Non-FIFA international football


Non-FIFA international football is the segment of international football that is not overseen by FIFA. FIFA is the international governing body of association football, overseeing football globally and with running international representative matches. However, some international football takes place outside its authority. This often consists of matches involving sub-national entities such as islands, colonies, or autonomous regions. Representative matches also occur involving states with limited international recognition who are unable to qualify for FIFA membership. There are also a limited number of states whose representative teams are not affiliated to FIFA. Historically, a number of competitions occurred outside FIFA's auspices. Member associations are national associations, usually affiliated to continental confederations which are subordinate to FIFA.

National teams

Broadly speaking, non-FIFA national teams can be categorised as one of the following:

States

Teams representing eight small sovereign states – the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, and the Vatican City – have played international football but are not affiliated to FIFA. Two of those states – Kiribati and Tuvalu – are Associate Members of Oceania Football Confederation, but not its parent organisation.
The United Kingdom is represented in FIFA through its four constituent countries. During the 1940s and 1950s, a United Kingdom national football team was assembled on a few occasions to play friendly matches: these are not considered full internationals by FIFA.

Autonomous (or autonomy-seeking) regions and unrecognised states

A second category encompasses regions of larger nations which have a history of autonomy. They may have already achieved a degree of self-governance, or be seeking it. However, it is necessary to distinguish the Basque team from the others, as it has come to represent not just the Basque autonomous community of Spain, but the greater Basque region, also incorporating Navarre and the French Basque Country.
The Republic of Srpska as a state entity with a high degree of autonomy, has ever since it was established in 1992 had its own football federation and national teams Republika Srpska national football team who play friendly matches. The Dayton Peace Treaty recognizes it as a constitutive part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in 2002 both FIFA and UEFA accepted FA Republic of Srpska as one of two cofounders of FA BIH.
Alternatively, some unrecognised states may have national teams. Some established members of FIFA still fall into this category, such as Chinese Taipei. Current non-FIFA heavyweights Northern Cyprus are the best example of this category of non-FIFA football team.

Regional associations

Several teams which represent the regional associations of established footballing nations. These oversee local football in their respective regions and are part of a network of associations that contribute to the national association as a whole. A good example of this would be Jersey, who hold county status within the Football Association. These regional associations often enter representative teams into international non-FIFA matches.

Stateless people

Another group of teams are representative sides of ethnic groups that are without a home state, or are drawn from an ethnic diaspora. The Sami people of Lapland live in a distinct area of northern Fennoscandia, yet fall under the control of four states. Nevertheless, they have organised a football association and a representative team. Similarly, the Romani people—having been strewn across Europe for centuries—have a fledgeling footballing organisation to represent them in international competition. Other people who were stateless, such as the Palestinians have been welcomed into FIFA and despite their state, Asian Football Confederation only more recently recognised them in international football. The Esperanto football team represents the worldwide community of Esperanto speakers.

Organizations

International

  • CONIFA – Confederation of Independent Football Associations: from confederation's homepage: CONIFA aims to build bridges between people, nations, minorities and isolated regions all over the world through friendship, culture and the joy of playing football. CONIFA works for the development of affiliated members and is committed to fair play and the eradication of racism. As of August 2025, CONIFA has 42 member associations.
  • IIGA – International Island Games Association: formed in 1985, this is an organization with the sole purpose to organise the Island Games, a friendly biennial athletic competition between teams from several islands and other small territories. As of September 2025, IIGA has 24 members.

    Defunct / Inactive

  • UIAFA - Union Internationale Amateur de Football Association - three, later seven members - founded in 1908 and dissolved in 1912. Main tournament was the Amateur European Championship, this confederation was the rival to FIFA in the early years.
  • FIFI - Federation of International Football Independents - five members - represented nations, dependencies and unrecognized states not affiliated to FIFA. The main tournament was the FIFI Wild Cup.
  • IFU – International Football Union: a now-defunct and short-lived football association established in 2009 and dissolved in 2010. It was located in Guimarães and was made up of teams that represent nations that were not recognized as sovereign states and which are therefore not eligible to become members of FIFA. Members of this organization were Greenland and Zanzibar.
  • N.F.-Board: is a football federation established in 2003. It is made up of teams that represented nations that were not recognized as sovereign states and which were therefore not eligible to become members of FIFA, football's world governing body. The NF-Board organised the VIVA World Cup between 2006 and 2012 and the UNPO Cup. As of 2025, it repeatedly has had it's attempts shot down, thus for most the organisation is inactive. Despite this, it is not dissolved.
  • WUFA – World Unity Football Alliance: from alliance's homepage: The World Unity Football Alliance is a collaborative effort between value-aligned teams with a mission to promote hope, opportunity, and universal human rights while celebrating the joy of bringing people together through the most beautiful of games: Football. Our united core values include empathy, compassion, equity, honesty, and respect for universal human rights. We work equitably together on projects, campaigns, and events that elevate the Alliance’s mission and values, and those of each of our teams. As of 2021, WUFA has 19 member associations. However, its website became defunct in 2023.

    Continent-restricted

  • COSANFF – El Consejo Sudamericano de Nuevas Federaciones de Fútbol: The main South American non-FIFA organisation. As of August 2025, there are 11 member associations.

    Defunct/Inactive

  • CENF - Confederation of European New Federations - unknown number of members - founded in 2007 and dissolved in 2009, represented teams not affiliated to FIFA in Europe, and was affiliated to NF-Board. The main tournament was the CENF Cup, but is unknown to have been played.

    Non-FIFA competitions

Football tournaments at international multi-sports events, such as the Olympics, Pan-American Games and Francophone games are without FIFA's jurisdiction, but are, for the most part, operated with the acknowledgement of that body. These events typically involve age restricted teams, to avoid direct competition with the World Cup and continental championships.

Men's tournaments

International

The UNPO Cup
The UNPO Cup was organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization and NF-Board, and took place in The Hague in June 2005. The tournament, which coincided with UNPO's 7th General Assembly, featured four teams. The South Moluccas won the cup, beating Chechnya in the final. A second UNPO football cup took place in June 2017, with the Chameria team winning the tournament.
Host nationYearWinners
Netherlandsfb|South Moluccas
ConIFA World Football Cup
Host nationYearWinners
Sápmifb|County of Nice
Football at the Island Games
The Island Games, which are held every two years, features a competitive football tournament, won on the first two occasions by now-established UEFA and FIFA member, the Faroe Islands, and again in 2007 by now UEFA members, Gibraltar. Many of the competing nations are affiliated to larger national FAs – the Jersey Football Association, for example, is governed by the FA.
HostYearWinners
Faroe Islandsfb|Faroe Islands

Continental

CONIFA European Football Cup
The CONIFA European Football Cup was originally announced to be held in Douglas, the Isle of Man, but this was later changed to include games in Farnborough and Woking, England. However, it was later moved entirely to Székely Land, Romania. The tournament took place from 13 to 21 June 2015. It was the first ever European Championship between representative teams outside FIFA. The 12 representative teams: Ellan Vannin, County of Nice, Abkhazia, Nagorno Karabakh, South Ossetia, Occitania, Romani People, Franconia, Sapmi, Northern Cyprus, Szekely Land and Padania. Subsequently, 3 teams cancelled their participation for the 2015 CONIFA European Football Cup in Hungary, which forced the originally planned schedule to be revised. The presence of a total of nine teams led to three groups of three being formed. In May 2015, Occitania also announced their withdrawal from the competition, which led to another revision of the match schedule into two groups of four, which CONIFA based upon their ranking points system. In June 2015, another three teams, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Northern Cyprus, were all forced to withdraw, as a result of visa difficulties, while the Felvidek team was added to the line up – leaving two groups of three and six participants in total.
Host nationYearWinners
Székely Landfb|Padania