The Samoa national football team () 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 1988 Summer Olympics however they were defeated by New Zealand over two legs, losing 7–0 at home before being defeated 12–0 in Auckland. In the playoffs for the next round, Samoa lost to Chinese Taipei 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.
During 2024 qualifying, Samoa qualified for the final tournament after a 4-1 win over Tonga, and a 1-0 win against Cook Islands. Samoa were then eliminated from the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup after a 2-0 defeat to Tahiti, a 9-1 defeat against co-hosts Fiji, and a 2-1 defeat against Papua New Guinea; this ensured their elimination as Samoa placed fourth in Group B after conceding thirteen goals without a single point.
Kit sponsorship
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;"
|-
! Kit supplier
! Period
|-
|align="Left"| Puma ||1998
|-
|align="left"| Lotto ||2000
|-
|align="left"| Admiral ||2001
|-
|align="left"| Uhlsport ||2002
|-
|align="left"| Lotto ||2004
|-
|align="left"| Uhlsport || 2005
|-
|align="left"| Lotto || 2006–2014
|-
|align="left"| Nike ||2015–2016
|-
|align="left"| Adidas ||2016–2018
|-
|align="left"| FC || 2018
|-
|align="left"| Lotto ||2019–
|}
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Coaching staff
{| class=wikitable
|-
!style=color:#FFFFFF;background:#0000FF|Position
!style=color:#FFFFFF;background:#0000FF|Name
|-
| Head coach || Jess Ibrom
|-
| Assistant coach || Alastair McLae
|-
| Goalkeeping coach || Joseph Kapisi
|-
| Team manager || Saolotoga Pula
|-
| Technical adviser || Jess Ibrom
|-
| Gear manager || Bevan Kapisi
|-
|International Scout || Alastair McLae
|-
|International Scout || Russ Gurr
|}
Coaching history
- Terry Epa (1996–2001)
- Vic Fernandez (2001–2002)
- Malo Vaga (2002)
- David Brand (2002/2005)
- Rudi Gutendorf (2003)
- Falevi Umutaua (2007)
- Tunoa Lui (2011)
- Malo Vaga (2012–2014)
- Phineas Young (2014–2016)
- Scott Easthope (2016–2018)
- Paul Ualesi (2019)
- Matt Calcott (2021–2022)
- Ryan Stewart (2023–2024)
- Jess Ibrom (2024–present)
Players
The following players were called up for the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup.
Caps and goals correct as of 22 June 2024, after the game against Papua New Guinea.
Recent call-ups
Player records
:Players in bold are still active with Samoa.
Most appearances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
!class="unsortable" style="width:150px;"|Name
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Goals
!class="unsortable" style="width:100px;"|Career
|-
|1
|align=left|Andrew Setefano
|28
|0
|2011–present
|-
|2
|align=left|Desmond Fa'aiuaso
|20
|9
|2001–2016
|-
|rowspan=2|3
|align=left|Filipo Bureta
|14
|0
|2001–2016
|-
|align=left|Lionel Taylor
|14
|1
|2004–2016
|-
|rowspan=4|5
|align=left|Junior Michael
|13
|5
|1996–2007
|-
|align=left|Luke Tolo Kent
|13
|0
|2023–present
|-
|align=left|Dauntae Mariner
|13
|0
|2023–present
|-
|align=left|Luke Salisbury
|13
|2
|2023–present
|-
|rowspan=3|9
|align=left|Silao Malo
|12
|2
|2011–2016
|-
|align=left|Jarrell Sale
|12
|0
|2007–2015
|-
|align=left| Mike Saofaiga
|12
|0
|2011–2019
|-
|}
Top goalscorers
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
!class="unsortable" width=150px|Name
!width=50px|Goals
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Ratio
!class="unsortable" width=100px|Career
|-
|1
|align="left"|Desmond Fa'aiuaso
|9
|20
|
|2001–2016
|-
|rowspan=2|2
|align="left"|Michael Tumua Leo
|5
|6
|
|2023–present
|-
|align="left"|Junior Michael
|5
|13
|
|1996–2007
|-
|4
|align="left"|Dilo Tumua
|4
|7
|
|2023–present
|-
|rowspan=4|5
|align="left"|Tama Fasavalu
|3
|4
|
|2002–2004
|-
|align="left"| Vito Laloata
|3
|4
|
|2015–2019
|-
|align="left"|Nathan Viliamu
|3
|7
|
|2024–present
|-
|align="left"|Pualele Lemana
|3
|11
|
|2001–2004
|-
|}
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan="9"|FIFA World Cup record
!rowspan="26"|
!colspan="6"|FIFA World Cup qualification record
|-
!Year
!Result
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
|1930 to 1986
|colspan=8|Not a FIFA member
|colspan=6|Not a FIFA member
|-
!colspan=9|as
!colspan=6|as
|-
| 1990
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 1994
|colspan=8|Withdrew
|colspan=6|Withdrew
|-
!colspan=9|as
!colspan=6|as
|-
| 1998
|colspan=8 rowspan=6|Did not qualify
|2
|1
|0
|1
|2
|2
|-
| 2002
|4
|1
|0
|3
|9
|18
|-
| 2006
|4
|1
|0
|3
|5
|11
|-
| 2010
|4
|2
|0
|2
|9
|8
|-
| 2014
|6
|2
|1
|3
|6
|27
|-
| 2018
|6
|2
|0
|4
|6
|22
|-
| 2022
|colspan=8|Withdrew
|colspan=6|Withdrew
|-
| 2026
| colspan="8" |Did not qualify
|5
|2
|0
|3
|5
|16
|-
| 2030
| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |To be determined
| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |To be determined
|-
| 2034
|-
!Total
!–
!
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!31
!11
!1
!19
!42
!104
|}
OFC Nations Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan="10"|Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record
!rowspan="2"|
!colspan="6"|Qualification record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!Squad
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
!colspan=17|as
|-
| 1973
|colspan=9 rowspan=2|Did not enter
!rowspan=3|
|colspan=6 rowspan=2|Did not enter
|-
| 1980
|-
| 1996
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|3
|1
|1
|1
|5
|10
|-
!colspan=17|as
|-
| 1998
|colspan=9 rowspan=5|Did not qualify
!rowspan=10|
|4
|2
|0
|2
|8
|7
|-
| 2000
|4
|2
|0
|2
|13
|6
|-
| 2002
|4
|2
|0
|2
|8
|9
|-
| 2004
|4
|1
|0
|3
|5
|11
|-
| 2008
|4
|2
|0
|2
|9
|8
|-
| 2012
| rowspan="3" |Group stage
|8th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|1
|24
|Squad
|3
|2
|1
|0
|5
|3
|-
| 2016
|8th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|0
|19
|Squad
|3
|2
|0
|1
|6
|3
|-
| 2024
|7th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|2
|13
|Squad
|2
|2
|0
|0
|5
|1
|-
!Total
!Group stage
!3/11
!9
!0
!0
!9
!3
!56
!—
!31
!16
!2
!13
!64
!58
|}
Pacific Games
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan=9|Pacific Games record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| 1963
|rowspan=5 colspan=8|Did not enter
|-
| 1966
|-
| 1969
|-
| 1971
|-
| 1975
|-
| 1979
|Group stage
|10th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|3
|19
|-
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1983
|Quarter-finals
|6th
|4
|1
|1
|2
|7
|8
|-
| 1987
|rowspan=4 colspan=8|Did not enter
|-
| 1991
|-
| 1995
|-
| 2003
|-
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2007
|Group stage
|5th
|4
|2
|0
|2
|9
|8
|-
| 2011
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|-
| 2015
|colspan=8|N/A – tournament was U23
|-
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2019
|Group stage
|8th
|4
|1
|0
|3
|3
|22
|-
|-
| 2023
|Group stage
|7th
|4
|2
|0
|2
|14
|3
|-
!Total
!Quarter-finals
!5/16
!19
!6
!1
!12
!36
!60
|}
Head-to-head record
As of 15 November 2024
<small>Includes results as Western Samoa.</small>
Historical kits
References
External links
- Samoa at OFC
- Samoa at FIFA