Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the global body that manages and regulates everything around international football, beach football, and futsal.
The implication is that if any country wants to be involved in any international competition, they would first have to be members of FIFA and adhere to the rules and regulations of the body.
FIFA has about 211 national associations drawn from all the continents in the world. Despite this, a few countries are not part of them, and we will look at them.
Here are eight countries that are not FIFA members.
1. Monaco
This principality is one of the smallest sovereign nations in the world, located at the southern tip of France.
It has roughly about 38,000 residents living in an area that is 2.1 km. Due to their low population, they don’t have a standing national team and, as a result, are not members of FIFA.
There is, however, a club side called Monaco FC that competes in the French league and are kind of unofficial representatives of the country.
2. Vatican City
The Vatican is an independent city-state located in Rome and serves as the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Holy See is recognized and treated as a sovereign nation in its own right and occupies an area of about 49 acres.
The 493 people that live in this space are mostly priests and workers of different nationalities who attend to matters of the church.
The Vatican is also not affiliated with FIFA. It is one country that doesn’t have a national football team.
3. Nauru
Nauru is an island nation located in the pacific ocean. Roughly 11,000 people stay on this island which is 21 km in size.
Their negligible population makes it hard to form a football team, and as such are not members of FIFA.
4. Kiribati
This sovereign country is a collection of islands situated within the pacific. Kiribati has a population of 120,000 that stay on a total area of 811 km.
They also suffer from a lack of adequate numbers to form a soccer team and, as such not members of FIFA.
5. Palau
This is another pacific island nation that is not affiliated with FIFA. Palau has a population of roughly 18,000 people that live on a collection of 340 islands with a total area of 459 km.
6. Tuvalu
Another entry that is one of many island nations on this list. Tuvalu has a total area of about 26 km with a population of an estimated 12,000.
Despite being associated with the Oceanic Football Confederation, they are not associated with the larger parent body FIFA.
In September 2008, their Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia and the President of the Tuvalu Football Association, Tapugao Falefou, visited FIFA headquarters in Zurich will plan to gain full membership in the organization.
However, factors such as Tuvalu’s lack of a regulation pitch prevent them from being accepted into FIFA.
7. Marshall Islands
This nation is also located in the pacific and has a population of about 62,000 people. The Marshall Islands occupy an area of about 181.43 km.
Football is not a popular sport in the country, and they are not members of FIFA.
8. Federated States of Micronesia
They are a collection of 607 islands in the Pacific Ocean with an area of about 702 km. About 104,500 inhabitants live on the various islands.
Like other pacific island nations covered in this list, they are not part of FIFA.
