James Lepaio

The Tuvalu national football team is the international football team of Tuvalu. Football in Tuvalu is played at the club and international level. The Tuvalu national team draws players from the Tuvalu A-Division and trains at the Tuvalu Sports Ground at Funafuti. The national team competes in the Pacific Games, and is controlled by the Tuvalu Islands Football Association, which is an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) but not a member of FIFA. 22 September 2008

Memberships

Tuvalu is a member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), but not of FIFA. In September 2008, Tuvaluan Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia and the President of the Tuvalu Football Association, Tapugao Falefou, visited the headquarters of FIFA in Zürich, hoping to gain full membership in the organisation. In December 2013, OFC General Secretariat Tai Nicholas named Tuvalu's lack of a regulation pitch as the main factor preventing the country from being accepted into FIFA. The Tuvalu Football Association continues to seek membership of FIFA with the Dutch Support Tuvalu Foundation assisting Tuvalu with the FIFA application and with the development of football in Tuvalu. Since November 2016, Tuvalu has been a member of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) but, as of 2022, is no longer listed as one of their members.

CONIFA membership

In November 2016 Tuvalu became a member of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA). On 7 March 2018 it was announced that Tuvalu would replace Kiribati in the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup in London. On 9 June 2018, Tuvalu recorded their biggest ever victory in a 6–1 win over the Chagos Islands. Sometime around 2020, Tuvalu would leave CONIFA and they are no longer listed as members of the organisation.

Dutch Support Tuvalu Foundation

The national football team of Tuvalu received support from the Dutch Support Tuvalu Foundation, which is a foundation in the Netherlands.

On 18 August 2013, the Tuvalu national football team went on a three-month tour of the Netherlands. During this tour they played at least 20 friendly matches against local amateur football clubs. Former NAC Breda and De Graafschap coach Leen Looijen was the team's mentor during training in the Netherlands, with the tour organised by the Dutch Support Tuvalu Foundation.

The Tuvalu team and the activities of the Dutch Support Tuvalu Foundation are the focus of ''Mission Tuvalu'' (Missie Tuvalu), a 2013 feature documentary directed by Jeroen van den Kroonenberg.

Competition history

1979 South Pacific Games

The Tuvaluan team, captained by Karl Tili, played three international matches at the 1979 South Pacific Games, with Kokea Malu as the coach. In Tuvalu's first international match, they were defeated by Tahiti 18–0; which is still its worst defeat to this day. However, in their next match, the team recorded a large 5–3 victory against Tonga. The victory against Tonga sent the team to the next round, where Tuvalu was defeated by New Caledonia 11–0. The next game was against Kiribati, which was drawn 3–3; however Tuvalu won the penalty shootout 4–2 to advance to the semi-finals of the consolation tournament for fifth place; in that round Tuvalu was defeated by Guam 7–2, who eventually won sixth place after losing the fifth-place match.

2003 South Pacific Games

In a warm-up match for the 2003 South Pacific Games, Tuvalu played a friendly game against Fiji and were defeated 9–0.

Tuvalu also participated in four games at the 2003 South Pacific Games again held in Fiji, with Tim Jerks as the coach. After defeating Kiribati 3–2 in their opening game, Tuvalu played Fiji again, but were defeated with a more respectable 4–0. In the game against Vanuatu, Tuvalu was narrowly defeated 1–0. In the final game of the tournament against Solomon Islands, the Tuvaluan squad was defeated 4–0. Tuvalu finished fourth out of five in Pool A, above Kiribati.

2007 World Cup and OFC Nations Cup qualifications

In 2007, with Toakai Puapua as the coach, and Petio Semaia as the captain, Tuvalu became the first non FIFA member to participate in an official World Cup qualifying match. The situation arose when the regional governing body used the football competition at the 2007 South Pacific Games, as the first stage of the qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and qualification tournament for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup. In Tuvalu's South Pacific Games debut, they were defeated 16–0 by Fiji. However Tuvalu fought hard in the next match against New Caledonia (who were joint leaders of the competition) and only lost 1–0. Tuvalu then drew 1–1 with Tahiti, with a late equaliser from Viliamu Sekifu. In the last group stage match the Cook Islands, coached by Tim Jerks (who had previously coached Tuvalu), defeated them 4–1. Tuvalu finished last in the group with one point.

2011 Pacific Games

In 2011 the Tuvalu National Football Association signed Dutch coach Foppe de Haan as the coach on a part-time and volunteer basis. De Haan previously coached SC Heerenveen, Ajax Cape Town and the Dutch national U-21 team. De Haan began his tenure with a 3–0 victory over Samoa in a warm-up match for the 2011 Pacific Games, and striker Alopua Petoa scored a hat-trick.

De Haan's second match in charge saw a record 4–0 victory recorded over American Samoa in the first match of their 2011 Pacific Games campaign, with another hat-trick from 19-year-old Alopua Petoa. The third match was not as successful, with the side going down 5–1 to Vanuatu. After losing 8–0 to New Caledonia, and 6–1 to Solomon Islands, the Tuvaluan team drew with Guam 1–1. The squad finished equal with Guam in Pool A with four points, which was the best performance by Tuvalu in an international tournament at the time.

De Haan left his post after the tournament to rejoin Heerenveen's youth programme.

2023 Pacific Games

In November 2023 Tuvalu were scheduled to participate in the 2023 Pacific Games taking place in the Solomon Islands. However, due to arriving late for their opening game against Papua New Guinea, their opponents were awarded a 3-0 walkover win. A subsequent 0-6 loss to Vanuatu meant that Tuvalu finished bottom of their group and faced a playoff game against Tonga which they won 4-0. They played their last game of the tournament, the 9th Place Play off, against the Northern Mariana Islands which they won 4-1.

Tuvaluan footballers in Australia and New Zealand

Tulimanu Lisati has played for Stormbirds SC, in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.

Many Tuvaluan footballers have played for clubs in New Zealand:
* Vaisua Liva and Alopua Petoa/the best joined Waitakere City in 2012. Meneua Fakasega and Jerome Funafuti also played for Waitakere City.
* Maalosi Alefaio and Sepetaio Nokisi have played for Te Atatu.
* Jason Alama has played for West Coast Rangers.
* Falaima Mokeni has played for North Wellington.
* Blake Lisk has played for Wellington Phoenix.
* Yvan Sapele has played for Wainuiomata.

Historical kits

Sources:

Kit sponsorship

Results and fixtures

Coach/manager history

Coaching team at the 2023 Pacific Games: Lisati Tulimanu (Assistant Coach), Joshua Tapasei (Team Manager), Etimoni Timuani (Trainer).

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2023 Pacific Games.

''Caps and goals updated as of 30 November 2023 after the game against Northern Mariana Islands.''

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Tuvalu.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

OFC Nations Cup

Tuvalu has been affiliated with OFC since 2006, so they can play in the competition.

Pacific Games

Pacific Mini Games

ConIFA World Football Cup

Head-to-head record

''Up to matches played on 30 November 2023.''

Complete international results

''Tuvalu's score is shown first''

Honours

National

* Tuvalu A-Division
**Winners (1): 2018

See also

* Tuvalu at the Pacific Games
* Tuvalu national under-17 football team

Notes

References

External links

Tuvalu Football

Tuvalu
at OFC

Tuvalu
at FIFA

Dutch Support Tuvalu Foundation
(in Dutch, English, French and Spanish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuvalu National Football Team


Oceanian national association football teams
Oceanian national and official selection-teams not affiliated to FIFA
CONIFA member associations