List of national football teams

As of June 2010, there are 208 football associations affiliated to FIFA. The associations are divided into six confederations. The confederations formed by continent. The confederations are:
Members of FIFA affiliated confederations.
AFC (Asia).
Due to the geographical size of Asia, the AFC is subdivided into five sub-federations:
CAF (Africa).
Due to the geographical size of Africa, CAF is divided into five regional federations:
CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean).
The CONCACAF federation is divided into three regional federations that have responsibility for part of the region's geographical area:
National teams not affiliated to FIFA confederations.
The national football teams included in this section are not members of FIFA, or of any of its affiliated continental confederations. The teams are not eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup or any continental confederation championships. FIFA's statutes do not allow member teams to compete against these sides without FIFA's prior permission.
This section lists:
Unaffiliated United Nations states.
There are seven United Nations member and observer states which are not members of FIFA or any of its affiliated continental confederations. Six of them, however, have fielded national teams in unofficial friendlies, Olympic-level tournaments (such as the Pacific Games or Micronesian Games), or in tournaments held outside the auspices of FIFA. These teams are listed below. Some of these teams have been run by a football federation in their country of origin, while others have only been organized informally.
The Marshall Islands and Nauru are the only UN member states with no recorded national football teams.
Unaffiliated non-UN states.
There are eleven states with limited international recognition, de facto sovereign states, and associated states who are not members or observers of the United Nations. Four of these have national teams which are listed above: the Republic of China, which is a member of FIFA and the AFC (as Chinese Taipei); the Cook Islands, which is a member of FIFA and the OFC; Kosovo, which is a member of FIFA and UEFA; and Niue, who has no membership in FIFA but is an associate member of the OFC.
None of the remaining seven de facto sovereign or partially recognized states are members of FIFA or any of its affiliated continental confederations. Six of them, however, have fielded national teams in non-FIFA football matches and unofficial friendlies:
The national associations representing all six of these teams are members of ConIFA, an organization for teams representing unrecognized states, subnational regions, and stateless minorities. Another de facto sovereign state, Transnistria, is also a member of ConIFA. To date, however, it has no recorded national football team.
Others.
FIFA's entry criteria state that:
The main condition for joining FIFA is thus general international recognition as a nation state and membership of the UN. However, this rule is not applied retroactively, and 26 of FIFA's members are not internationally recognised sovereign nations.
Non-sovereign associations may still join FIFA or its affiliated confederations in specific circumstances. FIFA have offered exceptions for associations representing a dependency where the application apply for membership is authorised by the association in its parent state. The New Caledonia team was admitted under this regulation in 2004 on the grounds of the distance of New Caledonia from its 'parent' nation, France. The applications for membership by Gibraltar, a territory of the UK and Kosovo, a sovereign state with limited international recognition, were both initially rejected by FIFA in line with the above policy. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected this decision and both teams were accepted in May 2016.
A variety of other national, separatist, sub-national, pseudo-national, and ethnic teams have formed international football organizations outside FIFA's jurisdiction, and play in international tournaments against each other. Two organisations have been created as alternatives to FIFA. The older of the two, the N.F.-Board (Nouvelle Fédération-Board), was founded in 2001 to promote international football among sovereign nations, unrecognised nations, regions and stateless peoples that are not members of FIFA, and to assist in their possible future membership of FIFA. A total of 49 member associations nations were listed on the N.F. Board's website as of March 2016, although at least one of these (Monaco) is no longer a member. In 2013, a new organisation, the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA), was founded to carry on this work, with a number of its members having previously been affiliated to the NF-Board. ConIFA was founded with the aim of regularising non-FIFA international football, by having a two-year international tournament cycle, with the ConIFA World Football Cup in even numbered years, and continental tournaments in odd-numbered years.
In some cases, participation in non-FIFA football has been a first step for teams who later sought (and in some cases, achieved) the right to participate in matches sanctioned by FIFA or one of its affiliated continental confederations. For example, both Kosovo and Gibraltar played in non-FIFA football tournaments before being recognized by FIFA and UEFA. Similarly, the British Crown Dependency of Jersey, whose national team has been active in non-FIFA football for decades, has applied to join UEFA.
Former national football teams.
These national teams no longer exist due to the dissolution of the nation or territory that they represented. Only national teams that were once members of FIFA are listed below.
New names.
In addition to the above, other nations have been renamed: