CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE
Which CONCACAF teams are not recognized by FIFA?
Some teams from the CONCACAF region that compete in the Nations League during the October international break are not recognized by or affiliated to FIFA. Here, we explain why.
The CONCACAF Nations League continues with 37 games taking place during the October international window. While most of the teams in action in tonight’s fixtures or over the next few days are recognized by the North, Central America and Caribbean confederation, not all of them are affiliated with FIFA, which directly affects within the world ranking.
A total of six teams are members of CONCACAF, but not recognized by FIFA. That means they cannot participate in the World Cup or any other competition organized by world football’s governing body.
Bonaire, Martinique, Saint Martin, St Maarten, Guadeloupe and French Guiana are the nations that are not recognized by FIFA. As such, Guatemala’s recent 3-1 win over Martinique as well as El Salvador’s 2-1 win against Bonaire had no value in the FIFA ranking.
Honduras will not receive any ranking points for its match against French Guiana on Thursday, but it is essential that they win the match in order to stay alive in their quest to qualify for the Nations League quarter finals (the top two teams from groups A and B qualify).
Why are they not recognized by FIFA?
Bonaire became a national team after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. Despite being recognized by CONCACAF since 2013, it has not yet been recognized by FIFA, which considers it a Dutch colony. It achieved promotion to League B after finishing second in its group last year.
Martinique is one of the fastest-growing national teams, as evidenced by its participation in eight editions of the Gold Cup. Despite this, in seven of these tournaments they didn’t make it past the group stage - only in 2002 did they reach the quarter-finals. FIFA considers it an overseas territory of France.
Saint Martin is also not considered a national team because the governing body also sees it as a French overseas territory. They were promoted to League B, where they are currently in last place after suffering defeats to Granada and Curacao.
St. Maarten has been a member of CONCACAF since 1998, but is not recognized by FIFA as a country either. The governing body considers it to be a Dutch overseas territory. They are competing in League B and currently have three points after beating Aruba.
Guadeloupe is another of the CONCACAF teams that is not recognized by the governing body. Its federation is subordinated to the French Football Federation. It has participated in five editions of the Gold Cup. Their best performance was reaching the semi-finals in 2007, where they were eliminated by Mexico, losing the game 1-0.
French Guiana is also considered a French overseas territory, and therefore it is not recognized by FIFA. Despite that, CONCACAF allows it to compete in tournaments in the region.