Marshall Islands to play their first 11-a-side international match in Arkansas
The Pacific Island nation, which boasts fewer than 40,000 inhabitants, will take on neighbours the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Guam in a mini-tournament, Outrigger Cup, this August.
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However, the matches will take place 10,000km (6,200 miles) away from the islands in Springvale, Arkansas — home to the largest Marshallese population outside of the nation itself.
The national squad will include players of Marshallese descent who grew up in the United States and Europe, who may have played football at college level, as well as players of American descent who grew up in the Marshall Islands themselves.
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 at all.
The Marshall Islands' football leadership, a mix of British and Marshallese coaches and volunteers, believe this will help achieve their ultimate aim of recognition from FIFA and the OFC (Oceania Football Confederation).
'We don't want to play lower risk games,' says Lloyd Owers, the technical director of the Marshall Islands, who was originally inspired to help join the coaching staff after reading a profile of the team in The Athletic in 2021.
'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.
Without FIFA accreditation and funding, the Marshall Islands will spend the next five months fundraising to fulfill the matches, allowing local players from the islands to fly over for the game.
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