American Samoa national football team

The American Samoa national football team (Samoan: Au soka Amerika Sāmoa) represents American Samoa in men's international football and is controlled by the Football Federation American Samoa, the governing body of the sport in the territory. American Samoa's home ground is the Pago Park Soccer Stadium in Pago Pago and their head coach is Tunoa Lui.[3]

Not to be confused with Samoa national football team.
This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see American Samoa women's national football team.

American Samoa
Nickname(s)The Boys from the Territory
AssociationFootball Federation American Samoa (FFAS)
ConfederationOFC (Oceania)
Head coachTunoa Lui
CaptainNicky Salapu
Most capsNicky Salapu (22)
Top scorerSamuel Hayward[1]
Ramin Ott (3)
Home stadiumPago Park Soccer Stadium
FIFA codeASA
First colors
Second colors
FIFA ranking
Current 192 (10 December 2020)[2]
Highest164 (October 2015)
Lowest205 (May 2006)
First international
unofficial
 Western Samoa 3–1 American Samoa 
(Apia, Western Samoa; 20 August 1983)
FIFA recognized
 Tonga 3–0 American Samoa 
(Rarotonga, Cook Islands; 2 September 1998)
Biggest win
unofficial
 American Samoa 3–0 Wallis and Futuna 
(Apia, Western Samoa; 22 August 1983)
FIFA recognized
 American Samoa 2–0 Cook Islands 
(Apia, Samoa; 4 September 2015)
Biggest defeat
 Australia 31–0 American Samoa 
(Coffs Harbour, Australia; 11 April 2001)
(international record)

History

In 1983, American Samoa entered a football team in the South Pacific Games for the first time. The territory's unofficial first match took place in Apia, Western Samoa on 20 August 1983 and ended in a 2–0 defeat to Western Samoa. Two days later, the team recorded their first win with a 3–0 defeat of Wallis and Futuna however, they were eliminated from the competition at the group stage following a 3–2 loss to Tonga on 24 August.[4][5][6]

The following year, the American Samoa Football Association (ASFA) was founded and took over responsibility for organising the territory's national team.[7]

After competing in the 1987 South Pacific Games and the 1994 Polynesia Cup, ASFA became full members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) allowing them to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the first time.[7] American Samoa registered their first FIFA-recognised international during the 1998 Polynesia Cup in Rarotonga, Cook Islands when they lost 3–0 to Tonga on 2 September.[5][6][8]

During their first qualifying campaign for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in April 2001, American Samoa was involved in a match which set the record for the largest margin of victory in international football when they lost 31–0 to Australia.[9] The outcome of the match led to debates about the format of qualification tournaments, with the Australian manager Frank Farina and striker Archie Thompson – who scored 13 times in the match – feeling that preliminary rounds should be introduced to avoid such unbalanced matches, views shared by the international footballing body FIFA. It eventually led to the introduction of a preliminary round in the Oceanian zone qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[10]

Since joining FIFA, the team has been regarded as one of the world's weakest teams[11] and were, until November 2011, the joint-lowest ranked national team in the FIFA World ranking.[12]

On 23 November 2011, American Samoa recorded their first FIFA-recognised win when they defeated Tonga 2–1 in the first round of qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It was also the team's first victory after 30 consecutive defeats.[5][11][13]

The team's efforts to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup were chronicled in a 2014 British documentary, Next Goal Wins, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison.[14][15]

In October 2015, the territory achieved its highest position in the FIFA World Rankings when they reached 164th following back-to-back wins against Tonga and the Cook Islands in qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[5][16]

Competitive record
See also: American Samoa national football team results

FIFA World Cup

Following FIFA affiliation in 1998,[7] American Samoa first entered the qualifying competition for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They have entered the qualifiers for each subsequent edition but have never made it beyond the first stage. The closest they came to reaching the second phase was in qualifying for the 2018 edition when they won two of their three matches and narrowly missed out on progressing on goal difference.[16]

Year Final Tournament Qualification
Host nation(s) Round Pld W D L F A Round Pld W D L F A Source
1930 to 1998Did not enter
2002South Korea; JapanDid not qualifyGroup – 5th4004057[17]
2006GermanyFirst round group – 5th[A]4004134[18]
2010South AfricaFirst round group – 5th[B]4004138[19]
2014BrazilFirst round group – 3rd[C]311133[20]
2018RussiaFirst round group – 2nd[D]320164[16]
Totals0/2100000018311411136
Notes
  1. ^
    A: The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup.
  2. ^
    B: The men's football tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games doubled as qualifiers for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup and the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
  3. ^
    C: The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2012 OFC Nations Cup.
  4. ^
    D: The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.

OFC Nations Cup

Before becoming full members of OFC in 1998,[7] American Samoa entered the 1994 Polynesia Cup which acted as the qualifying round for Polynesian national teams for the 1996 OFC Nations Cup. This was the territory's first time competing for a place in OFC's flagship competition for senior men's national teams.[8]

The OFC Nations Cup has often acted as part of the FIFA World Cup qualification process for Oceanian national teams and, as a result, American Samoa have competed in the qualifiers for both competitions in every edition since 1998. They have yet to qualify for either competition.

Year Final Tournament Qualification
Host nation(s) Round Pld W D L F A Round Pld W D L F A Source
1973 to 1980Did not enter
1996No hostDid not qualifyGroup – 4th[E]300337[21]
1998AustraliaGroup – 5th[F]4004323[8]
2000TahitiGroup – 5th[G]4004229[22]
2002New ZealandGroup – 5th4004229[23]
2004AustraliaGroup – 5th[H]4004134[18]
2008No HostGroup – 5th[I]4004138[19]
2012Solomon IslandsGroup – 3rd[J]311133[20]
2016Papua New GuineaGroup – 2nd[K]320164[16]
2020New ZealandCancelled
Totals0/1000000029312521167
Notes
  1. ^
    E: The 1994 Polynesia Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 1996 OFC Nations Cup.
  2. ^
    F: The 1998 Polynesia Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 1998 OFC Nations Cup.
  3. ^
    G: The 2000 Polynesia Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2000 OFC Nations Cup.
  4. ^
    H: The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup.
  5. ^
    I: The men's football tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games doubled as qualifiers for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup and the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
  6. ^
    J: The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2012 OFC Nations Cup.
  7. ^
    K: The Oceanian qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup doubled as qualifiers for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.

Pacific Games

American Samoa first entered the South Pacific Games in 1983. This was the first time a team representing the territory had competed in association football and they recorded one win from their three games in the group stage by beating Wallis and Futuna 3–0 – the only time American Samoa have recorded a win in the competition – but that wasn't enough to progress to the next round.[4] American Samoa would go onto enter the 1987 edition where they were again eliminated in the group stage, losing all four of their matches.[24]

It would be another 20 years before they again entered the competition. The 2007 edition was the last known as the South Pacific Games before becoming the Pacific Games four years later and it was also part of the qualification process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In their third appearance in the competition, American Samoa were again eliminated at the group stage, losing all four matches.[19] The same fate befell American Samoa in the 2011 Pacific Games as they lost all five games to finish bottom of their group.[25]

In 2015, the Pacific Games was an age-restricted tournament that doubled as the OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament and no team representing American Samoa took part. Four years later, they were again eliminated at the group stage however, a 1–1 draw with Tuvalu ended a 32-year losing streak in the competition.[26]

Pacific Games
Year Host nation(s) Round Pld W D L F A Source
1963 to 1979Did not enter
1983Western SamoaGroup stage310266[4]
1987New CaledoniaGroup stage4004142[24]
1991 to 2003Did not enter
2007SamoaGroup stage[L]4004138[19]
2011New CaledoniaGroup stage5005026[25]
2015Papua New GuineaDid not enter[M]
2019SamoaGroup stage5014236[26]
Totals5/1521111910148
Notes
  1. ^
    L: The men's football tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games doubled as qualifiers for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup and the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
  2. ^
    M: The men's football tournament at the 2015 Pacific Games was an age-restricted competition that doubled as the OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

All-time record

Up to matches played on 18 July 2019.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD WPCT
 Australia 1 0 0 1 0 31 −31 0.00
 Cook Islands 4 1 1 2 6 8 −2 25.00
 Fiji 4 0 0 4 0 39 −39 0.00
 Guam 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0.00
 New Caledonia 4 0 0 4 0 33 −33 0.00
 Papua New Guinea 3 0 0 3 0 37 −37 0.00
 Samoa[lower-alpha 1] 10 0 0 10 5 44 −39 0.00
 Solomon Islands 3 0 0 3 1 29 −28 0.00
 Tahiti 4 0 0 4 2 40 −38 0.00
 Tonga 9 2 0 7 10 28 −18 22.22
 Tuvalu 2 0 1 1 1 5 −4 0.00
 Vanuatu 4 0 0 4 1 39 −38 0.00
 Wallis and Futuna 2 1 0 1 4 5 −1 50.00
Total 51 4 2 45 30 340 −310 7.84
Source: Results
Notes:
  1. Includes results as Western Samoa.

Stadium
Pago Park Soccer Stadium in 2015.

American Samoa's home ground is the Pago Park Soccer Stadium in Pago Pago, however, the team has never played a home match in its history.[5] The stadium featured in the highly-rated 2014 film Next Goal Wins and was used as the national team's training ground in the build-up to the 2011 Pacific Games and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[27]

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2019 Pacific Games from 7–20 July in Apia, Samoa.[28]

Caps and goals updated as of 18 July 2019 after the game against Tahiti.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Nicky Salapu (captain) (1980-09-13) 13 September 1980 22 0 PanSa East FC
18 1GK Hengihengi Ikuvalu (2002-12-02) 2 December 2002 1 0 Pago Youth
2 2DF Takai Pouli (2000-07-18) 18 July 2000 4 0 Vaiala Tongan
3 2DF Jaiyah Saelua (1988-07-19) 19 July 1988 15 0 Lion Heart
4 2DF Ryan Samuelu (1991-02-19) 19 February 1991 9 0 Utulei Youth
5 2DF Ueli Tualaulelei (1999-08-02) 2 August 1999 5 0 Pago Youth
13 2DF Matthew Taga'i (2002-03-28) 28 March 2002 2 0 Ilaoa and To'omata
19 2DF Tuaki Latu (2000-07-15) 15 July 2000 2 0 Vaiala Tongan
20 2DF Uasila'a Heleta (1987-02-27) 27 February 1987 17 0 Lion Heart
6 3MF Kuresa Taga'i (2000-08-04) 4 August 2000 5 0 Ilaoa and To'omata
7 3MF Austin Kaleopa (2001-11-24) 24 November 2001 5 0 Utulei Youth
8 3MF Roy Ledoux (2000-06-26) 26 June 2000 5 0 Pago Youth
11 3MF Milo Tiatia (2002-02-18) 18 February 2002 5 0 Royal Puma
12 3MF Mark Taga'i (2002-03-28) 28 March 2002 2 0 Ilaoa and To'omata
15 3MF Chris Faamoana (2001-08-02) 2 August 2001 5 1 Vaiala Tongan
21 3MF Puni Samuelu (1996-08-16) 16 August 1996 4 0 Pago Youth
9 4FW Walter Pati (2002-03-31) 31 March 2002 5 1 Royal Puma
10 4FW MJ Faoa-Danielson (2000-04-13) 13 April 2000 3 0 Vaiala Tongan
14 4FW Palauni Tapusoa (1994-02-01) 1 February 1994 0 0 Utulei Youth
16 4FW Junior Teoni (2001-02-06) 6 February 2001 1 0
17 4FW King Moe (2002-01-21) 21 January 2002 1 0

Managers

See also

References
  1. Soccer: the Ultimate Guide. Penguin. 19 April 2010. p. 109. ISBN 9780756673215. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  3. "American Samoa men's National Team ready to play". Football Federation American Samoa. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  4. Cruickshank, Mark; Morrison, Neil; Veroeveren, Pieter (17 October 2016). "South Pacific Games 1983 (Western Samoa)". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  5. "World Football Elo Ratings: Eastern Samoa". www.eloratings.net. World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  6. Courtney, Barrie (23 November 2006). "American Samoa - List of international matches". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  7. "Member Association - American Samoa". www.fifa.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  8. Owsianski, Jarek; Pierrend, José Luis; Bobrowsky, Josef; Zlotkowski, Andre (21 March 2004). "Polynesian Cup 1998". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  9. Rookwood, Dan (11 April 2001). "Aussie Rules as Socceroos smash world record again". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  10. "Road to SA 2010 starts in Samoa". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 June 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  11. "American Samoa wins first ever football match after 30 straight defeats in 17 years". The Daily Telegraph. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  12. "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA.com. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  13. Lee, Ben (24 November 2011). "American Samoa football team celebrate first win in 18 years". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  14. Mitchell, Wendy (3 February 2014). "Making Next Goal Wins". screendaily.com.
  15. Geoghegan, Kev (6 May 2014). "Next Goal Wins for 'world's worst football team'". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  16. King, Ian; Stokkermans, Karel (5 July 2018). "World Cup 2018 Qualifying". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  17. Stokkermans, Karel (13 September 2018). "World Cup 2002 Qualifying". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  18. Stokkermans, Karel; Aarhus, Lars; Goloboy, Jim; King, Ian; Owsianski, Jarek; Naveed, Malik Riaz Hai; Rubio, Julián Díaz; Tabeira, Martín; Zea, Antonio; Zlotkowski, Andre (26 November 2009). "World Cup 2006 Qualifying". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  19. Priadko, Aleks (20 August 2015). "South Pacific Games 2007 (Samoa)". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  20. Stokkermans, Karel; Andrés, Juan Pablo; Lugo, Erik Francisco (16 November 2017). "World Cup 2014 Qualifying". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
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  22. Zlotkowski, Andre (21 March 2004). "Polynesian Cup 2000". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  23. Zlotkowski, Andre; Morrison, Neil (21 March 2004). "Oceanian Nations Cup 2002". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  24. Garin, Erik (19 January 2017). "South Pacific Games 1987 (New Caledonia)". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  25. Morrison, Neil; Schöggl, Hans (18 January 2018). "Pacific Games 2011 (New Caledonia)". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  26. Di Maggio, Roberto (21 August 2019). "Pacific Games 2019 (Samoa)". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  27. Brett, Mike; Brodie, Kristian; Jamison, Steve (9 May 2014). Next Goal Wins. Icon Productions.
  28. Vitolio, Brian (4 July 2019). "American Samoa men's National Team ready to play". Football Federation American Samoa. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
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