is the most popular sport in Tuvalu. Football in Tuvalu is governed by the Tuvalu National Football Association. The TNFA became an associate member association of the Oceania Football Confederation on 15 November 2006. The TNFA has been wanting to become a member of FIFA since 1987. History was made in 2007 when Tuvalu became the first non FIFA member to participate in an official World cup qualifying match. The situation arose when the regional governing body used the 2007 South Pacific Games, as the first stage of the qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and qualification tournament for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup. Tuvalu performed with great credit, earning a remarkable 1–1 draw with Tahiti in which Viliamu Sekifu became as the first World cup scorer for his country. The other three fixtures in the tournament ended in defeat and Tuvalu failed to progress from their five team group. In September 2008, Tuvaluan Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia and the President of the Tuvalu Football Association, Tapugao Falefou, visited the headquarters of FIFA in Zurich, hoping to gain full membership in the organisation. However the lack of football facilities in Tuvalu is a major obstacle for membership of FIFA. Tuvalu only has one stadium, and it does not have training grounds or hotels for visiting teams and supporters. In recent years the TNFA have received support from the Netherlands. In 2011 Foppe de Haan was the football coach of Tuvalu. On 1 May 2012 Stevan de Geijter was appointed as the head of Youth Development at the TNFA. The Tuvalu national football team and the activities of the Dutch Support Tuvalu Foundation are the focus of Mission Tuvalu a feature documentary directed by Jeroen van den Kroonenberg, in which the route for Tuvalu's FIFA membership is shown. In 2014 for the first time in history a Tuvaluan Football player of the year was chosen. The honor was for Sepetaio Willie.
The Tuvalu national football team was managed by Foppe de Haan at the Pacific Games 2011. De Haan, who previously coached SC Heerenveen, Ajax Cape Town and the Dutch national U-21 team, started his tenure with a 3–0 victory over Samoa, the second largest victory of Tuvalu. In the match in the lead-up to the 2011 Pacific Games, Alopua Petoa scored all three goals. De Haan's second match in charge saw a record 4–0 victory recorded over American Samoa in the first match of their 2011 Pacific Games campaign, with a hat-trick from 19-year-old Alopua Petoa. The third match was not as successful, with the side going down 5–1 to Vanuatu. After losing 8–0 to New Caledonia, and 6–1 to Solomon Islands, the Tuvaluan team drew the game with Guam 1–1. The Tuvaluan team finished equal with Guam in Pool A with four points. This is the best performance by Tuvalu in an international tournament.
U-20 team
The Tuvalu Under 20 football team is controlled by the TNFA and represents Tuvalu in international Under 20 or youth football competitions.
U-17 team
In August 2012 they participated for the first time on a tournament. They participated at the NBT Cup for B-teams. The first game they won against Ha’apai United B with 3–0. But they lost the second game with 6–0 against TMTI and the third game they lost with 5–0 against Lofeagai Boys. Malesi of Lofeagai scored 5 goals.
Nui and FC Niutao participated in the 2012 season.
Football at the Tuvalu Games
Football has been a regular event at the Tuvalu Games, and is a competition organized by the Tuvalu National Football Association. It is called also Tuvalu Cup.
History
The tournament began in the 2008 season. The first champions were FC Manu Laeva. The 2013 champions were FC Tofaga; winning the final against Nauti 1–0, with Etimoni Timuani scoring the only goal.
