The Sápmi football team is a football 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 does not participate in their competitions, although it is a member of the ConIFA. The organizing body is FA Sápmi.

Tournament history Football in Lapland was organized in 1979 and 2001, controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation. The team's first match was organized in June 1985 facing the Åland football team. Football in the Lapland region of Finland is organized into localized regional tiers by the Football Association of Finland. In both 1979 and 2001, distinct fourth- and fifth-tier leagues were contested across the province (historically categorized under "Lappi" sections) featuring local clubs such as FC Santa Claus, KiU Kittilä, and Kontio Kolari.

Sápmi participated in the KTFF 50th Anniversary Cup in 2005 in Northern Cyprus, losing matches against Northern Cyprus and Kosovo and finishing third. In November 2006, Sápmi participated in and won the inaugural VIVA World Cup in Occitania, organised by the NF-Board. Sápmi overcame the host nation and Monaco to win the trophy, scoring 42 goals in 3 games. They hosted the next finals in 2008, defeating Kurdistan to finish third, before travelling to Padania in 2009, where they again finished third. Sápmi has not participated in a VIVA World Cup since, although in 2010, they bid for the hosting rights of the 2014 edition.

Sápmi hosted the 2014 ConIFA World Football Cup(which was the year that they joined), and it competed at the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup.

2014 ConIFA World Football Cup In 2 June 2014, Lapland faced Abkhazia, the match ending in a 1-2 defeat. In June 3, Lapland faced Occitania and lost their second match 0-1. In 4 June, Lapland won their first match against Tamil Îlam 4-2. In 15 June, they faced Nagorno-Karabakh and lost 1-5. Lapland finished in tenth place.

Notable players Sápmi footballers who have played for the Norwegian national side and Sápmi teams 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.

Tournament records

World Cup record

YearPositionGSGAVIVA World Cup 2006Champion3300411 2008Third place521298 2009Third place41121212 2010did not enter 2012ConIFA World Football Cup 2014Group stage4103610 2016Quarter-finals5302104 2018did not qualify 2024TotalBest: Champions2110297835

Selected internationals

DateVenueOpponentScore8 June 20192019 CONIFA European Football Cup – Artsakh Székely Land3–26 June 20192019 CONIFA European Football Cup – Artsakh Padania0−44 June 20192019 CONIFA European Football Cup – Artsakh0−43 June 20192019 CONIFA European Football Cup – Artsakh Abkhazia0−12 June 20192019 CONIFA European Football Cup – Artsakh Artsakh2−330 March 2012 Toulouse, France 2−326 June 2009 2009 VIVA World Cup – Padania 4–4 (5–4 p)25 June 2009 2009 VIVA World Cup – Padania 0–424 June 2009 2009 VIVA World Cup – Padania 7–223 June 2009 2009 VIVA World Cup – Padania 1–213 July 2008 2008 VIVA World Cup – Sápmi 3–112 July 2008 2008 VIVA World Cup – Sápmi 4–211 July 2008 2008 VIVA World Cup – Sápmi 0–29 July 2008 2008 VIVA World Cup – Sápmi 0–17 July 2008 2008 VIVA World Cup – Sápmi 2–224 November 2006 2006 VIVA World Cup – Occitania 21–123 November 2006 2006 VIVA World Cup – Occitania 14–020 November 2006 2006 VIVA World Cup – Occitania 7–04 November 2005 KTFF 50th Anniversary Cup – Northern Cyprus 2–63 November 2005KTFF 50th Anniversary Cup – Northern Cyprus 1–428 July 2004Tromsø, Sápmi 1–14 July 2001Odense, Denmark 5–17 August 1998Stockholm, Sweden 0–07 July 1992Tallinn, Estonia 1–26 July 1991Karasjok Municipality, Norway2–1June, 1991Karasjok, Sápmi 2–1October, 1990Tallinn, Estonia 0–2June, 1987Mariehamn, Åland 0–1June, 1986Kautokeino, Sápmi 2–0June, 1985Mariehamn, Åland 2–4

Current squad Sápmi squad at the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup in Abkhazia, 28 May – 6 June 2016.

Honours Non-FIFA competitions Viva World Cup Champions (1): 2006 Third place (2): 2008, 2009

References