2007
. Retrieved
August 5,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
"American Samoa wins first ever football match after 30 straight defeats in 17 years"
.
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. November 23, 2011.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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2011
.
- ^
"FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking"
.
FIFA.com
. November 23, 2011. Archived from
the original
on October 7, 2011
. Retrieved
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2011
.
- ^
Lee, Ben (November 24, 2011).
"American Samoa football team celebrate first win in 18 years"
.
Digital Spy
. Retrieved
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2011
.
- ^
Mitchell, Wendy (February 3, 2014).
"Making Next Goal Wins"
.
screendaily.com
.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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2021
.
- ^
Geoghegan, Kev (May 6, 2014).
"Next Goal Wins for 'world's worst football team'
"
.
BBC News
.
Archived
from the original on March 6, 2019
. Retrieved
May 6,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
King, Ian; Stokkermans, Karel (July 5, 2018).
"World Cup 2018 Qualifying"
.
RSSSF
.
Archived
from the original on July 20, 2022
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
8 U.S.C.
§ 1101
,
8 U.S.C.
§ 1401
,
8 U.S.C.
§ 1408
.
- ^
"Nativity by place of birth and citizenship status"
.
2010 Decennial Census of the Island Areas, American Samoa summary file
. United States Census Bureau.
- ^
"Selected social characteristics"
.
2020 Decennial Census of the Island Areas, American Samoa demographic profile
. United States Census Bureau.
- ^
"Who is eligible for naturalization?"
(PDF)
. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- ^
Brett, Mike; Brodie, Kristian; Jamison, Steve (May 9, 2014).
Next Goal Wins
. Icon Productions.
- ^
Andrew Fa’asau, Asi.
"State-of-the-art soccer stadium for the territory to be built with $5 Million in FIFA funding"
. Samoa News
. Retrieved
November 15,
2023
.
- ^
"SOL23: American Samoa-Solomon Islands"
(PDF)
. Oceania Football Confederation
. Retrieved
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2023
.
- ^
"Match report"
(PDF)
.
OFC
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"American Samoa"
.
National Football Teams
.
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"Nicky Salapu"
.
National Football Teams
.
Archived
from the original on May 4, 2021
. Retrieved
May 4,
2021
.
- ^
"Ramin Ott"
.
National Football Teams
.
Archived
from the original on March 20, 2020
. Retrieved
May 4,
2021
.
- ^
"American Samoa national football team statistics and records: youngest players"
. 11v11.com.
Archived
from the original on October 24, 2022
. Retrieved
July 13,
2021
.
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"American Samoa national football team statistics and records: oldest players"
. 11v11.com.
Archived
from the original on October 24, 2022
. Retrieved
July 13,
2021
.
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. August 31, 2015. Archived from
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on September 4, 2015.
- ^
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. FourFourTwo. April 9, 2021.
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
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a
b
Stokkermans, Karel; Aarhus, Lars; Goloboy, Jim; King, Ian; Owsianski, Jarek; Naveed, Malik Riaz Hai; Rubio, Julian Diaz; Tabeira, Martin; Zea, Antonio; Zlotkowski, Andre (November 26, 2009).
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.
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a
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
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a
b
Stokkermans, Karel; Andres, Juan Pablo; Lugo, Erik Francisco (November 16, 2017).
"World Cup 2014 Qualifying"
.
RSSSF
.
Archived
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. Retrieved
December 2,
2020
.
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Morrison, Neil (October 20, 2001).
"Polynesian Cup 1994"
.
RSSSF
.
Archived
from the original on September 30, 2022
. Retrieved
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2020
.
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Zlotkowski, Andre (March 21, 2004).
"Polynesian Cup 2000"
.
RSSSF
.
Archived
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.
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Zlotkowski, Andre; Morrison, Neil (March 21, 2004).
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.
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. Retrieved
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a
b
Garin, Erik (January 19, 2017).
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.
RSSSF
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Archived
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. Retrieved
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a
b
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"Pacific Games 2011 (New Caledonia)"
.
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Di Maggio, Roberto (August 21, 2019).
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.
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a
b
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"American Samoa ? List of International Matches"
.
RSSSF
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Archived
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"2000"
.
- ^
"2004"
.
- ^
"2007"
.
- ^
"2011"
.
- ^
"2019"
.
- ^
"2023"
.
- ^
"2023"
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
General
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Venues
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Statistics
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Results
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Players
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Notable matches
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Other FFAS teams
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Active
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Former
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1
Associate member of OFC - Not a member of FIFA
2
Not a member of OFC and consequently not a member of FIFA
3
Northern Mariana Islands was only an associate member of OFC between 1998 and 2009 - Not a member of FIFA
4
Although not geographically in Oceania, Chinese Taipei was a member of the OFC between 1976?1978 and 1982?1989
Although not geographically in Oceania
Israel
entered OFC World Cup qualification in
1986
and
1990
due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.
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