Samoa national football team

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Samoa
National Soccer Stadium
FIFA codeSAM
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 186 Steady (15 February 2024)[1]
Highest146 (December 2007)
Lowest204 (November 2011)
First international
 Solomon Islands 12–0 Western Samoa 
(Suva, Fiji; 31 August 1979)
Biggest win
 Samoa 10–0 American Samoa 
(Honiara, Solomon Islands; 20 November 2023)
Biggest defeat
 Tahiti 13–0 Western Samoa 
(Honiara, Solomon Islands; 13 July 1981)
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances2 (first in 2012)
Best resultGroup stage, 2012 and 2016

The Samoa men's national association football team (Samoan: Sāmoa soka au) represents Samoa in men's international football and is controlled by the Football Federation Samoa, the governing body for football in Samoa. Samoa's home ground is Toleafoa J. S. Blatter Soccer Stadium in Apia. It was known as the Western Samoa national football team until 1997.

History

Beginnings (1979–1993)

Although they had not taken part in the first five editions of the

South Pacific Games, their geographical proximity to Fiji, host of 1979 South Pacific Games, allowed them to participate for the first time. They lost both group stage matches to Wallis and Futuna 3–1 and Solomon Islands 12–0. Four years later, as hosts of the 1983 edition, they beat American Samoa 3–1, drew 3–3 with Tonga and fell again to Wallis and Futuna, but the results allowed them to advance to the next round. In the quarterfinals, Tahiti
eliminated them by beating them 2–0.

Samoa entered qualification for the

Taiwan
5–0 and were eliminated.

Regional Frustrations (1994–2010)

In 1994 they hosted the first edition of the Polynesia Cup, where they beat American Samoa, tied with Tonga and lost to Tahiti to finish in third position. In 1998 they were third again, coming within a point of the Cook Islands in second. Samoa returned to finish third again in the 2000 edition by beating Tonga and American Samoa, but losing to the Cook Islands and Tahiti.

After four tournaments absent, they returned in the 2007 South Pacific Games as hosts. They managed six points by beating Tonga and American Samoa again, but were eliminated after losing to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

OFC Nations Cup (2011–present)

In 2011, they hosted the OFC Nations Cup qualifying tournament. There, they beat the Cook Islands 3–2, drew 1–1 with Tonga and defeated American Samoa 1–0 to qualify for the first time in their history. At the championship proper, they were beaten 10–1 by Tahiti, 5–0 by Vanuatu and 9–0 by New Caledonia.

In the 2016 qualifiers, they beat American Samoa 3–2 and lost 1–0 to the Cook Islands. In their final game, the Samoan team defeated Tonga 3–0 and qualified on goal difference, because of American Samoa's 2–0 win over the Cookian team. At the tournament, which took place in Papua New Guinea, the Samoan team lost 4–0 to Tahiti, 7–0 to New Caledonia and 8–0 to the local team. Therefore, they finished in last place in their group without a single point.

Kit sponsorship

Kit supplier[3] Period
Germany Puma ?
Italy Lotto 2003
Germany Uhlsport 2005
Italy Lotto 2007–2013
Nike
2015–2016
Germany Adidas 2017
Italy Lotto 2019–

Results and fixtures

2024

20 March
Nuku'alofa
, Tonga
Stadium:
Teufaiva Stadium
23 March
Nuku'alofa
, Tonga
Stadium:
Teufaiva Stadium
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification TBA v  Samoa TBD
Stadium: TBD

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Northern Ireland Ryan Stewart
Assistant coach New Zealand Alastair McLae
Goalkeeping coach Samoa Joseph Kapisi
Team manager Samoa Saolotoga Pula
Technical adviser New Zealand Jess Ibrom
Gear manager Samoa Bevan Kapisi
International Scout New Zealand Alastair McLae
International Scout England Russ Gurr

Coaching history

Players

The following players were called up for the 2023 Pacific Games.[4]

Caps and goals correct as of 18 July 2019, after the game against Vanuatu.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Joel Bartley (2005-04-13) 13 April 2005 (age 18) 0 0 Australia Sydney United 58
22 1GK Osa Savelio (2000-05-02) 2 May 2000 (age 23) 0 0 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga

2 2DF Luke Tolo-Kent (2003-04-29) 29 April 2003 (age 20) 0 0 New Zealand Miramar Rangers
3 2DF Luke Salisbury (2004-09-15) 15 September 2004 (age 19) 0 0 New Zealand Roslyn-Wakari
4 2DF Taine Wilson (2004-11-08) 8 November 2004 (age 19) 0 0 United States Quincy Hawks
5 2DF Kaleb De Groot-Green 0 0 New Zealand Dunedin City Royals
6 2DF Andrew Setefano (1987-08-10) 10 August 1987 (age 36) 15 0 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga
14 2DF Legend Spencer 0 0 United States FC Minneapolis

7 3MF Va'a Taualai (1998-06-04) 4 June 1998 (age 25) 2 0 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga
11 3MF Falaniko Nanumea (2002-01-17) 17 January 2002 (age 22) 2 0 Samoa Vailima Kiwi
13 3MF Samuelu Malo (1999-04-04) 4 April 1999 (age 24) 0 0 Samoa Vailima Kiwi
15 3MF Alman Kwan (2003-01-18) 18 January 2003 (age 21) 0 0 Samoa Vaivase-Tai
16 3MF Darren Talilai (1995-10-23) 23 October 1995 (age 28) 0 0 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga
18 3MF Tuuga Malaeamanu 0 0 Samoa Adidas SC
19 3MF Reupena Fasi 0 0

8 4FW Dauntae Mariner (2000-01-25) 25 January 2000 (age 24) 0 0 Australia Brisbane Strikers
9 4FW Michael Tumua Leo (2003-01-15) 15 January 2003 (age 21) 2 0 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga
10 4FW Pharrell Trainor (2006-06-20) 20 June 2006 (age 17) 3 1 Germany Viktoria Griesheim
12 4FW Ethan Stowers (2005-10-26) 26 October 2005 (age 18) 0 0 Samoa Faatoia United
17 4FW Dilo Tumua (2000-03-15) 15 March 2000 (age 24) 0 0 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga

Player records

As of 27 November 2023[5]
Players in bold are still active with Samoa.

Most appearances

Rank Name Caps Goals Career
1 Desmond Fa'aiuaso 20 9 2001–2016
2 Andrew Setefano 18 0 2011–present
3 Filipo Bureta 14 0 2001–2016
Lionel Taylor 14 1 2004–2016
5 Junior Michael 13 5 1996–2007
6 Silao Malo 12 2 2011–2016
7 Pualele Lemana 11 3 2001–2004
Mike Saofaiga 11 0 2011–2019
9 Jarrell Sale 10 0 2007–2015
Penitito Tumua 10 2 2004–2011

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Desmond Fa'aiuaso 9 20 0.45 2001–2016
2 Michael Tumua Leo 5 5 1 2023–present
Junior Michael 5 13 0.38 1996–2007
4 Tama Fasavalu 3 4 0.75 2002–2004
Pualele Lemana 3 11 0.27 2001–2004
6 Albert Bell 2 3 0.67 2011
Chris Cahill 2 3 0.67 2007
Luke Gosche 2 3 0.67 2011–2012
Vito Laloata 2 3 0.67 2015–2019
Peniamina Timo 2 5 0.4 2001–2002
Johnny Hall 2 6 0.33 2015–2016
Ben Lemana 2 6 0.33 1996–2001
Andrew Mobberley 2 9 0.22 2015–2019
Penitito Tumua 2 10 0.2 2004–2011
Silao Malo 2 12 0.17 2011–2016

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1986 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
as  Western Samoa as  Western Samoa
Italy 1990 Did not enter Did not enter
United States 1994 Withdrew Withdrew
as  Samoa as  Samoa
France 1998 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 2 2
South Korea Japan 2002 4 1 0 3 9 18
Germany 2006 4 1 0 3 5 11
South Africa 2010 4 2 0 2 9 8
Brazil 2014 6 2 1 3 6 27
Russia 2018 6 2 0 4 6 22
Qatar 2022 Withdrew Withdrew
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
MoroccoPortugalSpain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/9 26 9 1 16 37 88

OFC Nations Cup

Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
as  Western Samoa
1973
Did not enter Did not enter
1980
Pacific Community 1996 Did not qualify 3 1 1 1 5 10
as  Samoa
Australia 1998 Did not qualify 4 2 0 2 8 7
French Polynesia 2000 4 2 0 2 13 6
New Zealand 2002 4 2 0 2 8 9
Australia 2004 4 1 0 3 5 11
Pacific Community 2008 4 2 0 2 9 8
Solomon Islands 2012 Group stage 8th 3 0 0 3 1 24 Squad 3 2 1 0 5 3
Papua New Guinea 2016 Group stage 8th 3 0 0 3 0 19 Squad 3 2 0 1 6 3
Vanuatu 2024 To be determined To be determined
Total Group stage 2/10 6 0 0 6 1 43 29 14 2 13 59 57

Pacific Games

Pacific Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Fiji 1963 Did not enter
New Caledonia 1966
Papua New Guinea 1969
French Polynesia 1971
Guam 1975
Fiji 1979 Group stage 10th 3 0 0 3 3 19
Samoa 1983 Quarter-finals 6th 4 1 1 2 7 8
New Caledonia 1987 Did not enter
Papua New Guinea 1991
French Polynesia 1995
Fiji 2003
Samoa 2007 Group stage 5th 4 2 0 2 9 8
2011
Did not enter
2015
N/A – tournament was U23
Samoa 2019 Group stage 8th 4 1 0 3 3 22
Solomon Islands 2023 Group stage 7th 4 21 0 2 141 3
Total Quarter-finals 5/16 19 6 1 12 36 60
  1. Cook Islands forfeited the tournament before the seventh place final, Samoa received a 3-0 walkover win.

Head-to-head record

As of 18 July 2019[6]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD WPCT
 American Samoa 10 10 0 0 44 5 +39 100.00
 Australia 1 0 0 1 0 11 −11 0.00
 Chinese Taipei 1 0 0 1 0 5 −5 0.00
 Cook Islands 6 2 1 3 8 9 −1 33.33
 Fiji 5 0 0 5 2 22 −20 0.00
 Guam 1 0 0 1 2 4 −2 0.00
 New Caledonia 4 0 0 4 0 29 −29 0.00
 New Zealand 2 0 0 2 0 19 −19 0.00
 Papua New Guinea 5 0 0 5 3 26 −23 0.00
 Solomon Islands 3 0 0 3 0 20 −20 0.00
 Tahiti 7 0 0 7 3 43 −40 0.00
 Tonga 11 6 3 2 21 9 +12 54.55
 Tuvalu 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3 0.00
 Vanuatu 5 0 0 5 1 36 −35 0.00
 Wallis and Futuna 2 0 0 2 2 5 −3 0.00
Total 64 18 4 42 86 246 −160 28.13

Includes results as Western Samoa.

References

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Samoa Football Shirts". OldFootballShirts.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Match report" (PDF). OFC.
  5. ^ "Samoa". National Football Teams.
  6. ^ "World Football Elo Ratings: Samoa". Elo Ratings. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2017.

External links