Boss of ‘last country on earth to play football’ reveals all after first games

This is one of the best football stories of the year!

Have you ever heard of the Marshall Islands? Well, if not, there is a first time for everything!

It has been a historic week for the nation, who competed in their first-ever football games against FIFA-recognised countries in the United States over the weekend.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is an island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and the eastern coast of Australia. It consists of 29 coral atolls and five main islands. The population is around 40,000 people. The US Navy has hosted a naval base on Kwajalein Island since World War II.

Their technical director and head coach, Lloyd Owers, took on the project in January 2023 after the president of the country's football association, Shem Livai, reached out to him after noticing his blog posts about the Samoan national team. Since that moment, he’s been on a mission to get the self-proclaimed "last country on earth without a national team" their first 11 v 11 fixture against a FIFA-recognised nation.

They achieved the milestone moment last Thursday when they faced off against the US Virgin Islands. Despite a 4-0 defeat, the significance of this event can’t be understated for the small island.

Speaking to SportsJOE, Owers explained their journey to get to the playing field.

“We played our first 11 v 11 fixture this year; it’s been a long process. I think when we started in January 2023, everyone’s questions around the world were: ‘When’s the first game? When are you going to play? Who are you going to play?’

“For me and the other guys involved, we didn’t want that to be the only story; we didn’t want it to be just one game and then stop. We want the sport to be sustainable forever. We want kids to grow up playing the game,” he explained.

“I’ve written a school curriculum that has been signed off by the government that allows kids to grow up playing the sport.

“We want it to work from the top down to the bottom up. Bottom up from the kids playing to the top down in terms of the adults playing, for the kids to have role models to aspire to be."

Despite not being recognised as a national federation by FIFA, Owers says the two matches put them on the football map, whether officially or not. 

“In terms of being recognised, we’re 100% recognised now. We competed with two FIFA nations with players; some are experienced, and some aren’t. Some have never played a fixture before, certainly not 11 v 11.

“We took them to the wire, especially Turks and Caicos, 3-2; we should have had a penalty in the last minute. We should have scored with a chance in the last minute anyway, and we did really well. That gives us a huge opportunity to differ expectations for next time.

“The next step for us is to be recognised as a national federation; hopefully that happens as soon as possible.”

Josiah Blanton and Aaron Anitok-Brokken hit the back of the net to score the country’s first goals. Led by their impressive captain Seth Sidle, the islanders produced a performance to be proud of. Gladius Edejer and Lucas Schriver were the other bright lights across the two games.

Owers was proud of the two performances, as they showcased their ability to be competitive against other established nations.

He said: “We lost the first game 4-0 to the US Virgin Islands, but to be honest for us, I think the pressure was on.

“We needed to compete; we needed to show that we were able to compete, so that whole pressure of the first game lay heavy.

“Performance-wise it was good. We were 2-0 down at halftime. We hit the post one minute into the second half; if that goes in, it changes the game. But we ended up losing 4-0; I think the pressure just got to us towards the end of the game,” he said.

The nerves had settled by the time of their second contest.

“In the second game, the pressure was off, and we showed that. We lost 3-2 to Turks and Caicos, but in my opinion we should have had a penalty in the last minute of the game, and we missed a really good chance to level it in the last minute as well.

“That gave us huge confidence; we felt so proud from it but also disappointed that we lost 3-2. We all came off the pitch feeling like we should have won or have gotten something from it.

“That’s only a positive going into future games.”

What does the future hold for the Marshall Islands’ football? When the question was put to Owers, he responded: “Now it’s just a case of rebuilding what we started previously and working back on that and making sure our weekly session in Majuro continues to develop, making sure we get coaches through.

“There is a big focus now on getting the female team a game, but also planning in the background for next year’s games for the men’s teams in 2026,” Owers added.