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FIFA Members NOT Independent Countries

Name the national soccer teams that don't represent a completely independent country.
As per the 196 countries listed on the JetPunk countries of the world quiz
Quiz by valdo94
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Last updated: July 26, 2016
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First submittedSeptember 20, 2014
Times taken48,777
Average score41.7%
Rating4.43
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AFC
Guam
Hong Kong
Macau
Palestine
CONCACAF
Anguilla
Aruba
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Curaçao
Montserrat
Puerto Rico
Turks and Caicos Islands
US Virgin Islands
OFC
American Samoa
Cook Islands
New Caledonia
Tahiti
UEFA
England
Faroe Islands
Gibraltar
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
+4
Level 86
Oct 10, 2014
Interesting... New Caledonia is the only french overseas territory to have a team.
+8
Level 78
Oct 11, 2014
On this quiz it is not the only one
+11
Level 75
Nov 1, 2014
Don't forget Tahiti (i.e. French Polynesia), which is still French, and the place where I happen to live...
+16
Level 79
Jul 26, 2016
Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Saint-Martin also have teams. All of them are members of the Concacaf (the confederation of North & Central American and Carribean Football associations), but not of FIFA.
+3
Level 68
Jan 17, 2017
I tried some of those!
+1
Level 68
Aug 8, 2022
I tried all of those but I forgot Montserrat and Cayman islands!
+3
Level 86
Jan 17, 2017
I don't know why I said that two years ago, of course, there is Tahiti too. I guess I was thinking about Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guiana.
+18
Level 77
Nov 1, 2014
Almost 70% of other countries recognise Palestine as an independent country.
+4
Level 56
Nov 1, 2014
Actually sillie...The large portion of countries that the arabs of palestine claim to have recognition from are from countries that were forced to offer recognition by the Soviets. These countries (Hungary, Poland for example) no longer recognized Palestine once they reinstated democracy in their countries.
+12
Level 77
Aug 8, 2022
The very existence of the state of Israel in Palestine is a crime against humanity!
+1
Level 28
Dec 22, 2023
absolutely true
+1
Level 42
Mar 7, 2024
Bigoted and inflamatory
+21
Level 76
Nov 1, 2014
135 nations recognise Palestine, including Sweden just last week. I think it's a bit of a stretch to give credit to the Soviet Union, which dissolved in 1991, for that level of diplomatic recognition in 2014.
+11
Level 82
Nov 1, 2014
I'm writing from "Palestine" as I type this... I crossed no border to get here, went through no customs, didn't get a stamp in my passport, did not have to change currencies, the same police in the same uniforms are walking the streets as they did on the other side on the non-existent border. Doesn't feel like I'm in a different country. Though the above does not apply to some areas nominally controlled by the PNA, which I also visited a couple days ago.
+5
Level 76
Jan 17, 2017
spot on, kal...just because a majority says up is down doesn't make it so...
+15
Level 71
Feb 19, 2017
I'm in Australia and I say UP is DOWN!
+4
Level 57
Apr 28, 2020
Because "Palestine" is a fake country invented by the communists in the 1960s once they realised that Israel was aligning with the West and the Arabs were aligning with the communists.
+8
Level 68
Aug 8, 2022
There are too many complex criteria to ascertain whether something is an independent nation - can't we just replace them all by whether it feels that way to kalbahamut?
+8
Level 46
Aug 8, 2022
My grandparents and great-grandparents were from Palestine and pretty sure they were born before the 1960s.
+2
Level 82
Aug 9, 2022
DG, as always, you are being an absolute hypocrite. I try to follow consistent standards when assessing contentious things like this. You use your own biases and prejudices and are never consistent. You are projecting. And you've demonstrated this over, and over, and over again. It's sad, and sadder still that you feel the need to repeatedly point this out through ad hominem, but non-self-aware, attacks against me every chance you get. Energy that would be better spent on self reflection.

Ironically, other countries' recognition (or not) of Palestine has much less to do with complex or objective and consistent criteria than it has to do with politics and their "feelings," which lead to them ignoring any facts on the ground, and this can be easily demonstrated, as well.

+3
Level 49
Aug 10, 2022
So the Schengen area is a single country, except maybe for police uniforms
+2
Level 64
Jan 20, 2023
I don't think your argument holds that much water, Kal. That's not to say there's no arguments to be made for saying Palestine is independent but not fully sovereign, because I think there are. But you didn't go through customs, didn't get a stamp in your passport and didn't have to change currencies? That's true for every Schengen and Eurozone border you cross, so are you going to argue that France and Italy are the same country? The same police in the same uniforms are walking the streets? You could say that if you walked from Russia into the occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia or South Ossetia, but does that mean that Georgia should not be counted as an independent sovereign country?
+8
Level 66
Apr 28, 2020
When I saw you comment I thought, I bet Kalbahamut replies to this. And there it is, same day too. He swooped on it like a seagull on a discarded box of chips.
+8
Level 82
Apr 29, 2020
Why let good chips go to waste?
+5
Level 49
Aug 8, 2022
You're right, more countries officially recognize Palestine than they do Taiwan. Heck, Palestine's recently obtained observer status in the UN despite being replaced by Israel.
+1
Level 17
Nov 1, 2014
What about Sint Maarten? It's in an almost Identical Situation as Aruba and Curaçao
+4
Level 78
Nov 1, 2014
Sint Maarten is member of CONCACAF (North American Association) but not FIFA member
+4
Level 45
Nov 1, 2014
Was trying Chinese Taipei for so long...
+3
Level 54
Jan 17, 2017
me to. FIFA, the UN, and almost every nation on Earth does not recognize the Republic of China as a sovereign state. At least not officially.
+6
Level 82
Jan 19, 2017
Similar to Palestine, just opposite. Taiwan is completely independent, despite mostly not being recognized.
+2
Level 71
Nov 3, 2014
Tahiti separate from French Polynesia?
+2
Level 78
Nov 3, 2014
Tahiti is official name used by FIFA for French Polynesia
+2
Level 59
Nov 4, 2014
Gibraltar is missing.
+2
Level 44
Nov 4, 2014
This needs updating for Gibralter
+2
Level 80
Jun 20, 2015
Great quiz, but shouldn't chinese taipei be included?
+4
Level 54
Aug 7, 2016
Taiwan or Republic of China is not recognized to be independent by most nations and has to compete in international competition under the name "Chinese Taipei"
+2
Level 60
Aug 8, 2022
But under the caveats, it says that the independent countries are as consistent with Countries of the World.
+1
Level 33
Jan 17, 2017
Great quiz man!
+4
Level 54
Jan 17, 2017
Chinese Taipei should be on the list. Taiwan does have an independent government and its own currency but can not compete as the Republic of China. Athletes from Taiwan can not compete under the flag of their nation. That means FIFA recognizes Chinese Taipei as a province of the People's Republic of China and not the independent Republic of China.
+4
Level 82
Jan 19, 2017
It's still independent, regardless of what FIFA thinks.
+1
Level 82
Jan 17, 2017
Why don't all these tiny little island countries just try out forand participate with the national teams of the countries they are territories of? Seems kind of pointless having all these other teams. It's not like Guam is ever going to win a World Cup.
+14
Level 74
Jan 17, 2017
For them it may be more important to have a team, they can identify with, due to being there friends, neighbours, etc., than to have a team that may be succesfull, but whose players have nothing to do with their home. In the end, thats also the reason for people to chose a club of the local city over the most succesfull team of the country.
+2
Level 82
Jan 17, 2017
yeah but they can still have local teams. FIFA is about international country-to-country competition, though. yes? The fact that Germany fields a national football team doesn't require that Munich disband their club.
+1
Level 82
Jan 19, 2017
I'm pretty sure in most cases it's not too difficult to be(come) eligible to play for the mother nation if you're good enough. But most of Guamanian football players could play for a local club and dream and fail to once play for the US team – or play qualifiers all around Asia. They beat India and Tukmenistan in the last world cup qualifications.

Not everyone is Brazil to see anything but World Cup victory as a failure.

+7
Level 78
Apr 28, 2020
There is about a 99.9% chance a person from Aruba would never make the Dutch team and about a 99.99% chance that someone from Tahiti would be good enough to make the French team. A lot of the smaller island countries have teams so they have a local team to cheer for made up of names they recognize.
+2
Level 82
Apr 29, 2020
There's a 100% chance that the residents of my household would not make it on the US team. That doesn't mean that it makes sense that we should send a squad to try out for the World Cup. Kind of the opposite, actually.
+6
Level 60
Jan 17, 2017
Kosovo in NOT independent country. It shouldn't be here.
+3
Level 52
Jan 17, 2017
It is recognized by the US Government
+12
Level 47
Jan 17, 2017
Look at his username. He's probably Serbian so... slightly biased?
+6
Level 82
Jan 17, 2017
it's not here. Did you mean to say that it should be?
+2
Level 67
Apr 5, 2020
Uh your last name sounds awfully Serbian.
+2
Level 60
Aug 8, 2022
It's JetPunk standard to recognize it as independent. Personal opinions aside, it would be much more confusing if we didn't follow JetPunk standard.
+1
Level 63
Sep 27, 2023
biased
+2
Level 90
Jan 17, 2017
Fun fact for the day. Montserrat has fewer people on it's entire island than a lot of larger American high schools. I imagine they would have a hard time winning a 6A state championship in Texas much less qualifying for the World Cup.
+16
Level 71
Feb 19, 2017
It may come as a shock to most Americans, but it is taking part that is important, not the winning.
+3
Level 79
Feb 23, 2019
Montserrat has a population of around 5,000.
+3
Level 90
Apr 28, 2020
Never said that participating is not important. Just pointing out that they participate even though the deck is completely stacked against them. It might come as a shock to most non Americans but not every American thinks that winning is the only thing that matters. If you want to be an a** I am more than willing to return the favor.
+1
Level 54
Mar 19, 2018
You should add Kosovo, because it also became a FIFA member.
+4
Level 70
Dec 6, 2018
No
+1
Level 63
Sep 27, 2023
it's independent
+1
Level 41
Jan 17, 2019
How is England 4th?
+1
Level 79
Feb 23, 2019
Why did fewer people get England than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although it constitutes 84% of the UK's population and its flag is shown in the thumbnail?
+5
Level 58
May 6, 2020
I'm Welsh and I forgot about England...but then again I'm Welsh.
+1
Level 67
Dec 7, 2022
That's probably because England usually makes it to the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro Cup, while the rest of the teams in the UK don't qualify on a regular basis. Therefore, they might think England represents UK as a whole.
+2
Level 64
Apr 9, 2019
Kosovo is missing
+2
Level 35
Apr 9, 2019
Catalonia?
+3
Level 78
Apr 10, 2019
Not part of FIFA, and not part of UEFA. They are not affiliated with any federation
+2
Level 65
Apr 28, 2020
Even though Catalan federation of football was created before the Spanish and the French football federations!
+1
Level 64
Aug 7, 2019
you shoud had Denmark
+3
Level 71
Aug 12, 2019
Why?
+2
Level 64
Aug 8, 2022
Because Denmark is a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, just like Faroe Islands. It is not a sovereign state in its own right.
+1
Level 50
Feb 15, 2020
Got all but Guam.
+1
Level 67
Apr 28, 2020
Damn, I thought I created this quiz a few years ago.. Hadn't noticed this was an older one... https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/134559/fifa-national-teams-not-in-the-196-countries-quiz

... Oh to have an original idea and a featured quiz!

+2
Level 69
Apr 28, 2020
Incredibly managed to miss England, where I have lived my entire life
+1
Level 69
Apr 28, 2020
...and whose flag is the thumbnail for this quiz... I should pay more attention
+1
Level 67
Apr 28, 2020
The only team here to win the world cup... Tahiti being the only team here to win their continents cup.
+1
Level 77
Apr 28, 2020
There are the 4 sections of the UK, then there is a big gap. I was there naming all of the British Overseas Territories. I nearly missed Guam for USA.
+6
Level 36
Apr 28, 2020
PALESTINE IS INDEPENDENT
+4
Level ∞
Apr 28, 2020
Well, thank God for that. It finally happened and people can stop protesting and asking for Palestine to be independent. Since they are already independent.

Funny enough, we used to have a lot of similar comments about Scotland. SCOTLAND IS INDEPENDENT. But then Scotland had a vote on whether to become independent and decided not to. Which gave us a brief moratorium on such nonsense.

One day, Palestine actually will be independent. I look forward to that day. But it is not the case currently.

+3
Level 82
Apr 29, 2020
you can't argue against CAPSLOCK
+3
Level 44
Apr 30, 2020
US Virgin Islands showed up when I just typed "usv", while I needed to type the full "britishvirginislands".
+2
Level 78
Nov 16, 2021
Oh, look at that! Bloody favoritism!
+3
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2022
False. USVI and BVI are accepted type-ins. USV is not.
+3
Level 68
Aug 8, 2022
Why is Kosovo considered Independent while Palestine isnt?
+4
Level 71
Aug 8, 2022
Palestine is very much independent unless you consider it to be occupied by America's buddy, Israel.
+1
Level 64
Aug 8, 2022
I believe Denmark should be added given that, like Faroe Islands, it is a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark (the sovereign state)
+3
Level 67
Aug 8, 2022
And that is who the football team represents. What next, adding Ireland as a football team from the Republic of Ireland?
+1
Level 64
Aug 15, 2022
The Danish football team represents the Kingdom of Denmark? Not according to Wikipedia. Your analogy with Ireland makes no sense. In this context Denmark and the Kingdom of Denmark are not analogous, unlike Ireland and the RoI.

England represents England, not the UK. And Denmark represents Denmark, not the Kingdom of Denmark.

+1
Level 64
Aug 15, 2022
Just to clarify even further. The Danish national football team is controlled by the Danish Football Association. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have separate associations. Therefore the Danish national team does not represent the Kingdom of Denmark.
+1
Level 78
Aug 17, 2022
Yes but if it was allowed, then you would type Denmark, correct? That way many people would argue that Denmark is independent country and should not be on this quiz. Also, when you do countries of the world quiz do you type Kingdom of Denmark? According to your statement that would be only correct way.
+1
Level 78
Aug 17, 2022
And adding fuel to the fire, what about Netherlands?
+1
Level 64
Aug 19, 2022
Yes, Denmark is a valid type in for the Kingdom of Denmark. I agree that people would argue that Denmark is independent but that wouldn't make them right so I don't see why that should preclude the quiz from including it.

The Netherlands should also be included in this quiz, you're right.

+1
Level 64
Aug 19, 2022
I think if you oppose the inclusion of Denmark/Netherlands it shouldn't be based on the fact people might be confused.

Just as each constituent country of the UK are included in this quiz due to their independent FA's and FIFA memberships, so should the constituent countries of Netherlands/Denmark.

I think it would at least add an extra element of excitement to an already great quiz.

You could pin a comment at the top explaining the rationale?

+3
Level 67
Aug 8, 2022
Palestine is recognized by lots of countries... but not here... why is Kosovo here considered independent if it's not recognized by a lot as well?
+3
Level 66
Aug 8, 2022
Palestine is just as much of a country as Taiwan and Kosovo
+2
Level 61
Aug 9, 2022
JetPunk does not currently recognize Palestine, and it does recognize Kosovo and Taiwan. And saying "add palestine" or "remove kosovo" isn't going to change anything. It's completely pointless.
+2
Level 49
Aug 23, 2022
Palestine is independent state. End of discussion
+2
Level 64
Sep 21, 2022
Is it? Palestine can't even define their own borders given that they claim the entirety of Israel but "control" only a fraction of it.
+1
Level 63
Sep 27, 2023
no it isn't
+1
Level 44
Mar 16, 2023
There are more non-countries that should be on the list. In CONCACAF you have places like Bonaire, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin and Sint Maarten. You can dispute the independence of Taiwan and Kosovo depending on who you ask.
+1
Level 70
Dec 1, 2023
Your CONCACAF point is valid, but as per the caveat this list takes into account the 196 countries that JetPunk recognizes as independent, which includes Kosovo and Taiwan
+1
Level 78
Dec 1, 2023
Yes, but the countries you mentioned are not FIFA members, French Guyana, Bonaire, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten are members of CONCACAF only (for the record country can be a part of continental federation, but also doesn't need to be FIFA member)