The Estádio Algarve ( transl. Algarve Stadium ) is an association football stadium located between Faro and Loulé municipalities , in the Algarve region of Portugal . The stadium has a capacity of 30,305 and was purposely built for the UEFA Euro 2004 championship.
55-510: The Estádio Algarve was designed in the summer of 2000 in accordance with UEFA and FIFA standards by Populous for the UEFA Euro 2004 championship hosted in Portugal. The design team included WS Atkins engineers and local partners including Marobal. The design is regional in nature, alluding to the maritime traditions of Portugal and harmonizing with the distinctive local landscape of
110-701: A confederation but not FIFA members compete in confederation-level and subregional tournaments. These teams, however, are not allowed to participate in the World Cup. The six confederations are: FIFA runs the World Cup as a tournament for national teams to find the world champion . Each confederation also runs its own championship to find the best team from among its members: The Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) organises competitions between Arab League member nations. All 22 national governing bodies that form UAFA are also members of both FIFA and either
165-611: A feat that is no longer possible for any team that did not win the Cup Winners' Cup. There are currently eight teams throughout Europe that have won two of the three trophies; all but one have won the Cup Winners' Cup, four require a win in the Champions League and four require a UEFA Europa League win. Until the first staging of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022, Juventus of Italy was
220-900: A few states with limited international recognition , one associated state with no UN membership, a significant number of dependent territories , and a limited number of autonomous areas . A majority of states with limited recognition, however, have no membership of FIFA or any of its confederations. This list divides national teams into three main groups: This list excludes other teams described by their supporters as 'national', which represent specific ethnic groups , cultural/historical regions, separatist or autonomist movements , speakers of specific languages, and micronations . These teams have historically participated in matches and tournaments outside FIFA's recognition , though some of them have sporadically or regularly played in friendly matches and tournaments against FIFA members. Some national teams with FIFA membership have disappeared due to belonging to
275-421: A larger recognised sovereign state in the context of international law. These include England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales ( UK constituent countries ), Gibraltar ( UK overseas territory ), Faroe Islands ( Danish Realm ), and Kosovo ( state with limited recognition ), however, in the context of these countries, government functions concerning sport tend to be carried at the territorial level coterminous with
330-528: A long and well-established tradition in the European futsal community, dating back to 1984, was never recognised as official by UEFA. There was an attempt to create a Europa League-style second tier women's club competition, which began in discussion in 2021. In December 2023, the attempt came into a fruition, with the first edition of the competition to be played in 2025–26. List of men%27s national association football teams#UEFA (Europe) This
385-828: A platform for teams which later began playing in competitions organized by FIFA and its confederations (including the Faroe Islands, Kosovo, and Gibraltar football teams). Notable bodies sanctioning non-FIFA football include the International Island Games Association (IIGA), the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA)., as well as the now-defunct N.F.-Board (Nouvelle Fédération-Board). As of August 2021, 24 member associations are affiliated with IIGA and 59 member associations are affiliared with ConIFA. Some non-FIFA tournaments are open to participants from all over
440-475: A regional confederation played in matches or even official tournaments against FIFA members before being accepted into FIFA (examples include the Croatia, Kosovo, Palestine, Slovakia, and Slovenia football teams, among others). Some national teams have even participated in major international competitions against FIFA member nations without having ever been part of FIFA or one of its confederations (examples include
495-533: A sovereign state do not have membership in FIFA, but are members of one of its affiliated confederations (either in a full or associate capacity). In 2016, FIFA made changes to its statutes to define 'country' as "an independent state recognized by the international community". In 2011, UEFA had already changed its statutes so that only countries recognised as independent states by the United Nations could join
550-665: A sovereign state or dependent territory which split into two or more states or territories (examples include the Soviet Union , Yugoslavia , or the Netherlands Antilles ), or by part of the territory becoming independent (such as the Ireland national football team , which ceased to exist as such after reaching a compromise with FIFA and recognising the Republic of Ireland national football team as representative of
605-552: Is a list of the men's national association football teams in the world. The International Association Football Federation (FIFA) is the world's most important governing body for association football . A majority of national association football teams in the world are members of FIFA or one of its affiliated continental confederations . A majority of them also represent sovereign states with wide international recognition, with 188 of 195 United Nations (UN) member and observer states holding membership of FIFA. A notable exception
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#1732782535337660-486: Is a successor to the Nouvelle Fédération-Board (N.F.-Board), which also organised tournaments for non-FIFA member teams. While none of the current ConIFA members are also members of FIFA, a few hold associate membership in one of the confederations affiliated with it. These teams are also noted in the list below. The ConIFA World Football Cup is the top tournament for ConIFA member nations. Due to
715-614: Is composed of; President Vice-presidents Members General secretary Deputy general secretary Treasurer Head of club competitions and calendar Head of national competitions National teams: Clubs: Amateur: Defunct National teams: Clubs: Amateur: UEFA runs official international competitions in Europe and some countries of Northern , Southwestern and Central Asia for national teams and professional clubs, known as UEFA competitions , some of which are regarded as
770-697: Is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football . It governs football , futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey , Azerbaijan , Georgia and Kazakhstan , as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus , Armenia and Israel . UEFA consists of 55 national association members . Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine , FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions. UEFA consists of
825-674: Is the UEFA Europa League . This competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (also began in 1955). A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , which started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup (now UEFA Europa League) in 1999. In December 2018, UEFA announced
880-482: Is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Under-19 Futsal Championship . Despite the existence of UEFA's Futsal and Beach soccer committee, UEFA does not organise any beach soccer competitions. International and club beach soccer competitions for UEFA members are organised externally by Beach Soccer Worldwide . The Italian , German , Spanish , French and Russian men's national teams are
935-515: Is the United Kingdom , which is not a member of FIFA in its own right but is represented in the governing body by the teams of its four constituent countries . Other UN members and one observer state have either held membership in a confederation in the past and subsequently lost it, or have never belonged to either FIFA or one of its recognised confederations. Membership of FIFA and its confederations also includes national teams representing
990-582: Is the case with East Germany , which joined West Germany to form the unified Germany football team). In several cases the football records of dissolved teams are considered by FIFA as belonging to a successor entity (the Russia national team, for example, carries over the records of the Soviet Union national team). Defunct teams are listed on this page for historical purposes. Even if only members of FIFA and its affiliated confederations are taken into account, there are more national association football teams in
1045-802: Is the second tournament of UEFA and was introduced in 2018. The tournament largely replaced the international friendly matches previously played on the FIFA International Match Calendar. It will be played every two years. UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21 , Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For women's national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Women's Championship for senior national sides as well as Women's Under-19 and Women's Under-17 Championships. Intercontinental national teams: Defunct Intercontinental clubs: Defunct Beside continental European competitions for national and their junior teams,
1100-464: The 2010 Rally de Portugal (the sixth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season ). The following national team matches were held at the stadium. The following national team matches were held at the stadium. UEFA The Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA / j uː ˈ eɪ f ə / yoo- AY -fə ; French : Union des associations européennes de football ; German : Union der europäischen Fußballverbände )
1155-495: The Algarve Football Cup , a pre-season friendly tournament for men's football clubs. The stadium hosted the inaugural Algarve Challenge Cup tournament on 22 and 24 July 2008 that saw Cardiff City , Celtic , Middlesbrough , and Vitória de Guimarães in action. Cardiff City were the eventual winners of the tournament with victories over Celtic and Vitória. The Estádio Algarve was also the temporary home ground of
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#17327825353371210-604: The Gibraltar national football team around the mid-2010s. It will once again host Gibraltar from March 2023 while improvements are made to the Victoria Stadium . Aside from football, it has also hosted music festivals and concerts, and has been temporarily converted into a super special stage during the Rally de Portugal , including the 2007 Rally de Portugal (part of the 2007 World Rally Championship season) and
1265-643: The North Vietnam national football team 's participation in the Games of the New Emerging Forces football competitions or Northern Cyprus national football team 's participation in the 1980 Islamic Games football tournament). There have also been unsanctioned national teams set up to further the aims of national independence movements, such as the FLN football team . In addition to the above, since
1320-558: The Portugal national football team . A former home of Farense and Louletano shortly after its inauguration, the stadium also received some Olhanense and Portimonense matches during their respective stadiums' works of renovation since those teams are also from the region of Algarve. The Algarve Stadium also hosts the final match of the Algarve Cup , a major annual international tournament for women's football national teams, and
1375-681: The Republic of China (as Chinese Taipei), Kosovo , and Palestine . The Cook Islands is an associated state with no UN membership, but it is a member of both FIFA and the OFC. The national teams representing these states are all listed above. A further seven associated, de facto, or partially recognised states with no UN membership have fielded football teams in non-FIFA football tournaments or FIFA-unsanctioned friendly matches. None of these states, however, are currently members of FIFA or any of its affiliated continental confederations. The teams representing these states are listed below. Historically,
1430-571: The Taiwan area), and certain dependent territories , autonomous areas , and protectorates which, on the grounds of their political autonomy, separate status, and/or distance from their parent state, have been allowed to hold membership in FIFA and/or one of its affiliated confederations. At present, FIFA members include 23 subnational and dependent territories, as well as three states with limited international recognition . A further nine overseas, dependent, and autonomous territories with close ties to
1485-580: The UEFA Women's Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and was known as the UEFA Women's Cup until 2009. The UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League (previously the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup), and came into being in 1973. The UEFA Intertoto Cup was a summer competition, previously operated by several Central European football associations, which
1540-532: The AFC or CAF. National teams from UAFA member countries are noted in the list below. The Arab Cup is the top championship tournament for national teams, organised historically by UAFA and by FIFA since 2021. The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA) is an organisation for teams representing unrecognised states, subnational regions, and stateless minorities, as well as teams from recognised states that have not managed to gain entry into FIFA. ConIFA
1595-639: The European football association, such as Israel (because it had been banned from the AFC group in 1974) and Kazakhstan. Involving clubs, some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their association's main territory to take part in their "domestic" competition, for example, AS Monaco in the French League, Welsh clubs Cardiff City or Swansea City in the English League, or Derry City , situated in Northern Ireland, plays in
1650-565: The FA of Ukraine, England, and Sweden, with all three threatening to boycott matches against Russia. Five of the UEFA national teams, Germany , Italy , France , England and Spain , have won 12 out of 22 FIFA World Cups for Europe. These five nations also make up the so-called « Europe's Big Five », consisting of Spain's La Liga , England's Premier League , Germany's Bundesliga , Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1 . UEFA executive committee
1705-641: 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. Several national associations for teams included in this section are members of ConIFA ; these are indicated in the lists below. This section lists: Three UN members and one UN General Assembly observer state do not have any sort of membership in FIFA or any continental federation, but have fielded national association-organised teams in unofficial friendly matches or in tournaments held outside
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1760-763: The Italian, French, and Belgian associations. At the founding meeting, 25 members were present. However, six other associations which were not present were still recognised as founding members, bringing the total of founding associations to 31. UEFA grew to more than 50 members by the mid-1990s, as new associations were born out of the fragmentation of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia into their constituent states. UEFA's main headquarters after its foundation were located in Paris, but moved to Bern in 1960. Finally, they moved to Nyon , Switzerland, in 1995, opening
1815-604: The Republic of Ireland-based League of Ireland . On 28 February 2022, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and in accordance with a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the UEFA suspended the participation of Russia. The Russian Football Union unsuccessfully appealed the UEFA ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport , which upheld the ban. On 26 September 2023
1870-500: The UEFA member entity. UEFA have previously declined membership to those deemed as non-sovereign countries like Jersey . Some UEFA members are transcontinental states (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) and others are considered part of Europe both culturally and politically (Turkey, Cyprus and Armenia). Countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) were also admitted to
1925-548: The UEFA organizes various qualification male and female tournaments among European national and their junior teams for World Cups (organized by FIFA) and Olympics (organized by IOC). UEFA also organised the UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football. UEFA launched the UEFA Regions' Cup , for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there
1980-605: The auspices of FIFA. Another UN member state, while being officially represented in FIFA and UEFA by the teams of its constituent nations, has also fielded a team representing the entire state in exhibition matches. The national teams of these five states are listed below. Two UN member states (the Marshall Islands and Nauru ), have never fielded a national association-organised football team. Three states with limited international recognition and no UN membership are members of both FIFA and an affiliated confederation:
2035-459: The ban was lifted for the Russia U-17 team enabling them to complete in the 2024 Euro U-17 with UEFA saying "by banning children from our competitions, we not only fail to recognise and uphold a fundamental right for their holistic development but we directly discriminate against them". The lifting of the ban also applied to all teams, men and women, of underage players. This was rejected by
2090-526: The creation of a third club competition, later named the UEFA Europa Conference League . The competition features 32 teams in 8 groups of 4, with a knockout round between the second placed teams in Europa Conference League and the third placed teams in the Europa League, leading to a final 16 knockout stage featuring the eight group winners. The first edition of the competition was played in 2021–2022. In women's football UEFA also conducts
2145-586: The early 20th Century there have existed teams representing dependent territories or cultural regions which have played or continue to play in matches and tournaments against club sides and FIFA-affiliated national teams without any sanctioning from FIFA or regional confederations (including the Jersey , Gibraltar , Catalonia , Brittany , Faroe Islands , Greenland , and Mayotte football teams, among others). Whereas teams representing dependent territories have played matches and tournaments against each other since
2200-815: The early 20th century, in more recent times there has been a significant increase in the number of "national" teams representing states with limited recognition , former states , dependent territories, autonomous areas , or regional, sub-national, ethnic, cultural, diaspora, immigrant, language, and micronational groups. This has led to the organization of international tournaments where these teams compete against each other , without recognition or approval from FIFA or any of its associated confederations. Several organizing bodies not associated with FIFA have been in charge of these tournaments, providing an outlet to groups and regions who are not allowed to participate in FIFA-sanctioned football and in some cases functioning as
2255-567: The first president . The current president is Aleksander Čeferin , a former Football Association of Slovenia president, who was elected as UEFA's seventh president at the 12th Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Athens in September 2016, and automatically became a vice-president of the world body FIFA. UEFA was officially inaugurated on 15 June 1954 in Basel , Switzerland after consultation between
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2310-478: The geographical size of Asia, the AFC is subdivided into five sub-federations: Due to the geographical size of Africa, CAF is divided into five regional federations: The CONCACAF federation is divided into three regional federations that have responsibility for part of the region's geographical area: 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
2365-458: The independent part of Ireland ). Other teams have disappeared by virtue of the states or territories they represented forming a new state by joining another entity or entities (examples include the teams representing Tanganyika and Malaya , which merged with other former colonies to respectively form the Tanzania and Malaysia football teams), or becoming part of an already existing state (as
2420-588: The majority of FIFA and confederation members have been sovereign states with wide diplomatic recognition. Exceptions to this rule have included the British Home Nations (due to their seminal role in the development of football), Palestine (accepted into FIFA after the creation of the Palestinian National Authority ), the Republic of China (which does not enjoy wide recognition but is still accepted as representative of
2475-500: The national football associations of Europe, and runs national and club competitions including the UEFA European Championship , UEFA Nations League , UEFA Champions League , UEFA Europa League , UEFA Conference League , and UEFA Super Cup , and also controls the prize money, regulations, as well as media rights to those competitions. Henri Delaunay acted as the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz as
2530-524: The only team in Europe to win all UEFA's official championships and cups and, in commemoration of achieving that feat, have received The UEFA Plaque by the Union of European Football Associations on 12 July 1988. UEFA's premier futsal competition is the UEFA Futsal Cup , a tournament started in 2001 which replaced the former Futsal European Clubs Championship . This event, despite enjoying
2585-721: The only teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. The top-ranked UEFA competition is the UEFA Champions League , which started in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup (or simply the European Cup) and initially only gathered the top team of each country; this competition has since been expanded to gather the top 1–4 teams of each country's league (the number of teams depend on that country's ranking and can be upgraded or downgraded). A second, lower-ranked competition
2640-413: The organisation's current headquarters in 1999. UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe (48 out of 55 members are sovereign UN member states), although there are some exceptions. One UN member state (Monaco) and one UN General Assembly non-member observer state (Vatican City) are not members. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of
2695-980: The organisation., while CAF rescinded Zanzibar 's full membership (which had been approved only months before) in 2017 on the grounds that Zanzibar is not a country as defined by the African Union and the United Nations. With some exceptions (such as the acceptances of Gibraltar and Kosovo into FIFA and UEFA in 2016), these regulations have made it harder for aspiring national associations to join FIFA or its affiliated confederations. Examples include Jersey (UEFA application rejected in 2018), Bonaire (FIFA application rejected in 2019), Sint Maarten (FIFA application rejected in 2022 or before), and Greenland (applied to CONCACAF in 2022 due to lack of prospects of being accepted into UEFA). International football matches have historically taken place without approval or sanctioning from FIFA or its associated confederations. Some national teams who are currently members of FIFA or
2750-561: The region of Algarve. The stadium is considered a model small/regional flexible use stadium for football and other sports and cultural events, being one of the most used stadiums in Portugal, compared to others used only for matches in the main Portuguese Football League. From 2004 to 2013, Louletano shared the stadium with Sporting Clube Farense . Since 2004, the Estádio Algarve has hosted several matches of
2805-666: The table. Teams representing former states which never achieved FIFA membership (such as the Manchukuo and North Vietnam teams) are not included. In addition to the above, other teams have been renamed: Some ConIFA members represent regions which existed as sovereign states in the past, but were never members of FIFA or one of its associated regional confederations. Examples include the Artsakh , Biafra , and East Turkestan national football teams. 4 states with limited international recognition 4 constituent countries of
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#17327825353372860-644: The world (such as the Island Games , UNPO Cup , VIVA World Cup , and ConIFA World Football Cup ), while others are limited to a specific geographical area (such as the ConIFA regional tournaments, the Europeada , and the CSANF Cup.) These national teams no longer exist due to the dissolution of the nation or territory that they represented. Only teams that held FIFA membership at some point are included on
2915-547: The world than those of any other sport. This section lists the current: FIFA members are eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup and matches between them are recognised as official international matches. Based on their match results over the previous four-year period, the FIFA Men's World Rankings , published monthly by FIFA, compare the relative strengths of the national teams. Some national teams that are members of
2970-636: The world's most prestigious tournaments. UEFA is the organiser of two of the most prestigious competitions in international football: The UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League . The main competition for men's national teams is the UEFA European Championship (also known as the Euro), which started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960 , and was known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. The UEFA Nations League
3025-664: Was relaunched and recognised as official UEFA club competition by UEFA in 1995. The last Intertoto Cup took place in 2008. The European/South American Cup was jointly organised with CONMEBOL between the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores winners. Only five teams ( Juventus , Ajax , Manchester United , Bayern Munich and Chelsea ) have won each of the three main competitions (European Cup/UEFA Champions League, European Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League),
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