The Guam national football team represents Guam, an overseas territory of the United States, in men's international football and is controlled by the Guam Football Association. Affiliated with FIFA since 1996 and a member of AFC since 1991.
Guam reached its highest ever position in the FIFA World Ranking at 146th in 2015 after victories over Turkmenistan and India. Guam's first FIFA World Cup qualification match was played against Iran national football team at Tabriz.
History
Beginnings (1960s–1990s)
Football in Guam began in the 1960s, on the initiative of two pioneers: an Irish priest, Tony Gillespie, and an owner of a construction company, Charles Whang, who settled in Guam and created the Guam Soccer Cup before becoming the first president of the Guam Football Association in 1975.
Guam played its first international match at the 1975 Pacific Games against Solomon Islands, losing 5–1. This result was followed by an 11–0 loss to Fiji, eliminating them from the competition. In the 1979 Games, Guam again lost twice to New Caledonia 11–1 and New Hebrides 5–0. Progressing to the Consolation Tournament, Guam registered their first victories, beating Western Samoa 4–2, and Tuvalu 7–2 before losing again to New Hebrides, 5–1.
AFC and FIFA Member (1991–2011) Despite being considered part of Oceania, and having never faced an Asian team to that point, Guam became an associate member of the AFC in 1991 but continued to participate in the Pacific Games. In 1996, Guam became both a full member of the AFC and of FIFA.
As a full member of the AFC and FIFA, Guam played its first matches against Asian teams as part of the 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification losing all three matches against South Korea (9–0), Vietnam (9–0), and Chinese Taipei (9–2).
In 1998, Guam played in the Micronesian Games, though the tournament was a 9-a-side competition with 80 minute matches. Guam finished top of the group stage but lost 3–0 to Northern Mariana Islands in the final. Guam entered the 2000 Asian Cup qualification but finished last in their group again, losing to Vietnam (11–0), China (19–0), and Philippines (2–0).
Guam became one of the founding members of the East Asian Football Federation in 2002 and participated in the qualifiers for the inaugural 2003 East Asian Football Championship, finishing last again without registering a goal. The same is true for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification, beaten by Bhutan and Mongolia. For the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Guam entered and was scheduled to face Nepal in the first round but both Nepal and Guam withdrew for financial reasons before their first match.
In the 2005 East Asian Football Championship qualifiers, Guam lost all four matches heavily, against Chinese Taipei (9–0), Hong Kong (15–0), Mongolia (4–1), and North Korea (21–0). Following these defeats, Guam entered the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup, a competition designed for emerging nations to help develop their football. Guam again lost all three matches to Palestine (11–0), Bangladesh (3–0), and Cambodia (3–0).
Guam advanced to the second stage of qualifying in the 2008 East Asian Football Championship by beating Northern Marianas 12–2 over two legs but they were eliminated in the next round by Chinese Taipei (10–0), and Hong Kong (15–1). In the 2010 East Asian Football Championship qualifiers, Guam managed to get its first victory over a FIFA member, beating Mongolia 1–0. They would go on to top the group before being eliminated at the next stage. Guam returned to the 2011 Pacific Games after a sixteen-year absence, but only managed to beat American Samoa 2–0, finishing second last and failing to advance to the knock-out stages.
Building the football structure (2012–present)
Gary White became Guam's manager in 2012 and called-up players of Guamanian origin based in the United States like Ryan Guy and A. J. DeLaGarza to improve the level of his team. In the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, Matao managed to advance past the first round by beating Northern Marianas (3–1) and Macao (3–0). Guam then participated in the 2012 Philippine Peace Cup, replacing Hong Kong, losing against Philippines (1–0) and Chinese Taipei (2–0) but beat Macao (3–0) in its final group game to finish third. Guam advanced to the second qualifying stage of both the 2015 and 2017 EAFF Championship finishing third and fourth respectively and failing to advance the final competition.
In 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, Guam beat Turkmenistan (1–0) and India (2–1), finishing fourth in their group and qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup third round qualifiers, although Guam withdrew before the draw took place. Guam then failed to progress past the first qualifying round for the 2019 EAFF Championship.
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Guam beat Bhutan 5–1 over two legs but lost all eight of their second round matches and finished bottom of their group, scoring two goals and conceding 32.
After nearly not playing an international match for a year, Guam participated in the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Singapore, where they would ultimately lost 3–1 on aggregate.
During the 2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship preliminary, Guam won their first match against Macau on 14 December 2024 in a 2–1 win, its the first time they won against different opponents aside from Northern Mariana Islands.
2026 FIFA Series The men's competition of the 2026 FIFA Series was split into nine different sections hosted across eight countries. In November 2025, FIFA announced that Puerto Rico would host one such section in Bayamón, in which Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa would also compete. The Puerto Rican section of the tournament was held in a four-match format (semi-finals, third-place match and final) in late March 2026. Guam finished third in the section after losing to hosts Puerto Rico in its semi-final but defeating American Samoa in the third-place match.
Team image
Nicknames Until 2011, the nickname of the Guamanian selection was Chamorros, in reference to the local population of Guam. When Gary White took charge of Guam, the team has changed their nickname to Matao, referring to highest social class in ancient Chamorro society in the Chamorro language. White also promoted the use of the Guam pledge before each match of the selection, referred to as the Inifresi.
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.
2026
Coaching staff PositionName Head coach Ross Awa Assistant coach Christopher Malenab Assistant coach Manfred Preschern Goalkeeper coach Jeroen Bos Video Analyst Christopher Malenab Team Doctor Dr. Luis Cruz Physiotherapist Dr. Jon Thompson Physiotherapist Walfred Javier Team Manager Vance Manibusan High Performance Manager Pavel Gubenko Media Officer Jill Espiritu Equipment Director Thomas Castro
Coaching history
Willie McFaul (1999–2003) Sugao Kambe (2003–2005) Norio Tsukitate (2005–2009) Kazuo Uchida (2011–2012) Gary White (2012–2016) Darren Sawatzky (2016–2017) Karl Dodd (2017–2021) Seo Dong-won (2021) Kim Sang-hoon (2021–2023) Ross Awa (2023–present)
Players Current squad The following players were called up for the 2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship preliminary competition.
Caps and goals correct as of December 14, 2024, after the match against Macau.
Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up to the Guam squad within last 12 months.
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension
Player records
Players in bold are still active with Guam.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer1Jason Cunliffe74262006–present2Marcus Lopez4372012–present3Ian Mariano4232007–20194Dylan Naputi4042011–20195Travis Nicklaw3912012–present6Dominic Gadia3602003–2019Mark Chargualaf3602007–2021Jonahan Romero3602012–present9Shawn Nicklaw3522012–201910Ryan Guy3342012–2016Micah Paulino3302008–2016
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer1Jason Cunliffe26742006–present2Matthew Naputi13——1998–20053Zachary Pangelinan8122005–20084Marcus Lopez7432012–present5Joshua Borja5152009–20136James Gomez492021–presentChristopher Mendiola4112007–2009Shane Malcolm4292014–2019Ryan Guy4332012–2016Dylan Naputi4402011–2019
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup +FIFA World CupQualificationYearRoundPosition 1930 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 35 2006 Withdrew Withdrew 2010 2014 2018 Did not qualify 8 2 1 5 3 16 2022 10 1 0 9 7 33 2026 2 0 0 2 1 3 2030 To be determined To be determined 2034Total2231181187
AFC Asian Cup AFC Asian CupQualification record YearResult Position 1956 Not a member of the AFC Not a member of the AFC 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 Did not enter Did not enter 1996Did not qualify3003227 20003003032 20042002011 2007Did not enterDid not enter 2011Did not qualifyAFC Challenge Cup 2015 2019Withdrew during qualification8215316 2023Did not qualify 121011836 2027Withdrew during qualification200213Total0/18—30312514125 2019 – Withdrew from the third tournament due to financial constraints.
East Asian Football Championship
East Asian Football Championship recordPreliminary competitionYearRoundPositionEast Asian Football Championship 2003 Did not qualify4004022 20054004149 200852031532 20106213928EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 Did not qualify6213818 20156321106EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2017 Did not qualify300327 2019311153 2022Did not participateNot held 2025Did not qualify210126Total –0/9000 0 00391152352171
AFC Challenge Cup AFC Challenge Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPosition* 2006Group stage16th3003017No qualification 2008Did not qualify3003418 2010Did not enterDid not enter 2012 2014Did not qualify310239TotalGroup stage1/530030176105727
Pacific Games
Pacific Games recordYearRoundPosition 1963Did not enter 1966 1969 1971 1975Group stage 7th 2 0 0 2 1 16 1979 6th 5 2 0 3 13 25 1983Did not enter 1987 1991Group stage 8th 4 0 0 3 1 52 1995 8th 3 0 0 3 0 23 2003Did not enter 2007 2011 Group stage 9th 5 1 1 3 4 21 2015N/A – tournament was U23 2019Did not enterTotalGroup stage5/151931 14 19147
Pacific Mini Games
Pacific Mini Games recordYearRoundPosition* 1981did not enter 1993Group stage8th3003135 2017did not enterTotalGroup Stage1/33003135
Micronesian Games
Micronesian Games recordYearResultPosition 1998 Runners-up2nd6501527 2014 Did not enter 2018 2024 Football was not part of the GamesTotalRunners-up1/36501435
Head-to-head record As of 6 June 2026 +OpponentFirstLastPWDLGFGAGDConfederation201120262200800OFC20142014201124–2CONCACAF20122012100109–9AFC20062006100103–3AFC20032019310257–2AFC20062021410336–3AFC200020213003033–33AFC19962016122151352–39AFC197519962002119–18OFC200320249018464–60AFC20132015310226–4AFC200020153003031–31AFC200520165005342–39AFC19961996100109–9AFC201320131010110AFC2003202473221073AFC20192019200214–3AFC200320187214717–17AFC201320262002111–10AFC197920112002120–19OFC20072024151122481830AFC20152016201101–1AFC20082008100129–7AFC200620061001011–11AFC19951995100109–9OFC200020266006218–16AFC20262026100104–4CONCACAF20152023301235–2AFC197520113003224–22OFC20082008100115–4AFC20192021200207–7AFC199319931001011–11OFC200020001001016–16AFC201520152101110AFC19952011200202–2OFC19962000200202–20AFC
Honours Regional Micronesian Games Runners-up (1): 1998
Friendly Marianas Cup (3): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
FIFA Series 3rd Place (1): 2026
References
External links
Guam at AFC Guam at FIFA