Marshall Islands, last country without a football team, play first 11-a-side game in U.S.
The Pacific Island nation, with a population of fewer than 40,000 inhabitants, played the US Virgin Islands in their first game of the Outrigger Cup mini-tournament on Thursday evening, losing 4-0.
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Their first ever match took place 10,000km (6,200 miles) away from the islands in Springdale, Arkansas — home to the largest Marshallese population outside of the nation itself.
Though there are other countries which have not played a FIFA-accredited fixture, the Marshall Islands are the final nation to have never played an 11-a-side match.
Captained by Seth Sidle, a midfielder from Pennsylvania with Marshallese descent, the Marshall Islands were competitive, hitting the post at 2-0 down, with the US Virgin Islands playing a near-full strength side.
The Marshall Islands' football leadership, a mix of British and Marshallese coaches and volunteers, want to ultimately receive recognition from FIFA and the OFC. Several members of their British coaching staff were inspired to join the nation's efforts after reading a profile of the team in The Athletic in 2021.
'We don't want to play lower-risk games,' head coach Lloyd Owers told The Athletic in March. 'We want to play against opponents where we will be tested, the best we can play against at the time. They are FIFA-accredited opponents. Though we're not a member, it's all part of what we want to be doing and achieving in terms of recognition.
'Playing our first 11-a-side game is unbelievable from where we started from, it was just a pipedream. But we've created a lot of pathways and structures for kids to be playing and adults to be coaching. This is the pinnacle of where we want to be before we reach our goal of confederation membership. We want the opportunity to play 11 vs 11, to represent the country, and to be the first group of people to do that.'
Historically, football has not been played in the Marshall Islands due to a lack of pitch space, coaching expertise, and wider interest, with the nation far more in the United States' sporting orbit. Basketball is the most popular sport.
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Another challenge is climate change, with the nation an average of just two metres above sea level. The team aims to use football to draw awareness to the islands' plight, releasing an away kit with missing segments to highlight the risk that the country could be wiped out by rising sea levels before they play their first competitive fixture.
The Marshall Islands will now play games against Guam and the Turks and Caicos Islands over the coming week.
(Scott Hill/Marshall Islands Soccer Federation)
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