Men's association football team
The
Guam national football team
represents
Guam
, an
overseas territory
of the United States, in international
football
and is controlled by the
Guam Football Association
. They are affiliated with the
Asian Football Confederation
's
East Asian Football Federation
region.
Guam reached its highest ever position in the FIFA World Ranking at 146th in 2015 after victories over
Turkmenistan
and
India
.
[4]
Guam's first
FIFA World Cup qualification
match was played against
Iran national football team
at
Tabriz
.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
Beginnings (1960s?1990s)
[
edit
]
Football in Guam began in the 1960s, on the initiative of two pioneers: an Irish priest, Tony Gillespie, and an owner of a construction company, Charles Whang, who settled in Guam and created the Guam Soccer Cup before becoming the first president of the
Guam Football Association
in 1975.
Guam played its first international match at the
1975 Pacific Games
against
Solomon Islands
, losing 5?1. This result was followed by an 11?0 loss to
Fiji
, eliminating them from the competition. In the
1979 Games
, Guam again lost twice to
New Caledonia
11?1 and
New Hebrides
5?0. Progressing to the Consolation Tournament, Guam registered their first victories, beating
Western Samoa
4?2, and
Tuvalu
7?2 before losing again to
New Hebrides
, 5?1.
AFC and FIFA Member (1991?2011)
[
edit
]
Despite being considered part of Oceania, and having never faced an Asian team to that point, Guam became an associate member of the
AFC
in 1991 but continued to participate in the
Pacific Games
.
[6]
In 1996, Guam became both a full member of the AFC and of
FIFA
.
As a full member of the AFC and FIFA, Guam played its first matches against Asian teams as part of the
1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
losing all three matches against
South Korea
(9?0),
Vietnam
(9?0), and
Chinese Taipei
(9?2).
In 1998, Guam played in the
Micronesian Games
, though the tournament was a 9-a-side competition with 80 minute matches. Guam finished top of the group stage but lost 3?0 to
Northern Mariana Islands
in the final.
[7]
Guam entered the
2000 Asian Cup qualification
but finished last in their group again, losing to Vietnam (11?0),
China
(19?0), and
Philippines
(2?0).
Guam became one of the founding members of the
East Asian Football Federation
in 2002 and participated in the qualifiers for the inaugural
2003 East Asian Football Championship
, finishing last again without registering a goal. The same is true for the
2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
, beaten by
Bhutan
and
Mongolia
. For the
2006 World Cup qualifiers
, Guam entered and was scheduled to face
Nepal
in the first round but both Nepal and Guam withdrew for financial reasons before their first match.
In the
2005 East Asian Football Championship
qualifiers, Guam lost all four matches heavily, against
Chinese Taipei
(9?0),
Hong Kong
(15?0),
Mongolia
(4?1), and
North Korea
(21?0). Following these defeats, Guam entered the
2006 AFC Challenge Cup
, a competition designed for
emerging nations
to help develop their football. Guam again lost all three matches to
Palestine
(11?0),
Bangladesh
(3?0), and
Cambodia
(3?0).
Guam advanced to the second stage of qualifying in the
2008 East Asian Football Championship
by beating
Northern Marianas
12?2 over two legs but they were eliminated in the next round by
Chinese Taipei
(10?0), and
Hong Kong
(15?1). In the
2010 East Asian Football Championship qualifiers
, Guam managed to get its first victory over a FIFA member, beating
Mongolia
1?0. They would go on to top the group before being eliminated at the next stage. Guam returned to the
2011 Pacific Games
after a sixteen-year absence, but only managed to beat
American Samoa
2?0, finishing second last and failing to advance to the knock-out stages.
Gary White
became Guam's manager in 2012 and called-up players of Guamanian origin based in the United States like
Ryan Guy
and
A. J. DeLaGarza
to improve the level of his team. In the
2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
,
Matao
managed to advance past the first round by beating
Northern Marianas
(3?1) and
Macao
(3?0). Guam then participated in the
2012 Philippine Peace Cup
, replacing
Hong Kong
, losing against
Philippines
(1?0) and
Chinese Taipei
(2?0) but beat
Macao
(3?0) in its final group game to finish third. Guam advanced to the second qualifying stage of both the
2015
and
2017 EAFF Championship
finishing third and fourth respectively and failing to advance the final competition.
20km
12miles
4
3
2
1
In
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
, Guam beat
Turkmenistan
(1?0) and
India
(2?1), finishing fourth in their group and qualifying for the
2019 Asian Cup third round qualifiers
, although Guam withdrew before the draw took place. Guam then failed to progress past the first qualifying round for the
2019 EAFF Championship
.
During the
2022 World Cup qualifiers
, Guam beat
Bhutan
5?1 over two legs but lost all eight of their second round matches and finished bottom of their group, scoring two goals and conceding 32.
After nearly not playing an international match for a year, Guam participated in the first round of the
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
against
Singapore
, where they would ultimately lose 3?1 on aggregate.
Nickname
[
edit
]
Until 2011, the nickname of the Guamanian selection was
Chamorros
, in reference to the local population of Guam. When
Gary White
took charge of Guam, the team has changed their nickname to
Matao
, referring to highest social class in ancient Chamorro society in the
Chamorro language
. White also promoted the use of the Guam pledge before each match of the selection, referred to as the
Inifresi
.
[8]
[9]
Results and fixtures
[
edit
]
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win
Draw
Loss
Fixture
2023
[
edit
]
2024
[
edit
]
Current coaching staff
[
edit
]
Position
|
Name
|
Head coach
|
Ross Awa
|
Assistant coach
|
Chris Malenab
|
Assistant coach
|
Matt Holland
|
Goalkeeper coach
|
Jeroen Bos
|
Video Analyst
|
Chris Malenab
|
Team Doctor
|
Dr. Luis Cruz
|
Physiotherapist
|
J.P. Thompson
|
Physiotherapist
|
Walfred Javier
|
Team Manager
|
Vance Manibusan
|
High Performance Manager
|
Pavel Gubenko
|
Media Officer
|
Jill Espiritu
|
Equipment Director
|
Thomas Castro
|
Coaching history
[
edit
]
Players
[
edit
]
Current squad
[
edit
]
The following players were called up against
Singapore
on October 12 & 17, 2023 respectively.
[10]
Caps and goals correct as of October 17, 2023, after the match against
Singapore
.
Recent call-ups
[
edit
]
The following players have also been called up to the Guam squad within last 12 months.
Player records
[
edit
]
- As of 17 October 2023
- Players in
bold
are still active with Guam.
Most appearances
[
edit
]
Top goalscorers
[
edit
]
Competitive record
[
edit
]
FIFA World Cup
[
edit
]
AFC Asian Cup
[
edit
]
- 2019
? Withdrew from the third tournament due to financial constraints.
East Asian Football Championship
record
|
|
Preliminary competition
|
Year
|
Round
|
Position
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
East Asian Football Championship
|
2003
|
Did not qualify
|
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
22
|
2005
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
49
|
2008
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
13
|
27
|
2010
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
9
|
28
|
EAFF East Asian Cup
|
2013
|
Did not qualify
|
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
8
|
18
|
2015
|
6
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
10
|
6
|
EAFF E-1 Football Championship
|
2017
|
Did not qualify
|
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
7
|
2019
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
3
|
2022
|
Did not participate
|
Not held
|
2024
|
To be determined
|
To be determined
|
Total
|
-
|
0/9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
36
|
10
|
5
|
21
|
48
|
160
|
AFC Challenge Cup
[
edit
]
AFC Challenge Cup
record
|
|
Qualification record
|
Year
|
Result
|
Position
|
|
|
*
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2006
|
Group stage
|
16th
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
17
|
No qualification
|
2008
|
Did not qualify
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
18
|
2010
|
Did not enter
|
Did not enter
|
2012
|
2014
|
Did not qualify
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
9
|
Total
|
Group stage
|
1/5
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
17
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
27
|
Pacific Games
[
edit
]
Micronesian Games
[
edit
]
Head-to-head record
[
edit
]
As of 12 September 2023
Honors
[
edit
]
Mariana Cup
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Mike Nauta Jr. (June 1, 2012).
"Guam men's national soccer team now known as 'Matao'
"
.
Marianas Variety
. Guam. Archived from
the original
on March 17, 2014
. Retrieved
June 2,
2012
.
- ^
"The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking"
.
FIFA
. April 4, 2024
. Retrieved
April 4,
2024
.
- ^
"FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking ? Guam Men's Ranking"
.
fifa.com
. FIFA. August 6, 2015. Archived from
the original
on October 31, 2013
. Retrieved
August 31,
2015
.
- ^
"Biggest margin victories/losses"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on May 21, 2013
. Retrieved
November 19,
2023
.
- ^
"HISTORY OF GFA"
.
Guam FA
.
Archived
from the original on April 15, 2022
. Retrieved
February 4,
2022
.
- ^
Cruickshank, Mark.
"Micronesian Games 1998"
.
RSSSF
.
Archived
from the original on July 13, 2022
. Retrieved
February 2,
2023
.
- ^
Venetitay, Guillaume.
"Interview with Gary White"
.
So Foot
.
Archived
from the original on February 4, 2022
. Retrieved
February 4,
2022
.
- ^
Bate, Adam.
"Gary White: Life in Guam, coaching in Japan and dreams of England"
.
Sky Sports
.
Archived
from the original on February 4, 2022
. Retrieved
February 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Head Coach Kim calls up 22 to Matao for AFC Asian Cup Playoff"
.
GuamFA.com
. Guam FA.
Archived
from the original on October 9, 2021
. Retrieved
October 9,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Guam national football team
at Wikimedia Commons
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National teams
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League competitions
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Cup competitions
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West Asia (
WAFF
)
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CAFA
)
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South Asia (
SAFF
)
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EAFF
)
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AFF
)
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