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The following article gives a list of association football confederations, sub-confederations and associations around the world. The sport's international governing body is FIFA, but those associations not affiliated with FIFA are also included in this article.
Most European, African, and Asian countries have two principal competitions: a more prestigious league which is typically a double round-robin tournament restricted to the elite clubs, and a cup which is a single-elimination tournament open to both the elite and lesser clubs.
In the Americas, leagues are often organised as either multi-stage tournaments or separate Apertura and Clausura stages.
There are currently 211 national associations which are members of FIFA. An additional 11 associations are full or associate members of a continental confederation, but not members of FIFA.
Continent | Governing body | Abbr. | No. | FIFA members | Main international competition(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Club competition(s) | National competition(s) | |||||
Africa | Confederation of African Football | CAF | 56 | 54 | Champions League | Africa Cup of Nations |
Confederation Cup | Nations Championship | |||||
Super Cup | — | |||||
Asia | Asian Football Confederation | AFC | 47 | 46 | Champions League Elite | Asian Cup |
Champions League Two | — | |||||
Challenge League | — | |||||
Europe | Union of European Football Associations | UEFA | 55 | 55 | Champions League | European Championship |
Europa League | Nations League | |||||
Conference League | Regions' Cup | |||||
Super Cup | — | |||||
North, Central America and the Caribbean | Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football | CONCACAF | 41 | 35 | Champions Cup | Gold Cup |
Nations League | ||||||
Oceania | Oceania Football Confederation | OFC | 13 | 11 | Champions League | Nations Cup |
South America | Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol | CONMEBOL | 10 | 10 | Copa Libertadores | Copa América |
Copa Sudamericana | ||||||
Recopa Sudamericana |
Governing body | Full name | Member associations | Main international competition(s) |
---|---|---|---|
ConIFA | Confederation of Independent Football Associations | 54 | CONIFA World Football Cup |
IGA | International Island Games Association | 24 | Island Games |
Subregion | Governing body | Abbr. | No. | Main international competition(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Club competition(s) | National competition(s) | ||||
Eastern Africa | Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations | CECAFA | 12 | CECAFA Club Cup | CECAFA Cup |
Middle Africa | Central African Football Federations' Union | UNIFFAC | 8 | — | CEMAC Cup |
Northern Africa | Union of North African Football | UNAF | 5 | UNAF Nessma Cup | — |
Southern Africa | Council of Southern Africa Football Associations | COSAFA | 14 | — | COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup |
Western Africa | West African Football Union | WAFU-UFOA | 16 | West African Club Championship | WAFU Nations Cup |
Arab States | Union of Arab Football Associations | UAFA | 10 | Arab Club Champions Cup | FIFA Arab Cup |
Subregion | Governing body | Abbr. | No. | Main international competition(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Club competition(s) | National competition(s) | ||||
Central Asia | Central Asian Football Association | CAFA | 6 | — | CAFA Championship |
Eastern Asia | East Asian Football Federation | EAFF | 10 | — | EAFF E-1 Football Championship |
South-eastern Asia | ASEAN Football Federation | AFF | 12 | ASEAN Club Championship Mekong Club Championship for Mekong clubs AFF Futsal Club Championship for futsal. | ASEAN Football Championship |
Southern Asia | South Asian Football Federation | SAFF | 7 | Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup, SAFF Club Cup (proposed) | SAFF Championship |
Western Asia | West Asian Football Federation | WAFF | 12 | — | WAFF Championship |
Arab States | Union of Arab Football Associations | UAFA | 12 | Arab Club Champions Cup | FIFA Arab Cup |
Subregion | Governing body | Abbr. | No. | International club competition(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Caribbean | Caribbean Football Union | CFU | 31 | CONCACAF Caribbean Cup |
CONCACAF Caribbean Shield | ||||
Central America | Central American Football Union | UNCAF | 7 | CONCACAF Central American Cup |
Northern America | North American Football Union | NAFU | 3 | Leagues Cup |
Campeones Cup |
The football associations listed in this section are members of FIFA-affiliated confederations. They are listed by their official names registered with FIFA.
All UEFA associations are affiliated with FIFA.
All CONMEBOL associations are affiliated with FIFA.
The football associations in this section represent fully and partially recognized sovereign states, dependent territories, and stateless nations that are not members of FIFA or a FIFA confederation.
Several of these non-FIFA associations are included in the World Football Elo Ratings, which ranks all national association football teams from FIFA-affiliated confederations, in addition to some unaffiliated teams. Several of these associations are also members of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations and/or the International Island Games Association.
Territory | Country | National association | Elo Ratings | ConIFA | IGA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chagos Islands | United Kingdom | Chagos Football Association | |||
Mayotte | France | Ligue de Football de Mayotte | |||
Saint Helena | United Kingdom | Saint Helena Football Association | |||
Somaliland | Somalia | Somaliland Football Association | |||
Western Sahara | Morocco (partly) | Sahrawi Football Federation |
Territory | Country | National association | Elo Ratings | ConIFA | IGA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christmas Island | Australia | Christmas Island Soccer Association | |||
Cocos Islands | Australia | Cocos (Keeling) Islands Soccer Association | |||
Kurdistan | Iraq | Kurdistan Football Association | |||
Tibet | China | Tibetan National Football Association |
Territory | Country | National association | Elo Ratings | ConIFA | IGA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abkhazia | Georgia | Football Federation of Abkhazia | |||
Åland Islands | Finland | Åland Football Association | |||
Artsakh | Azerbaijan | Artsakh Football Association | |||
Guernsey | United Kingdom | Guernsey Football Association | |||
Isle of Man | United Kingdom | Isle of Man Football Association | |||
Jersey | United Kingdom | Jersey Football Association | |||
Monaco | Monaco | Monégasque Football Federation | |||
Northern Cyprus | Cyprus | Cyprus Turkish Football Association | |||
South Ossetia | Georgia | Football Federation of the Republic of South Ossetia | |||
Transnistria | Moldova | Football Federation of Pridnestrovie | |||
Vatican City | Vatican City | Vatican City national football team |
Territory | Country | National association | Elo Ratings | ConIFA | IGA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Greenland | Denmark | Football Association of Greenland | |||
Saba | Netherlands | Federation of Saba | |||
Saint Barthélemy | France | Saint Barthélemy Football Association | |||
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | France | Football Federation of Saint Pierre and Miquelon | |||
Sint Eustatius | Netherlands | Statia Football Association |
Territory | Country | National association | Elo Ratings | ConIFA | IGA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bougainville | Papua New Guinea | Football Federation of Bougainville | |||
Marshall Islands | Marshall Islands | Marshall Islands Soccer Association | |||
Micronesia, Federated States of | Micronesia, F.S. | Federated States of Micronesia Football Association | |||
Nauru | Nauru | Nauru Amateur Soccer Association | |||
Niue | Niue | Niue Island Soccer Association | |||
Norfolk Island | Australia | Norfolk Island Soccer Federation | |||
Palau | Palau | Palau Football Association | |||
Tokelau | New Zealand | Tokelau Amateur Soccer Association | |||
Wallis and Futuna | France | Wallis and Futuna Soccer Federation |
Territory | Country | National association | Elo Ratings | ConIFA | IGA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Falkland Islands | United Kingdom | Falkland Islands Football League |
Beneath the national level, governance of football may be divided up into regional or territorial associations. Other non-national associations represent stateless populations, diasporas or micronations. Details of these are listed at non-FIFA international football.
The Union of European Football Associations is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.
The CONMEBOLCopa América, often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial football tournament contested among national teams from South America. It is the oldest still-running continental football competition. The competition determines the champions of South America. Since the 1990s, teams from North America and Asia have also been invited to compete.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF, is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 41 member associations represent countries and territories mainly in North America, including the Caribbean and Central America, and, for geopolitical reasons, three nations from the Guianas subregion of South America-Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. The CONCACAF's primary functions are to organize competitions for national teams and clubs, and to conduct the World Cup and Women's World Cup qualifying tournaments.
The South American Football Confederation, known by the acronym CONMEBOL or CSF, is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay. CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football's major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA.
The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships, along with the current FIFA World Cup holder and the host nation, to bring the number of teams up to eight.
A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the previous season.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) was the section of AFC that managed women's association football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, British Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In 1986, ALFC merged with AFC.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the Grand Hotel in Khartoum, Sudan by the national football associations of: Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa. following formal discussions between the aforementioned associations at the FIFA Congress held on 7 June 1956 at Avenida Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal.
In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments, and after applied in women's football and futsal, the coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe, and the Asian parts of some transcontinental countries.
UEFA competitions, referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. The term was established in 1971 by the confederation to differentiate the men's football competitions under its administration, the first in history being held at a pan-European stage, from other international competitions carried out in the continent between 1960s and 1990s, such as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, International Football Cup and Karl Rappan Cup, Cup of the Alps, Balkans Cup and the restructured Mitropa Cup. All these tournaments were organised by private bodies and/or at least two national associations and concerning one of more regional areas of Europe, not being recognised by UEFA for historic-statistical purposes.
This page is a list of the continental championships for clubs and national teams in association football.
Non-FIFA international football is the segment of international football that is not overseen by FIFA. FIFA is the international governing body of association football, overseeing football globally and with running international representative matches. However, some international football takes place outside its purview. This often consists of matches involving sub-national entities such as islands, colonies, or autonomous regions. Representative matches also occur involving states with limited international recognition who are unable to qualify for FIFA membership. There are also a limited number of states whose representative teams are not affiliated to FIFA. Historically, a number of competitions occurred outside FIFA's auspices. Member associations are national associations, usually affiliated to continental confederations which are subordinate to FIFA.
Santos FC is a football club based in Santos, that competes in the Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo's state league, and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B or B, Brazil's national league. The club was founded in 1912 by the initiative of three sports enthusiasts from Santos by the names of Raimundo Marques, Mário Ferraz de Campos, and Argemiro de Souza Júnior, and played its first friendly match on June 23, 1914. Initially Santos played against other local clubs in the city and state championships, but in 1959 the club became one of the founding members of the Taça Brasil, Brazil's first truly national league. Up until 2023, Santos was one of only five clubs never to have been relegated from the top level of Brazilian football, the others being São Paulo and Flamengo.
The association football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held from 3 to 20 August in Brazil.