New Caledonia 2019-21 Home
New Caledonia 2019-21 Away

Is the basis of the design stolen from the US Nike shirt? Absolutely. Does that make these bad shirts? Definitely not! They add to the shirt, but they aren’t the shirt as a whole, with the localisation on the side of that pattern, seemingly based on the Kanak “Flèche faîtière” seen on their local flag amongst other things. The front is as busy as it needs to be, and white and grey are certainly interesting colour choices, though the blank rear could be considered a bit of a let-down. Quality also isn’t great, but the design was clearly the focus here.

Their main use came in the 2019 Pacific Games, where two late goals consigned them to the silver medal against New Zealand’s U23s. In the group stages they’d been untouchable, scoring 22 without reply, including 1, 2 and 3-0 victories over their main opponents in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Tahiti respectively. They also put 11 past Tuvalu and 5 past American Samoa. They’d have wanted the gold medal, particularly having taken the lead, but once again proved their credentials in the games.

Absolutely typical of their usual Pacific performances, New Caledonia are one of the regions heavyweights. The senior side has taken 7 titles from 14 senior Pacific Games tournaments, reaching the final 4 further times and will always be a force to be reckoned with. On the side of the Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers, they have fallen short of their Pacific brethren more often and always struggle for results against New Zealand (and Australia before). Nonetheless they remain a very dangerous side, as you’d expect, though one without titles. Even after knocking New Zealand out of the 2012 Nations Cup, it was followed by a bitter loss to rivals Tahiti in the final. Their two appearances in the Coupe de l’Outre Mer showed their competitiveness, though a penalty loss to each Martinique and Guadeloupe meant they only beat Tahiti there.

While very early women’s football for the region, New Caledonia’s history there isn’t as deep as they’d like. They hosted the first ever FIFA recognised women’s international tournament in 1983, beating Fiji but losing to New Zealand and Australia. Then there’s a significant gap, with them only returning for the 2007 Pacific Games. It would even take until 2018 for them to return to the Nations Cup. 2011 and 2015 brought them silver medals, but otherwise they have struggled somewhat, with 2 Pacific Games group stage exists along with 4^th place and a quarter-finals exist in the Nations Cup. Considering for 2022 only 1 team didn’t reach the quarter-finals, New Caledonia aren’t the same sort of power on the women’s side. Their youth performances emulate their Nations Cup performances, with numerous semi-finals, a handful of finals, but no titles. New Zealand again prove to be the most major barrier. Their U23s also won the 2015 Pacific Games, though their U20s in the 2017 Pacific Mini Games only finished above Tonga, losing to Tuvalu. At U17 level their performances sent them to the 2017 U17 World Cup where, after heavy losses to France and Honduras, they’d draw with Japan. They’ve got a second chance in 2023, let’s see how that goes. While somewhat sporadic on the women’s side, their youth teams have steadily climbed, taking 2^nd place in the 2019 U19s and the 2017 U16s after 4^th place finishes at both levels previously.

Regulars in futsal since 2008, New Caledonia are lower to middling as a side. They’ve competed to escape the bottom spot several times, but do also have an excellent 2^nd place when they hosted the tournament in 2014 as well as taking 3^rd place in 2022. Possibly on the rise? They also played in the only youth futsal tournament to date, finishing 4^th from 7, precisely in the middle, but didn’t compete on the women’s side. Beach soccer is relatively new for them, with their debut from hosting the 2013 Championship. There they finished 2^nd, with a 3^rd place finish following in 2019, but they stand behind the titans of Tahiti and the Solomon Islands.

Drawn in a very tough group for 2022 qualification with New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, New Caledonia were expected to be competitive which they generally were. However, they struggled defensively, falling 2-1 to Fiji, 1-0 to Papua New Guinea and 7-1 to New Zealand. At one point it was 1-1 in the New Zealand match but their composure left them. Not what they’d have wanted and they’ll aim for better next time out.

Seychelles 2019-22 Home
Seychelles 2019-22 Away
Seychelles 2019-22 GK

With a history of dull templated shirts, nobody expected much from the Seychelles, let alone when they came from a local brand. But Rhino smashed it out of the park! Quality control was…interesting, with several versions showing on the pitch and in collections, but the whole shirt is covered in an ocean pattern with the map of the country on it. Very much the polyester atlas there. Plus, just in case you got bored with the full detail of the country’s many islands, the shoulders have the colours of the flag along them and, it being a lovely flag, the flag itself on the back to add masses of colour to the top of the shirt and keep things lively. Coming in various colours, the design works really well!

Sadly their main tournament use came with some poor results. 2021 & 2023 AFCON qualifers along with 2022 World Cup qualifiers all went poorly, with aggregate losses to Rwanda, South Sudan and Lesotho bringing very early eliminations with a 0-0 described by CAF as “barren” being the only “highlight.” They have gained some more positive results outside of major tournament play, including a 0-0 draw with San Marino giving them some action outside of their region, but their rankings have overall suffered.

Unfortunately, these sorts of results are not unfamiliar to them. They’ve never won a World Cup qualifier in their history, with 2 draws from 16 matches, starting in 2022 qualifiers. AFCON qualifying has tended to go better, albeit sporadic in their early years, but wins and draws are still very much in the minority with their best points total being 6. Similarly, CHAN qualification hasn’t provided much joy, with limited results there too. Regional tournaments haven’t helped much either, with 2 participations in the CECAFA Cup in the early 1990’s bringing 6 losses and the COSAFA Cup only proving a little better, with only a single win in 11 tournaments and no progression. They do redeem themselves somewhat in the Indian Ocean Island Games, however, hosting and winning them in 2011 whilst collecting numerous other semi-final appearances (and silver in 1979).

Their women’s team has barely been active, never touching COSAFA, CAF or FIFA tournament qualification. They have, however, played in minor tournaments, with the 2015 Indian Ocean Island Games and triangular tournaments in Singapore and Mauritius. In Mauritius they even shared the title with the hosts. However, they rarely play and still tend to struggle when they do. Men’s youth football has also been rather sporadic, with limited participation in the qualifiers and generally very recent. The U23s managed a second round qualifying appearance for 2004, but the same can’t be said for the U20s or U17s, though few qualifying attempts have been made. The U17s did manage to host the 2001 U17 championship, though lost all 3 matches fairly heavily, scoring only once. They’ve also taken part in the COSAFA youth cups, but never made it past the group stages. Women’s youth football has been even rarer, with no major qualification attempts, but a single U17 COSAFA Cup appearance, which was not repeated after 58 goals conceded in 3 matches.

Futsal has never been an outlet for the Seychelles, but beach soccer absolutely has been. They debuted by hosting the 2015 CAF Beach Soccer Championship, where a 2-1 loss was their closest match. They’ve since entered qualification for 2021 and 2022. 2021 brought their group stage appearance through Madagascar’s withdrawal, though group stage results were worse than in 2015. For 2022 Madagascar didn’t withdraw and Seychelles lost both legs. While not a sterling record, they have been granted World Cup hosting rights for 2025.

Drawn against Rwanda in a preliminary round for 2022 qualification, it was always going to be a difficult ask, with the Rwandans ranked rather far above them. 3 and 7 goal losses, however, proved to be a bit of a disaster and they’d have much preferred a performance which indicated some development. Still some ways to go to see change.

Dominica 2015-19 Home – Matchworn Javid George v ?, Nations League qualifiers

It is easy to dismiss this shirt as something fairly simple. You’ve got black and yellow colouring on the sleeve cuffs and collar to liven them up and two diagonal yellow stripes, one which almost cuts across the identically coloured numbers. Two things make this shirt though. Firstly, the angry parrot heat pressed in the top corner as a fantastic little detail. Secondly, the superb Dominican FA logo with the vast assortment of colours and the angry parrot in all its glory. All hail the angry parrot! Additionally, you also have the Lika logos and name are in a rubbery plastic, rather than printed or a sublimated, which is a nice little touch.

 Used across an extensive period of time, this design saw use in the Windward Islands Tournament, Caribbean Cup qualifiers, the end of 2018 World Cup qualifiers and the 2019-20 Nations League qualifiers. Wins over Sint Maarten and the Bahamas along with a draw against Suriname placed them firmly in League B, where they were drawn in a group with Suriname, Nicaragua and St Vincent & the Grenadines. they managed a solitary win in 6 matches to be relegated, showing that their qualification run was impressive.

Never one of CONCACAF’s heavier hitters, Dominica have traditionally been in the first one or two preliminary qualifying rounds for major tournaments. They’ve never played more than 4 matches in a single World Cup qualifying campaign, or won more than 1. He Gold Cup has provided little more joy. They came relatively close with the Nations League qualifiers, though their relegation from league B means they’re unlikely to readily repeat that. Otherwise they’ve struggled to reach the Caribbean Cup to even try and get to the Gold Cup. They managed to qualify twice, once in 1994 when the cancellation of the final matches saved them from missing out, and also in 1998. A 1-1 draw against Barbados is all they’ve managed to gain from these appearances.

Dominica’s women’s national side has been active as far back as 2000, with them taking part in all but 1 tournament that they could (they withdrew from the 2014 Caribbean Cup and therefore 2015 World Cup qualification). They’ve beaten St Vincent & the Grenadines along with the US Virgin Islands, but never managed to compete for a tournament spot at the CONCACAF Championship. Ranked near the bottom of CONCACAF, their results have not been spectacular. Occasionally inactive, the men’s youth teams have followed in the senior team’s footsteps. They’ve never been to a CONCACAF tournament and have struggled considerably in qualifiers. One distinctive bright spot comes from the 2019 U15 tournament where victories over Montserrat, Turks & Caicos Islands and Saint Martin led their draw against the BVIs o leave them off the top of their Division 3 group on goal difference alone. The women’s youth teams have been less active, with no U15 side and only a handful of positive results. The gap to the nations that have qualified for CONCACAF tournaments remains large.

Dominica haven’t yet tried out either futsal or beach soccer to date, like many of their Caribbean brethren.

Drawn in a 2022 qualifying group with Panama, Dominican Republic, Barbados and Anguilla, Dominica were not expected to escape the group. They did manage to beat Anguilla 3-0 and took a 1-1 draw with Barbados too. Respectable 2-1 and 1-0 losses to Panama and the Dominican Republic sent them out, but their performance was very reasonable. Something to build upon, perhaps?

eSwatini 2005 Home

Reebok certainly used to be a prominent figure in the national kits scene, with this eSwatini design coming in their decline from glory. Nonetheless, while simple in construction, it is a great looking design, with the main colours from the flag breaking up any chance at monotony. The rear iof the shirt looks a little plainer, but things will always look good when you have 3 all 3 primary colours there. The logo works in a central position and contrasts nicely with the rest of the shirt, standing out while being far from plain itself. There might not be much to the design, but it is definitely eye-catching!

Being fairly camera shy, it is difficult to ascertain exactly when this design was used. The away saw use in a 3-0 loss to Zambia in 2005 COSAFA Cup but otherwise it isn’t clear. Likely it saw use in 2006 World Cup qualifiers too, where eSwatini managed a 1-1 home draw against Cape Verde, but suffered a second half collapse in the away leg and lost 3-0. Those two matches would put them out of 2006 World Cup and AFCON qualification all at once.

Results like this are fairly typical for a side that regularly rank amongst the very lowest in Africa. They’ve mainly taken part in the preliminary qualifying rounds across their history and not often escaped them. They’ve even at times been inconsistent at entering tournaments. However, they have produced some significant results and twice have been fairly close to an AFCON place, even coming within 3 points of one in 2017, as part of a competitive group. Their main strengths have come in the COSAFA Cup, with 5 semi-finals from 20 appearances, though they’ve never managed better than 3^rd place. While yet to miss a CHAN, they are also yet to progress in qualification.

Their women’s football hasn’t gotten far off the ground, despite debuting as early as 1993! They entered 1998 AFCON qualification, only to lose 15-0 on aggregate to neighbours South Africa. After this, things went quiet, with them withdrawing from 2002 and 2006 qualifiers before returning for 2018 and 2022 qualifiers. 3-1 and 6-1 aggregate losses to Lesotho and Zimbabwe have ensured they’ve never progressed any further. Again, COSAFA provides some positives, with them entering the earlier competitions in 2002 and 2006 but then only returning from 2017 onwards. They’ve grabbed a handful of wins, but not yet seriously threatened the knockout stages. Plagued by withdrawals, progression is also rare for the men’s youth teams. The U20s did qualified for the 1983 championship on a walkover but withdrew after a 5-1 first leg defeat to Zimbabwe. In 2003 they hosted the U17 Championship, but lost every match, albeit narrowly to Sierra Leone and Egypt. Again there have been some positives (and at least 1 suspension) in COSAFA, but no finals to be noted. Women’s youth football is even sparser, with it being limited to a 2019 COSAFA U20 appearance (3 losses) and a 2-0 aggregate loss to Mozambique in 2022 U20 AFCON qualifiers, though they did draw the home leg.

Perhaps not surprisingly, eSwatini have never participated in either futsal or beach soccer to date.

In 2022 qualifiers eSwatini were drawn against familiar opposition in Djibouti. Perhaps overconfident against the side they thrashed 8-1 on aggregate 4 years prior, they lost 2-1 in Djibouti before being held 0-0 at home to be knocked out straight away. They did better in the latest COSAFA tournament, so they’ll have hoped for more from World Cup qualifying at least.

Hungary 1991-94 Away, matchworn/prepared v Greece
Hungary 2020-21 Home

Not many Hungary shirts stand out, but this old Umbro template definitely does! Generally recognisable as the Wales template, the green and red arrows also mesh nicely with the colours of the Hungarian crest. There is a lot of whitespace on the lower parts of the shirt and only minimal additional detailing on the collar and sleeve cuffs, but it works out very nicely indeed. One definite strange addition is to the collar. There are buttons to attach the collar to the rest of the shirt as well as the classic buttoned collar. Considering it isn’t exactly vast, it is hard to imagine why this was deemed necessary, but there you go.

Used across both 1992 Euros qualifiers and 1994 World Cup qualifiers, Hungary followed a very similar pattern for both.  They took 6 points off bottom placed Cyprus and Luxembourg respectively, but failed to finish above any of their other competitors. For 1992, they managed a draw against each of their other opponents (Soviet Union, Italy and Norway) with two against Norway, but failed to capitalise on weakness to grab wins, which left them close, but behind the rest. 1994 saw a sole draw against Greece but Russia and Iceland beat them home and away to leave them a little further distant.

Let me introduce you to the most unnecessarily large sleeve cuffs in the history of football shirts! They’re just massive. Both Hungary logos though, adds a little extra to the shirt, and there are also subtle horizontal stripes across the front in a deeper red. Other colours help to add to the shirt and the white Adidas stripes and collar do help with that, with additional green on the collar which adds a surprising amount. The FA logo being white and red helps it blend in a little more and draws attention to the traditional crest, definitely a nice touch.

Gracing the 2020-21 Nations League in these shirts, Hungary were promoted to League A. Drawn with Russia, Serbia and Turkey they defeated the Turks home and away, but drew at home to Serbia, winning away and lost at home to Russia despite drawing away. This still proved to be enough though, with them 3 points clear of the Russians thanks to results elsewhere. In this shirt they also played their play-offs for the 2020 Euros. A comfortable 3-1 defeat of Bulgaria led to a late late 2-1 comeback against Iceland to secure their spot. All in all, a shirt that brought good things!

Overall, this performance is not typical of Hungary. In recent decades they’ve hovered around 3^rd/4^th in their qualifying groups, with a World Cup play-off loss in 1998. Their recent pick up in form has resulted in back-to-back Euros qualifications via the play-offs but nothing on the world Cup front et. But their deeper history is much more interesting. 9 World Cup appearances, runners-up in 1938 and 1954 (the famous Miracle of Bern) and 3^rd then 4^th place in the 1964 then 1972 Euros. The revolution took most of their talent and they’ve never been the same since, but their history is greater than most national teams in the world. In the Nations League they were initially promoted from League C due to the restructuring but now have been promoted into A on merit alone. A return to form for them?

It would be very hard for the women’s team to live up to that reputation and, of course, they cannot. However, they were one of earliest active UEFA women’s team, first trying to qualify for the 2^nd ever Euros. They’ve done well several times, but the closest they’ve come is a lost play-off for the 1991 Euros. They’ve dropped off a little since those days but are still ranked amongst the pot 3 nations. The men’s youth teams have been similar to the senior team, with serious success far enough back, though some more recent stuff has been great. Last at an U21 Euros is 1996 (and went to the 1996 Olympics), they also have 2 final appearances in the 1970’s. They’ve been to six U20 World Cups and 2 U17 World Cups, coming 3^rd in the 2009 U20 World Cup and reaching several youth Euros. The women’s teams are both regulars in the elite qualifying round, though the step up to actually qualifying is a tricky one. They did make the 2005 U19 edition but lost every game and haven’t been back since.

In futsal, Hungary are reasonably ranked, but not overly strong, having been to 3 Euros but losing every game. They tend to do well in qualification but fall short of the better teams. They didn’t make the U19s and fell short of the women’s futsal Euros on goal difference, but it is definitely a strong variant for them. Beach soccer has been more variable for them, though they’ve done well in the Euro Beach Soccer Cup and perform strongly in the Euro Beach Soccer League. Mainly a Division B team, they have played a single season in Division A to date. In terms of World Cup qualification, they’ve come within 2 goals of it, losing the decisive match 3-2 to Switzerland in 2011.

With a solid start to 2022 qualification, Hungary were looking to fight for the play-off spot for qualification. They took 4 points off a strong Poland and even took a point from England, while picking up the expected wins against Andorra and San Marino. However, home and away losses to Albania sank them, while that left them only 3 points from the play-offs, they were well behind and goal difference and even were in 4^th place. Not quite good enough.

West Papua 2017 Home matchworn by ?

Some say that Hummel don’t make bad shirts and this, template though it is, is no exception. Traditional chevrons down the side, lovely dark colour and an interesting pair of logos. Unusually for non-FIFA, while there are sponsors, they are limited to the rear of the shirt and aren’t too egregious. The Hummel logo is also fairly tucked away. All in all, it does nothing special, but what it does it does well.

The shirt was worn at the 2017 UNPO Tournament, where eight teams competed. West Papua came third, beating out the likes of Southern Cameroon and a locally based Kurdistan side. While supplemented by some local players themselves, being competitive with sides like CONIFA affiliated Chameria shows the talent that can come from the region.

Generally not a very active side, West Papua have a penalties loss in the 2005 UNPO Cup and recently returned to action in heavy friendly losses to East Turkestan and Tamil Eelam. Organised, regular sides seem to a level above them at the moment but more games should improve that. Being able to actually draw from West Papua itself would also help considerably, with there being Papuan teams in the Indonesian league system.

Hard to tell what games they’ll be able to play in future or where West Papuan football will go, but the current team looks here to stay!

Guadeloupe 2008 Home matchworn?

Local brand Awak came up with this interesting shirt. The right hand side only has a sleeve logo, but came in a variety of colours while the left is thoroughly colourful, utilising all the colours available to them from the badge. Quality generally isn’t great but it uses colour well and the island in the right-hand logo is a nice little touch. Not a shirt to drool over but a nice little bespoke shirt for a team who you’d expect a template design.

This particular design was used in 2008, in the Caribbean Cup. A 2-1 loss to Cuba was followed by a late winner in a 3-2 battle against Haiti. Haiti’s 1-0 win over Cuba meant that they needed at least a point and their 2-2 draw against Antigua and Barbuda sent them through on goals scored alone. They dropped 2-0 to Jamaica in the semi-finals but beat Cuba on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the 3^rd place play-off to qualify for the 2009 Gold Cup.

That level of capability isn’t consistent for Guadeloupe, but they do have reasonable success under their belt. They went to all 3 Gold Cups across 2007-2011, finishing 4^th in 2007. When they qualify, 3^rd place seems to be their favourite position in the Caribbean, with 3 across 7 qualifications in the Caribbean Cup and 3^rd in both CFU Championships they went to. A poor qualification put them in League C of the Nations League where they comfortably got promoted, guaranteeing them a play-off for a Gold Cup spot. Lastly, they played in all 3 Coupe de l’Outre-Mers, coming 3^rd in each of them! I’m noticing a pattern here!

The women’s team has been much less active, with a preliminary round loss to Martinique in the 2000 Caribbean Cup and 2 losses in 2018 too. They’ve also taken part in 2018 CONCACAF Women’s championship qualifiers where Jamaica, Haiti and Martinique comfortably dealt with them without conceding. Men’s youth football has brought them some success, mainly recently, with the U20’s qualifying for 4 Championships, including the most recent two, and the U17s qualifying in 2019. In general, they’ve not performed well at the championships but have done reasonably in the region. The U15s have hovered between Division 1 and Division 2 but have some decent results under their belts. Women’s youth football hasn’t yet come to the island, with no participation to date.

In futsal they will debut at the next Championship, having come close in 2016 where they beat Sint Maarten and Jamaica but were edged by Trinidad and Tobago for the play-off spot, who then fell themselves to not qualify. Still, ranked at 13 in CONCACAF shows that they’re still a step above most of the confederation. Beach soccer has brought more success, with the island competing in the most recent three competitions, finishing 4^th in 2017 and also reaching the knockout stages in 2019. Despite the fact that they’ve struggled against the most prominent nations, they’ve been the best from the Caribbean in each competition, except for going out a round earlier than the Bahamas in 2015.

Overall, Guadeloupe are in the ascendency at the moment, having fallen quite far from their high around 2010. Expect them to compete strongly for a spot at the 2021 Gold Cup, which would highlight their return to previous form.

Guatemala 2019-20 Home
Guatemala 2019-20 Away

A light blue sash on a white Guatemala shirt, is there any better combination? Umbro managed to liven up the standard sash with an interesting geometric pattern through it. Light and dark blue livens up the bottom of the shirt and the collar with the sleeves staying light blue, even on the cuffs. The away has nicer cuffs, with the Umbro logo standing out and a staggered chevron pattern almost imitating a sash. The sleeves are a strange dark blue, oddly like denim coloured.  Similar enough to be clearly home and away but two unique and interesting takes on their traditional pattern. Two great shirts!

Coming fresh off a suspension, Guatemala were automatically qualified for League C of CONCACAF’s Nations League. These shirts saw their use as they were thrown into a group with Anguilla and Puerto Rico, where there was really only one outcome. Three 5-0 wins and a 10-0 capped a flawless promotion for the Guatemalans. This also means they will face Guyana and (if they win) the winners of Guadeloupe and the Bahamas for a 2021 Gold Cup spot.

Such success isn’t really consistent for Guatemala. They’ve regularly been one of the better Central American sides but have never quite managed that crucial step to reach a World Cup. They’ve missed out on the final Hexagonal stage of World Cup qualifying on the finest of margins multiple times and once missed on a World Cup play-off spot by 2 points. 1958-1974 was when World Cup qualifying was a bit barren for them, with far fewer positive results and yet it has to be remembered as what might have been? FIFA suspended them from 1966 qualifying, with them winning the 1967 CONCACAF Championship sandwiched by 2^nd places in 1965 and 1969. With three 4^th places, they last reached the semi-finals in 1996 but have been regular qualificants to the Championship/Gold Cup, struggling more in recent times. Other successes include 3 Olympic qualifications, 2 Central American Games titles, a Pan American Games bronze and 5 consecutive Copa Centroamericana finals (with 1 title). Active and successful in Central America, they just need to make that step to the wider stage.

Their women’s side is again, strong in Central America but less so elsewhere. They’ve been to 4 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cups, coming 4^th in 1998 but not winning a game since, and missed out in 2002 on head-to-head, despite the better goal difference. Three bronze medals from three tournaments shows their Central American credentials further from the Central American Games and the Central American & Caribbean Games. With the Northern American nations proving far too string for everyone else, it is hard for them to progress further. The men’s youth teams have proven fairly successful with two 4^th places in Olympic qualifying, 19 qualifications to the U20 championship (joint 2^nd highest in UNCAF, Central America) and 11 qualifications to the U17 Championship. While they’ve never won a youth championship, the U20s had multiple top 4 finishes in the early years and a 3^rd place in 2011 to reach the U20 World Cup. They were knocked out in the Round of 16. The U17s came 4^th in 2003 and 3^rd in 2009 but have not been to a World Cup and the U15s came 2^nd in 2013. Some definite strength there. The women’s youth teams emulate the seniors with 4 U20 Championship qualifications and 3 at an U17 level but only 4 game wins and no knockout stage appearances, even in expanded tournaments. No U15 side has competed to date.

In their 4 Beach Soccer Championships, they’ve been consistently in the top half, with two 6^th place finishes, a 5^th place finish and a quarter-finals appearance, but have always fallen short of the World Cup qualification spots with only 2 available. In contrast, futsal has been an enormous success, with Guatemala taking each of the top 4 positions in 4 appearances to date. 4 World Cup appearances have brought all group stage exists, though they finished 3^rd in their group all but once. They’ve provided competition in several minor futsal competitions and have performed reasonably at the Futsal Grand Prix, though have tended to finish closer to the bottom than the top. Powerful in CONCACAF, they tend to be outmatches by the global powers.

Drawn as 2^nd seeds in their qualifying group for the 2022 World Cup, Guatemala will have to compete with 2019 Gold Cup participants Curaçao and Cuba as well as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the British Virgin Islands for the play-off spot to get into the final stage of 8 teams. It will be a hard fight, but certainly doable for them. Then having to compete against the best of CONCACAF has been where they’ve always previously fallen apart though. Can things change for 2022?

Curaçao 2019-20 Home

It is blue. Ok, yes, there’s a bit more than just that. It’s just, when compared to their older shirts, this really feels low effort. Some orangey-yellow accenting under the sleeves and down the sides prevents it being just one colour and the stripes across the front are subtle but pleasing to the eye. A transfer badge is also disappointing, though the design is at least simple and clean.

Used across the 2019 Gold Cup and 2019-20 Nations League, Curaçao were successful in both competitions. In the Gold Cup they went through on goal difference, having lost to El Salvador, beaten Honduras and drawn with Jamaica. Then they came up against the USA and held them to only a single goal in a 1-0 defeat. Drawn with Haiti and Costa Rica in League A of the Nations League they finished 2^nd, a point off of Costa Rica who would go onto the Nations League finals.

These results were unusually good for Curaçao, who have started to attract their Dutch based talent to them. While technically only formed in 2010 (after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles), their parent team had not qualified for the Gold Cup since 1973 and Curaçao continued that trend until they made the 2015 Gold Cup, won the 2017 Caribbean Cup and then reached the knockout stages of the 2019 Gold Cup! They’ve not yet come close to the World Cup, or even the Hexagonal stage, but were drawn as top seeds for their initial 2022 qualifying group so expect more from them this time out.

With such a brief time to be active, Curaçao have done little on the women’s side. They didn’t show up to the 2014 Caribbean Cup but took a narrow loss against Antigua & Barbuda and a narrow win against Guadeloupe in the 2018 CFU Challenge Series before trying to qualify for the 2018 CONCACAF Championship. They finished 3^rd of 4 teams in their group (winners went on to a final Hexagonal qualifier), beating St Vincent and the Grenadines but losing to St Lucia and old friends Antigua and Barbuda. Very little to go on. On the men’s side, they’ve only once tried Olympic qualifying, where they came close to qualifying from the first round. At an U20 level they qualified for the 2013 Championship on a coin toss but then lost both games and have only managed to come close since. At an U17 level they’ve been to two championships, though didn’t have to qualify for one, scraping into the knockout stage in 2019 to get thrashed 4-0 by Canada. U15s have a CFU title but only 1 draw in CONCACAF. The women’s youth teams have appeared slightly sporadically, with the U20s coming close to a Championship qualification once but otherwise results have been poor outside of the U15s. The U15s have twice reached knockout football though!

In futsal they qualified for the 2016 tournament, finishing bottom of their group, and got an automatic spot in the 2020 edition. Certainly one of the better Caribbean futsal sides, they are nonetheless short of the main teams in CONCACAF and the likes of Cuba. Sadly, they have never entered a CONCACAF Beach Soccer competition to date.

Drawn as top seeds in their initial qualifying group for 2022, Curaçao will be expected to compete strongly for a spot in the final 8 team round-robin group. They might not be expected to then make it to the finals in Qatar, but if they make it that far, expect them to spring a surprise or two.

Cook Islands 2011 Home

A very dull Lotto template. A white band across the top of the chest, some white accenting across the ends of the sleeves and Lotto’s nice habit of felt logos everywhere that wouldn’t seem too out of place. Feels slightly desperate, but not in a terrible way. The rest of the shirt is this lovely olive green, with even the FA logo embroidered as an outline onto that to maintain the colour. Yes, it is cheap to make, but I think they got the colour scheme spot on. Other than that, not much there really.

The design was worn at the 2011 Pacific Games, where the Cook Islands were drawn in a group with Fiji, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea and Kiribati. They opened with a 4-0 defeat to Papua New Guinea and followed that up with a 7-0 loss to Tahiti. Not exactly filled with confidence, 2 late goals against Kiribati gave them a 3-0 victory, the confidence from which they used to score against Fiji in their final game. They lost 4-1 still, but finished above the bottom which was about all that they’d have expected from that group.

This tends to sum up the Cook Islands, low expectations are generally fulfilled. As one of FIFA’s smallest members (without their diaspora they have a population of around 15k) they compete in OFC’s initial qualifying round against Polynesian brethren in Tonga and both Samoas. Their first competitive draw against FIFA opposition came against American Samoa in 2011 with wins over Samoa and Tonga in 2015 being their first against FIFA opposition too. Sadly they missed out on the single qualification spot to the main tournament on goal difference there. Otherwise they’ve completed an unusual trifecta by beating Tuvalu, Kiribati and Wallis & Futuna at the Pacific Games, interestingly being the only qualifying team to have not lost to Tuvalu. They’re debut tournament in 1971 is best left unmentioned though.

One might expect the women’s side to hold similar joy but the Cook Islands are much more of a force there. While their initial appearance at the Nations Cup, in 2003, was miserable, their gap of 7 years before trying again definitely helped. They grabbed 3^rd place at the 2010 tournament (8 teams) before stumbling once more, getting a single draw across the next 2 tournaments (though got another 3^rd due to one being only 4 teams). In the Pacific Games they grabbed 3^rd in 2015 and 4^th in 2019, showcasing that they weren’t just there to make up the numbers. In 2019 they were prioritised over the men’s team, who weren’t even sent. The men’s youth teams have played sporadically, twice escaping preliminary rounds and mostly being competitive with the same nations in any case. They’ve had wins and draws scattered throughout the years though, so had less of a wait than the senior side. Even more sporadic on the women’s side, they’ve been reasonable in youth matches, even being semi-finalists at an U16 level in 2017 and 2^nd place (from 4) at an U20 level in 2010.

They’ve only briefly appeared in futsal, in 1999 they took part in the OFC Championship. While they lost all 6 games, their worst loss was only 5-0 to Australia and they were particularly close to New Zealand (3-2 loss) and Samoa (5-3 loss). They’ve never returned. Beach soccer provides a very similar story. At the first Championship in 2006 they turned up, lost all 3 games (albeit heavily this time) and then never returned. Hopefully they’ll take part again at some point in the future.

While the Cook Islands will look to better their fellow qualifying round nations, nothing else is expected of the team for 2022 qualification. They’re currently unranked, having not played since 2015, so game time is crucial and any results are a bonus.