Marshall Islands: Why the Last Country on Earth Never Played Football

Imagine a country where children kick a ball not on a green grass field, but on dusty roads, where there are no football pitches, no registered teams, and not even a national federation. Until recently, such a country did indeed exist. The Marshall Islands — a tiny Pacific island nation with a population of less than 40,000 people — for many years remained the only recognized UN country in the world without a national football team. How is it that in a country where football has long become a universal language of the world, this sport has been forgotten?

Islands Lost in the Ocean and History

The Marshall Islands are located in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Australia. This is a group of 29 coral atolls that rise an average of two meters above sea level. Inhabited about two thousand years ago by people from Southeast Asia, the islands have long remained on the periphery of world history. Discovered by the Spanish in the 16th century, renamed by British Captain John Marshall in 1788, they eventually fell under German, Japanese control, and after World War II — under the control of the United States. From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducted nuclear tests on the atolls of Bikini and Enewetak, leaving behind not only radioactive contamination but also a deep scar in the collective memory of the people. The country gained independence only in 1986.

This historical path largely predetermined why football never took root on the islands.

American Cultural Influence: Basketball Instead of Football

The main reason for the absence of football in the Marshall Islands is the powerful cultural influence of the United States. After World War II, the islands came under US control, and American culture permeated all spheres of life. With military bases came American sports. Children on the Marshall Islands grew up playing basketball and baseball, not football. This was a natural choice: American soldiers brought balls, showed games, organized tournaments. Basketball became the most popular sport in the country and remains so to this day.

Football simply did not take root. It was not part of the school curriculum, there were no coaches, no tradition. For Marshallese, football was for a long time an exotic game that was shown on TV but no one played. Many local residents had never even held a football.

Infrastructure Vacuum: No Fields, No Coaches

If there is no tradition, there is no infrastructure. Until recently, there was not a single full-fledged football field in the Marshall Islands. The atolls that make up the country have a limited area, and almost all of the available land is occupied by residential buildings, roads, and administrative buildings. Building a football stadium requires space that simply does not exist. There were no clubs, leagues, or competitions in the country. Most importantly, there were no coaches capable of training children. Football is not just a ball and goals, it is a system of knowledge, tactics, and methods that are passed down from generation to generation. On the Marshall Islands, this chain was broken.

The capital of the country, the city of Majuro, did not even have basic sports infrastructure until 2020. It was only in 2019 that the construction of an athletics stadium began, which later became the foundation for a future football field.

Lack of Federation and International Recognition

Another reason is the complete absence of an organizational structure. The national team did not appear on its own because there was no federation that could create it. The Marshall Islands are not part of FIFA and are not members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). Without a federation, there are no international matches, no ranking, no funding — a closed circle that was not broken for decades.

Until 2020, football in the Marshall Islands was talked about only as a curiosity: “The only country in the world without a football team.” The irony of fate was that the country that could have taken pride in its uniqueness actually felt neglected. Because football is not just a game, it is a way to make oneself heard on the international stage.

Football as a Way of Life: The Story of Shem Liva

Everything changed thanks to one person — Shem Liva. He was born on the Marshall Islands but lived in the United States. One day, his son, like many other children, wanted to play football. It turned out that there was no infrastructure for this game at home. No fields, no balls, no teams. This was a shock to him.

In 2020, Shem Liva founded the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation. He started from scratch — collecting equipment, bringing balls from the United States, organizing the first training sessions for children. He found like-minded people all over the world: volunteers from the United Kingdom, coaches from Europe, representatives of the diaspora in Arkansas, where the largest Marshallese community outside the country resides. In 2021, the federation hired its first technical director — a British coach, Lloyd Owes, who holds a UEFA license. He traveled 13,000 kilometers to come to the islands and start training local coaches.

“No Home”: Football as a Voice of a Drowning Country

But this project had another, much more serious mission. The Marshall Islands are at the forefront of the climate crisis. Due to the rising level of the World Ocean, the country may completely disappear by 2050. No one knows how much longer these atolls will last, but the forecasts are terrifying.

Football has become a way for Marshallese to draw attention to their plight. The federation released a special form called “No Home”. On the jerseys, there were holes, and in the center, in large numbers — “1.5”. This refers to the climate threshold: if the average temperature on the planet rises by 1.5 degrees, the Marshall Islands may sink. Football has become not just a game, but a political statement, a cry for help addressed to the whole world. The creation of the national team is an attempt not to let the world forget about the existence of this small country.

The First Match: An Historic Day on August 14, 2025

On August 14, 2025, the Marshall Islands played their first official 11-a-side match in history. This event was not just sporting — it was symbolic. The team faced the team from the United States Virgin Islands in the Outrigger Challenge Cup tournament. The match took place not in the Marshall Islands, but in the city of Springdale, Arkansas, USA — 10,000 kilometers from the team's homeland. This was a deliberate decision: it is in Arkansas that the largest Marshallese diaspora resides, and the organizers wanted the compatriots to support their team.

The team lost 0:4, but the fact of stepping onto the field was a victory. Coach Lloyd Owes called this event “unbelievable”: “This was a dream. We created many conditions and structures so that children could play and adults could train.” Many players on the team played their first 11-a-side match in their lives. Up until then, they had only played futsal or had no competitive experience. The team was assembled just days before the tournament.

What Next: Ambitious Plans and a New Chapter

The first match marked the beginning of a new era. The Marshall Islands Football Federation intends to gain membership in FIFA and OFC. By 2030, the leadership of the federation hopes to receive international recognition. The plans are ambitious: in 2027, they plan to hold the first international matches on their own soil. In July 2027, the first club championship in the country's history — the Marshall Islands Football League — will begin.

Not just a national team is being created, but a whole football ecosystem: children's academies, coaching courses, school programs. The federation is working to make football part of physical education in schools. And yet — it continues to use sports as a platform for climate activism.

Conclusion

The Marshall Islands have long been the last country on Earth without a football team — not because they did not love sports, but because history, geography, and politics were such that football simply did not have time to come to these shores. American influence brought basketball, the lack of infrastructure prevented the development of the game, and the small population and isolation made the creation of a national team almost impossible. But thanks to the efforts of enthusiasts who started from scratch — without fields, without balls, without coaches — the country has finally stepped onto the international stage.

Today, football in the Marshall Islands is not just a sport. It is a symbol of hope, a way to make oneself heard and to speak of one's own plight, an opportunity to unite the diaspora and draw attention to the climate crisis from the whole world. The Marshall Islands are no longer the “country without football”. They are a country that has just started to play. And this game has just begun.

Permanent link to this publication: