Latest news with #Marshall Islands
BBC News
4 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Marshall Islands football team 'proud' of first ever match
A football team has said they "made history" of playing its first ever international match for its Marshall Islands' first faced off the US Virgin Islands on Thursday in Springdale, a 4-0 loss to the recognised FIFA nation, the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation posted on Facebook to say it was "so proud of what was accomplished". Head coach Lloyd Owers, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, previously said it was "definitely surreal" and that even the team "thought it wouldn't happen". The Pacific Island nation is home to about 40,000 people and had previously been the self-proclaimed "last country on Earth without a football team".Its first match formed part of the 2025 Outrigger Challenge Cup - the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation annual competition to create more opportunities for nations in our region to play competitive soccer and raise awareness of the team's group shot after the game has an inscription "Whatever the score, so proud of what was accomplished. Tonight, we made history".They will also be playing against Turks and Caicos. The four team tournament in the US was organised by the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation, and is seen as first step towards the team joining FIFA and competing in World Cup qualifying matches."We've got players that are coming from all different parts of the world, we've got a lot of US-based players that are experienced but we're also combining them with players from the Marshall Islands," Mr Owers said of the playing squad. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
'Last nation on earth without a football team' prepares for first competitive match
Marshall Islands assistant manager Justin Walley admits the actuality of kicking off the country's first ever international football match still feels like a dream. The Marshall Islands have long claimed to be 'the last nation on earth without a football team', and did not even have a federation until 2020, let alone the national set-up, which has only existed for the last two and a half years. Advertisement For some members of the squad, Thursday's meeting with the US Virgin Islands at the Outrigger Challenge Cup in Arkansas will be their first competitive game of 11 v 11 football – ever. 'There's a sort of unrealness to it that we can't believe it's actually happening,' Leicestershire-born Walley, who now lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told the PA news agency. 'But we've been working very hard and we're really focused on what's ahead of us. We've already had several days of hard work and planning. Hopefully we will be as ready as we can be.' Springdale, Arkansas might seem like an odd choice of location for the Marshall Islands-hosted four-team tournament, but it is an area which, as of 2019, boasted the highest concentration of Marshallese in continental United States. Advertisement Some members of the squad have been recruited from Majuro, the Kwajalein Atoll, and other parts of the Marshall Islands itself, with its population of around 37,500 – and no club football. Amazing support from the public and lots of football clubs around the world following us ahead of our first-ever games this week. Please keep the follows and love coming! It makes us feel stronger — Marshall Islands Soccer Federation (@SoccerFedMI) August 12, 2025 Several team members have moved to the United States, where some play for US colleges, while others have Marshallese heritage. Their technical director and head coach, Lloyd Owers, who joined in 2022, is based in Oxfordshire. As far as they are aware, the Marshall Islands is the only recognised UN member state not to have played an 11 v 11 international fixture. Advertisement Some local to Majuro participated in an initial team meeting 18 months ago, but, revealed Walley: 'In terms of an actual national team training camp, this is the first one we have ever done. Players have gathered in Arkansas for their first training camp (Marshall Islands Soccer Federation/PA) 'The guys flew in on Friday and Saturday, the first training session ever was on Saturday. We're trying to cram in five days of camp to be ready. 'We try to train like we would with any normal club side. We just try to develop what we've got. Some of the guys do play club football, some have never played 11-a-side. They've played futsal. 'We've been developing that all week, we've played a few sort of mini-games, so it's not as if they (will have) never played 11-a-side before, they will be ready.' Advertisement The federation hopes to be recognised by FIFA in the next five years (Marshall Islands Football Federation/PA) Walley hopes what started out as a group of men with a vision – but no infrastructure – will lead to FIFA recognition by 2030 at the latest, though the first step is acceptance into a confederation. Funding for their big international debut has come from sponsorship, a £21,573 crowdfunding campaign, and about 2000 shirts sold over the last couple of years. 'I think people weren't taking us seriously,' admits Walley, who says the side want to give 'the best account of themselves possible' in their historic match. He added: 'They weren't thinking that we could possibly pull this off, playing national teams. We've come a long, long way in a short time.' Advertisement
The Independent
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
The Marshall Islands gearing up for historic international football match
Marshall Islands assistant manager Justin Walley admits the actuality of kicking off the country's first ever international football match still feels like a dream. The Marshall Islands have long claimed to be 'the last nation on earth without a football team', and did not even have a federation until 2020, let alone the national set-up which has only existed for the last two and a half years. For some members of the squad, Thursday's meeting with the US Virgin Islands at the Outrigger Challenge Cup in Arkansas will be their first competitive game of 11 v 11 football – ever. 'There's a sort of unrealness to it that we can't believe it's actually happening,' Leicestershire-born Walley, who now lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told the PA news agency. 'But we've been working very hard and we're really focused on what's ahead of us. We've already had several days of hard work and planning. Hopefully we will be as ready as we can be.' Springdale, Arkansas might seem like an odd choice of location for the Marshall Islands-hosted four-team tournament, but it is an area which, as of 2019, boasted the highest concentration of Marshallese in continental United States. Some members of the squad have been recruited from Majuro, the Kwajalein Atoll, and other parts of the Marshall Islands itself, with its population of around 37,500 – and no club football. Several team members have moved to the United States, where some play for US colleges, while others have Marshallese heritage. Their technical director and head coach, Lloyd Owers, who joined in 2022, is based in Oxfordshire. As far as they are aware, the Marshall Islands is the only recognised UN member state not to have played an 11 v 11 international fixture. Some local to Majuro participated in an initial team meeting 18 months ago, but, revealed Walley: 'In terms of an actual national team training camp, this is the first one we have ever done. 'The guys flew in on Friday and Saturday, the first training session ever was on Saturday. We're trying to cram in five days of camp to be ready. 'We try to train like we would with any normal club side. We just try to develop what we've got. Some of the guys do play club football, some have never played 11-a-side. They've played futsal. 'We've been developing that all week, we've played a few sort of mini-games, so it's not as if they (will have) never played 11-a-side before, they will be ready.' Walley hopes what started out as a group of men with a vision – but no infrastructure – will lead to FIFA recognition by 2030 at the latest, though the first step is acceptance into a confederation. Funding for their big international debut has come from sponsorship, a £21,573 crowdfunding campaign, and about 2000 shirts sold over the last couple of years. 'I think people weren't taking us seriously,' admits Walley, who says the side want to give 'the best account of themselves possible' in their historic match. He added: 'They weren't thinking that we could possibly pull this off, playing national teams. We've come a long, long way in a short time.'
BBC News
11-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Marshall Islands coach 'nervous but excited' for first match
"It's definitely surreal that we've got to this point - I don't think even we thought it would happen."Three years ago, Lloyd Owers was tasked with the biggest challenge of his football coaching career - building the Marshall Island's first international Pacific Island nation, which is home to about 40,000 people, had previously been the self-proclaimed "last country on Earth without a football team".Fast forward to 2025, and Thursday will see the country play in its first ever 11v11 match against a recognised FIFA nation - with Mr Owers leading the team as its head coach. The match is part of a tournament in Arkansas - where they'll also be playing against Turks and arrived in the US on Wednesday, Mr Owers said he was "nervous, but excited at the same time". The Marshall Islands is made up of a chain of volcanic islands and coral-based atolls in the middle of the ocean, and is best known as a former US nuclear testing site used during the Cold Owers joined the nation's football federation as technical director in 2022, after blog posts he had written led to "random conversations" with the association's president."Honestly, it's been eye opening in the sense of where we started, with no football, and nothing in the country - to the extent that basic equipment just wasn't there," he said."Fast forward on to where we are now, we've got all these weekly sessions, this coach education structure and worldwide recruitment for players and it's going in the right direction.""It's unbelievable to be at this point now." The four team tournament in the US was organised by the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation, and is seen as first step towards the team joining FIFA and competing in World Cup qualifying matches."We've got players that are coming from all different parts of the world, we've got a lot of US-based players that are experienced but we're also combining them with players from the Marshall Islands," Mr Owers said of the playing said it would be "an eye-opener to combine everyone into one squad", with players undergoing eight days of "intensive" training before their first game."Everyone's ready for it, everyone's excited, raring to go and we feel as prepared as we can be at this stage, so we're hoping we can do something with it," he added. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
