Northern Mariana Islands

1998 Micronesian Games

The Northern Mariana Islands made their international debut in an exhibition football tournament associated with the 1998 Micronesia Games. The original governing body for football in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation had been accepted as an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation, but this was the first time records indicated they had participated in any international tournament.

The tournament was officially called the W.C.T.C. Shell Soccer Exhibition and was a demonstration event only at the games, not having medal status. Furthermore, the tournament did not meet established regulations; the matches played were only 9-a-side, the games lasted only 80 minutes and the pitch was smaller than regulation size.

Nonetheless, the Northern Mariana Islands team performed well in the group stage playing against Guam, Palau, Yap (then considered essentially the Federated States of Micronesia national football team), a team representing the Micronesian state of Pohnpei and a "Palau B" team consisting of Bangladeshis living on Palau. The team won their first two matches 8–0 against Palau B and Yap respectively. A 2–1 loss to Guam in their third game was quickly forgotten as they went on to record resounding victories in their final two group games defeating Palau 12–1 and Pohnpei 11–2 to finish second in the group with a +35 goal difference after their five games, qualifying for the final match.

The team avenged their earlier group stage defeat to Guam in the final, beating them 3–0 to claim the tournament title. Charles Kewo and Christopher Guerrero scored in the opening quarter of an hour to give the Northern Mariana Islands a 2–0 half time lead, a lead they extended in the second half through an unknown goalscorer (although other sources suggest Guerrero was the scorer) to seal their victory.

1999 Micronesian Cup

The following year, the team travelled to Yap to compete the first Micronesian Soccer Cup. This was a three team tournament consisting of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and an international team known as Crushers (or Crusaders according to other sources). Their performance here was less successful than at the Micronesian Games the previous year. In their first game, they lost 7–0 to the Federated States of Micronesia. It is not recorded whether they played their other group match against Crushers / Crusaders, but given that the final was contested between the Federated States of Micronesia and Crushers / Crusaders, it can be extrapolated that if the match did take place, the best result the Northern Mariana Islands could have achieved was a draw.

Hiatus

The country then entered something of a hiatus in footballing terms. The original governing body for football in the country, the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation became defunct sometime between 2002 and 2003 and after that, no international competition took place until the current governing body, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) was founded in 2005. Around this time, reports indicate that there was no official men's football of any kind in the country. In 2006, discussions were held with the NMIFA concerning the establishment of an official men's league. At the time it was hoped that the establishment of an official men's competition would provide the means by which players who could meet the citizenship and eligibility criteria to represent the country at future tournaments might become involved. Under the auspices of the Northern Mariana Islands Soccer Federation, teams entered into tournaments such as the 1998 Micronesian Games included a number of foreign players working on Saipan as contractors. This was not uncommon in the area at this time and some other teams also included players of similar status. For the Northern Mariana Islands specifically, the only eligibility requirements players needed to fulfill was a two-year residency.