Palau national football team

Palau
Association	Palau Football Association
Confederation	None
Head coach	Lukeson Sifix
Most caps	Stephen Stefano (6)
Top scorer	Stephen Stefano (5)
Home stadium	PCC Track and Field Stadium
FIFA code	PLW
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Vanuatu 6–2 Palau ; (Adelaide, Australia; 27 March 1987)
Biggest win
	Palau 7–1 Yap ; (Koror City, Palau; 27 July 1998); Palau 7–1 Pohnpei ; (Koror City, Palau; 28 July 1998)
Biggest defeat
	Palau 2–15 Guam ; (Koror City, Palau; 1 August 1998)
Micronesian Games
Appearances	3 (first in 1998)
Best result	Runners-up (2014)

The Palau national football team represents Palau in international football. The team is not affiliated with FIFA or a local confederation. The team play their home games at the PCC Track and Field Stadium in the town of Koror City. Currently, the side is ranked as the worst national team in the world by the Elo rating system.

History

Palau hosted and competed in the Micronesian Games in 1998, in which they finished third. In the tournament, teams were 9-a-side and the matches were 80 minutes in duration and were played on a pitch which was below regulation size. In addition to their first team, Palau also fielded a team consisting of Bangladeshis living on the island.^[2] They reached the final in the Micronesian Games in 2014,^[3] where the team's trip was partly covered by internet crowd funding.^[4]

Competitive record

OFC Nations Cup

The Palau national football team was affiliated with OFC between 2007 and 2009. It is currently not a member of OFC.

OFC Nations Cup record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Not a member of the OFC
1980
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2008	Did not enter
2012	Not a member of the OFC
2016	Not a member of the OFC
2020	Cancelled
2024	Not a member of the OFC
Total		0/1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Micronesian Games

Micronesian Games record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1998	Third place	3rd	6	3	0	3	26	40
2001	Did not enter
2014	Runners-up	2nd	4	1	1	2	9	8
2018	Third place	3rd	4	1	0	3	4	5
2026	To be determined
Total	Runners-up	3/3	14	5	1	8	39	53

Results

Palau's score is shown first in each case.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Competition	Palau scorers	Att.	Ref.
1	27 March 1987	Adelaide (N)	Vanuatu	2–6	Friendly	Unknown	–	^[5]
2	27 July 1998	Emmaus High School Field, Koror (H)	Yap	7–1	1998 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[5]^[2]
3	28 July 1998	Emmaus High School Field, Koror (H)	Pohnpei	7–1	1998 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[5]^[2]
—	30 July 1998	Emmaus High School Field, Koror (H)	Palau B	3–8	1998 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[5]^[2]
4	31 July 1998	Emmaus High School Field, Koror (H)	Northern Mariana Islands	1–12	1998 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[6]^[5]^[2]
5	1 August 1998	Emmaus High School Field, Koror (H)	Guam	2–15	1998 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[6]^[5]^[2]
—	2 August 1998	Emmaus High School Field, Koror (H)	Palau B	6–3	1998 Micronesian Games	Stefano (5), unknown goal	–	^[5]^[2]
6	25 July 2014	PICS Field & Track, Palikir (A)	Pohnpei	1–3	2014 Micronesian Games	Mitchell	–	^[5]^[3]
7	26 July 2014	PICS Field & Track, Palikir (N)	Chuuk	5–0	2014 Micronesian Games	Bishop Jr., Miah, Nicolescu, Canseco, unknown (o.g.)	–	^[5]^[3]
8	28 July 2014	PICS Field & Track, Palikir (N)	Yap	2–2	2014 Micronesian Games	Canseco, Mitchell	–	^[5]^[3]
9	29 July 2014	PICS Field & Track, Palikir (A)	Pohnpei	1–3	2014 Micronesian Games	Mitchell	–	^[5]^[3]
10	23 July 2018	Yap Sports Complex, Gagil (N)	Pohnpei	1–2	2018 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[5]^[7]
11	24 July 2018	Yap Sports Complex, Gagil (N)	Chuuk	0–1	2018 Micronesian Games		–	^[5]^[7]
12	25 July 2018	Yap Sports Complex, Gagil (A)	Yap	1–2	2018 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[5]^[7]
13	26 July 2018	Yap Sports Complex, Gagil (N)	Chuuk	2–0	2018 Micronesian Games	Unknown	–	^[5]^[7]

Head-to-head record

Up to matches played on 23 July 2018.

Opponent	P	W	D	L	GF	GA
Chuuk	3	2	0	1	7	1
Guam	1	0	0	1	2	15
Northern Mariana Islands	1	0	0	1	1	12
Palau B	2	1	0	1	9	11
Pohnpei	4	1	0	3	10	9
Vanuatu	1	0	0	1	2	6
Yap	3	1	1	1	10	5
Total	15	5	1	9	41	59

Notable Players

See List of Palau international footballers.

Charles Reklai Mitchell - played for Cal State Northridge Matadors ^[8]^[9]

Player records

As of 23 July 2018

Most appearances
Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Stephen Stefano	6	5	1998
2	Armando Canseco	4	2	2014
	Charles Reklai Mitchell		3	2014
	Christian Etpison Nicolescu		1	2014
	Mohoshin Miah		1	2014
	Robert Victor Bishop Jr.		1	2014

Top goalscorers
Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Stephen Stefano	5	6	0.83	1998
2	Charles Reklai Mitchell	3	4	0.75	2014
3	Armando Canseco	2	4	0.5	2014
4	Christian Etpison Nicolescu	1	4	0.25	2014
	Mohoshin Miah		4	0.25	2014
	Robert Victor Bishop Jr.		4	0.25	2014

Historical kits

2014-18 Home	2014-18 Away	2014-18 GK

Sources:^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]

References

^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Micronesian Games 1998". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Micronesia Games 2014". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
^ "Country forced to use crowdfunding to play tournament" Archived 1 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine (worldsoccer.com)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Palau – International Matches". RSSSF. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b "World Football Elo Ratings: Palau". eloratings.net. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Micronesia Games 2018". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
^ "THEY DO PLAY FOOTBALL IN PALAU AFTER ALL, MATT". Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.
^ "The country forced to use crowdfunding to play a tournament". worldsoccer.com. 27 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
^ "2014 Home and GK".
^ "2014 Home". Facebook.
^ "2014 Away".
^ "2014 Home".
^ "2014 Away".

External links

Palau Football Association

[World_Football_Elo_Ratings-1] Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.

[RSSSFMG1998-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Micronesian Games 1998". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

[RSSSFMG2014-3] "Micronesia Games 2014". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

[4] "Country forced to use crowdfunding to play tournament" Archived 1 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine (worldsoccer.com)

[RSSSF-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "Palau – International Matches". RSSSF. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.

[eloratings-6] "World Football Elo Ratings: Palau". eloratings.net. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.

[RSSSFMG2018-7] "Micronesia Games 2018". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

[8] "THEY DO PLAY FOOTBALL IN PALAU AFTER ALL, MATT". Archived from the original on 24 December 2022.

[9] "The country forced to use crowdfunding to play a tournament". worldsoccer.com. 27 September 2014. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.

[10] "2014 Home and GK".

[11] "2014 Home". Facebook.

[12] "2014 Away".

[13] "2014 Home".

[14] "2014 Away".

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v t e National football teams of Oceania (OFC)
OFC Nations Cup
Active	American Samoa Cook Islands FS Micronesia² Fiji Kiribati¹ New Caledonia New Zealand Niue² Palau² Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tahiti Tonga Tuvalu¹ Vanuatu
Former	Australia (moved to AFC in 2006) Northern Mariana Islands³ (moved to AFC in 2009) Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)⁴ (returned to AFC in 1989)
¹ Associate member of OFC - Not a member of FIFA ² Not a member of OFC and consequently not a member of FIFA ³ Northern Mariana Islands was only an associate member of OFC between 1998 and 2009 - Not a member of FIFA ⁴ Although not geographically in Oceania, Chinese Taipei was a member of the OFC between 1976–1978 and 1982–1989 Although not geographically in Oceania Israel entered OFC World Cup qualification in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.