Football in Wallis and Futuna

Football in Wallis and Futuna
CountryWallis and Futuna
Governing bodyWallis and Futuna Soccer Federation
National team(s)men's national team
International competitions

The sport of football in the overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna is governed by the Fédération de Ligue de Football de Wallis et Futuna.[1] The association administers the Wallis and Futuna national football team as well as the Wallis Première Division and the Futuna Première Division.[2][3] No women's football is known of, though it is possible that the sport is not segregated by gender for youth football.[original research?]

The first evidence of the sport on the islands is that the national team competed in the 1966 South Pacific Games, where they would exit in the group stages and not return until 1979. From then they would appear regularly, with a final appearance in 1995. Women's football would not debut until the 2003 games, so Wallis and Futuna have never competed. News of football from the islands is limited, and the sport seems to have diminished, though there are photos from an 11-a-side match in 2015[4] and vague references to a 7-a-side tournament on Wallis in 2017[5] being the limit of publicised knowledge. The current condition of the Wallis and Futuna Soccer Federation is not known, or even if they are extant, but a youth football association existed as recently as 2020.[6]

  1. ^ "Micronesia is struggling to keep the game afloat, writes Steve Menary « World Soccer World Soccer". Worldsoccer.com. 19 November 2009. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  2. ^ "football". Wallis et Futuna la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Sport : Wallis relance le football". Wallis et Futuna la 1ère (in French). 26 June 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  4. ^ "2015 Football Match". marinafutuna.canalblog.com. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  5. ^ "RSSSF data on 2017 W&F football". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Stadium bookings by sports association, Wallis & Futuna" (PDF). wallis-et-futuna.gouv.fr. Retrieved 18 July 2022.