The Sápmi national football team is a national football (soccer) team representing the Sámi people, who inhabit northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The team is not a member of UEFA or FIFA, and therefore do not participate in their competitions.
The goal of the Sámi Football Association (Northern Sami: Sámi Spábbáčiekčanlihttu), which controls the team, is to gain official status. Since 2003 they have been a member of NF-Board, which organizes matches for non-official national teams.
Sápmi footballers who have played for both the Norwegian national side and for the Sápmi team, include Morten Gamst Pedersen, Sigurd Rushfeldt and Tom Høgli. Steffen Nystrøm, of Tromsø IL has played for the Norway under-21 team, and made his Sápmi debut in the VIVA World Cup.
They participated in the KTFF 50th Anniversary Cup in 2005 in Northern Cyprus. They lost both matches against Northern Cyprus and Kosovo, finishing third.
In November 2006, Sápmi took part in – and won – the inaugural VIVA World Cup in Occitania, organised by the NF-Board. Sápmi overcame both the host nation and Monaco to win the trophy, scoring an impressive 42 goals in 3 games. They hosted the next finals in 2008, defeating Kurdistan to finish 3rd, before travelling to Padania in 2009 where they again finished 3rd. Sápmi have not participated in a VIVA World Cup since.
Tournament records [edit]
VIVA World Cup record [edit]
| Year |
Round |
Position |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GS |
GA |
 2006 |
Champion |
1 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
41 |
1 |
 2008 |
3rd place match |
3 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
8 |
 2009 |
3rd place match |
3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
12 |
| Total |
3/3 |
1 Title |
12 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
62 |
21 |
Selected internationals [edit]
References [edit]
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| Asia |
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| Africa |
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North America,
Central America
and the Caribbean |
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| South America |
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| Oceania |
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| Europe |
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| Non-FIFA |
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| Games |
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Isak Ole Hætta
Åland Islands 4 – 2 Sápmi .svg){kind=small}
Sápmi 21 – 1 Monaco 
2006
2009
