Monaco national football team

Lore & Background

After the Monégasque Football Federation was founded in April 2000, Monaco played its first match in June 2000 against Gibraltar, losing 5–0. A year later, the team played against Tibet in Freiburg, Germany, winning 2–1. Monaco was a founding member of the N.F.-Board in 2003 and finished second in the 2006 VIVA World Cup inaugural edition, but due to political opposition, Monaco severed ties with the organization in 2010.

Reader's Guide

The Monaco national football team occupies a unique place in international football as a sovereign state that is not a member of FIFA or UEFA, thus barred from the World Cup and European Championship. Its participation in the N.F.-Board and the VIVA World Cup highlights the role of non-FIFA competitions for unrecognized or excluded nations. The team's roster, composed mainly of civil servants and employees of the Société des bains de mer de Monaco, with only five players having professional experience, reflects its amateur character. Despite having a National Olympic Committee, Monaco has never entered the football tournaments of the Summer Olympics or Mediterranean Games. The team's home ground is in France, and its Elo ranking of 200th as of November 2020 places it among lower-tier international sides. The political opposition that led to Monaco leaving the N.F.-Board in 2010 underscores the diplomatic complexities surrounding non-FIFA football.

Did You Know?

• Monaco is not a member of FIFA or UEFA and therefore cannot enter the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship.
• Monaco severed ties with the N.F.-Board in 2010 due to political opposition.