Vanuatu national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vanuatu

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	The Men in Black and Gold
Association	Vanuatu Football Federation
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Vacant
Captain	Brian Kaltak
Most caps	Kensi Tangis (39)
Top scorer	Richard Iwai (20)[1]
Home stadium	Port Vila Municipal Stadium
FIFA code	VAN
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	164 Decrease 1 (19 December 2024)[2]
Highest	131 (October 2007)
Lowest	201 (October–November 2015)
First international
New Zealand 9–0 New Hebrides   (Nouméa, New Caledonia; 4 October 1951)[3]
Biggest win
Kiribati 0–18 Vanuatu   (Lautoka, Fiji; 7 July 2003)
Biggest defeat
New Zealand 9–0 New Hebrides   (Nouméa, New Caledonia; 4 October 1951)
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances	10 (first in 1973 )
Best result	Runners-up (2024)
Pacific Games
Appearances	15 (first in 1963 )
Best result	Runners-up (1971)
Melanesia Cup/MSG Prime Minister's Cup
Appearances	9 (first in 1988 )
Best result	Melanesia Cup: Champions (1990) MSG Prime Minister's Cup: Third place (2023)
Wantok Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 2008 )
Best result	Champions (2011)

The Vanuatu men's national football team (French: équipe du Vanuatu de football) represents Vanuatu in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the Vanuatu Football Federation, which is currently a member of FIFA and the Oceania Football Confederation.^[5]

It was known as the New Hebrides until the New Hebrides became Republic of Vanuatu in 1980. It finished fourth in the OFC Nations Cup in 1973, 2000, and 2002. In the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup, Vanuatu beat New Zealand 4–2, preventing the regional powerhouse from making the final and, consequently, the running for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Vanuatu caused another shock in the 2007 South Pacific Games by knocking out the Solomon Islands for bronze medal and also enable to enter the second stage of qualification for the OFC Nations Cup and consequently a chance with a playoff for the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa. The last time they had won against Solomon Islands was back in 1998 and had since been on the receiving side of many losses save for one draw against them. In July 2008, Vanuatu faced two national teams from the Solomon Islands during the inaugural edition of the Wantok Cup. Vanuatu lost 1–2 to the Solomons' team A, but defeated their team B by two goals to one.

In 2023, Vanuatu was invited for the 2023 Intercontinental Cup tournament held in India which is the team first tournament outside Oceania. In the first match on 9 June 2023, they would face Lebanon but suffered a 3–1 defeat. In the next match, Vanuatu conceded a late goal losing to host India on a narrow 1–0 lost. On 15 June 2023, Vanuatu found themselves with a bright smiles as they would go on to win Mongolia 1–0 thus earning them the 3 points and finishing in third place.

In 2024, FIFA invited Vanuatu to the 2024 FIFA Series tournament held from 21 to 26 March 2024 in Jeddah where they would face Guinea (CAF) and Brunei (AFC). On 21 March, Vanuatu faced their first ever opponent from the Africa continent, Guinea in a 6–0 lost.

Vanuatu progressed to the final of the OFC Nations Cup for the first time in 2024 and finished as runners-up of the tournament on 30 June 2024 after losing to New Zealand with a 3–0 scoreline.^{[6] [7]}

Kit provider[8]	Period
Italy Lotto	2004–2011
United States Nike	2012
Australia Veto	2013–2016
New Zealand Pasifika	2017
Australia Gorilla Sports	2018–2020
Australia KPI Sports	2020–2022
Italy Macron	2022–2023
Italy Lotto	2022–present

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

Position
Head coach	Brazil Juliano Schmeling
Assistant coach	Vanuatu George Amos
Assistant coach	Vanuatu François Sakama
Team Manager	Vanuatu Peter Takaro
Goalkeeper coach	Vanuatu Jimmy Obed
Assistant Goalkeeper coach	Vanuatu Jean Yves Galinie
Physio	Vanuatu Albert Lata

New Hebrides

• P. Reichert (1973–1987)

Vanuatu

The following 23 players were called up for the PacificAus Sports Football Series in September 2024.^[10]

Caps and goals are correct as of 30 June 2024, after the match against  New Zealand .

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Massing Kalotang	(2002年08月26日) August 26, 2002 (age 22)	8	0	Vanuatu Erakor Gold Star
1GK	Anthony Quai	0	0	Vanuatu Penama
1GK	Dick Sablan	(1996年12月23日) December 23, 1996 (age 28)	0	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
2DF	Michel Coulon	(1995年12月03日) 3 December 1995 (age 29)	17	1	Vanuatu Mauriki
2DF	Timothy Boulet	(1998年11月29日) November 29, 1998 (age 26)	15	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
2DF	Selwym Vatu	(1998年06月13日) 13 June 1998 (age 26)	13	0	Vanuatu ABM Galaxy
2DF	Tasso Jeffrey	(1998年08月12日) 12 August 1998 (age 26)	12	0	Australia Western Strikers
2DF	Jacques Wanemut	(1992年02月02日) February 2, 1992 (age 33)	4	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
2DF	Zidane Maguekon	(2000年06月03日) June 3, 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Vanuatu Classic
2DF	Thomas Salemu	0	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
2DF	Joshua Tokio	(2001年04月04日) April 4, 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
3MF	John Alick	(1991年04月25日) 25 April 1991 (age 33)	25	0	Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors
3MF	John Wohale	(1997年07月09日) 9 July 1997 (age 27)	17	1	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
3MF	Jared Clark	(1998年01月21日) 21 January 1998 (age 27)	8	0	Australia FK Beograd
3MF	Harry Norman	(2003年12月31日) 31 December 2003 (age 21)	8	1	Vanuatu Exe Green Rovers
3MF	Alick Worworbu	(1997年08月27日) 27 August 1997 (age 27)	4	0	Vanuatu Yatel
4FW	Alex Saniel	(1996年11月08日) 8 November 1996 (age 28)	23	1	Australia Northern Demons
4FW	Johnathan Spokeyjack	(1998年11月13日) 13 November 1998 (age 26)	16	2	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
4FW	Godine Tenene	(1998年05月03日) 3 May 1998 (age 26)	16	3	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
4FW	Tony Kaltak	(1996年11月05日) 5 November 1996 (age 28)	16	15	Vanuatu Erakor Gold Star
4FW	Jean Kaltak	(1994年08月19日) 19 August 1994 (age 30)	8	9	Vanuatu Erakor Gold Star
4FW	Tonly Kalotang	(1997年05月19日) 19 May 1997 (age 27)	2	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
4FW	Jordy Tasip	(2000年07月14日) 14 July 2000 (age 24)	0	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird

The following players have also been called up to the national squad in the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	James Iamar	(1997年01月25日) January 25, 1997 (age 28)	4	0	Vanuatu Tafea	2024 OFC Nations Cup
GK	Dgen Leo	(2000年08月06日) August 6, 2000 (age 24)	3	0	Vanuatu Classic	2024 OFC Nations Cup
GK	Joshua Willie	(2000年06月13日) June 13, 2000 (age 24)	2	0	Vanuatu ABM Galaxy	2024 FIFA Series
GK	Anthony Taiwia	(1994年09月04日) 4 September 1994 (age 30)	0	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird	2023 Pacific Games
DF	Brian Kaltak	(1993年09月30日) 30 September 1993 (age 31)	30	5	Australia Central Coast Mariners	2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF	Jason Thomas	(1997年01月20日) 20 January 1997 (age 28)	27	1	Vanuatu Erakor Golden Star	2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF	Lency Philip	(1997年06月08日) 8 June 1997 (age 27)	12	0	Vanuatu Classic	2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF	Kerry Iawak	(1996年03月16日) 16 March 1996 (age 29)	5	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird	2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF	Samuel Kaloros	(1989年09月16日) 16 September 1989 (age 35)	4	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird	2024 FIFA Series
DF	Joseph Kalotiti	1	0	Vanuatu Pango Green Bird	2024 FIFA Series
DF	Bethuel Ollie	(1997年08月19日) 19 August 1997 (age 27)	2	0	Vanuatu North Efate United	2023 Pacific Games
MF	Bong Kalo	(1997年01月18日) 18 January 1997 (age 28)	27	4	Vanuatu ABM Galaxy	2024 OFC Nations Cup
MF	Claude Aru	(1997年04月25日) 25 April 1997 (age 27)	14	1	Vanuatu North Efate United	2024 OFC Nations Cup
MF	Barry Mansale	(1995年11月01日) 1 November 1995 (age 29)	11	1	Vanuatu Yatel	2024 OFC Nations Cup
MF	Raoul Coulon	(1995年12月03日) 3 December 1995 (age 29)	3	0	Vanuatu Yatel	2023 Pacific Games
MF	Jean Taussi	(1996年07月17日) 17 July 1996 (age 28)	3	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird	2023 Pacific Games
MF	Lee Taiwia	(1995年12月23日) 23 December 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird	2023 Pacific Games
FW	Kensi Tangis	(1991年12月19日) 19 December 1991 (age 33)	36	9	Vanuatu ABM Galaxy	2024 OFC Nations Cup
FW	Joe Moses	(2002年05月22日) 22 May 2002 (age 22)	9	2	Vanuatu ABM Galaxy	2024 OFC Nations Cup
FW	Maliwan Thomas	(2005年01月26日) 26 January 2005 (age 20)	1	0	Vanuatu Tafea	2024 FIFA Series
FW	Keshly Joseph	0	0	2024 FIFA Series
FW	Azariah Soromon	(1999年03月01日) 1 March 1999 (age 26)	17	7	Australia Western Strikers	2023 Pacific Games

As of 21 December 2024^[11]

Players in bold are still active with Vanuatu.

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Kensi Tangis	39	9	2011–present
2	Richard Iwai	34	20	2000–2011
3	Etienne Mermer	33	15	1998–2008
	Brian Kaltak	33	5	2011–present
	Bong Kalo	33	5	2015–present
6	Fedy Vava	30	2	2000–2012
	John Alick	30	2	2017–present
8	Lexa Bibi	29	2	2000–2004
	Seimata Chilia	29	9	2000–2011
10	Pita David Maki	28	2	2000–2008

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Richard Iwai	20	34	0.59	2000–2011
2	Tony Kaltack	15	16	0.94	2016–2019
	Etienne Mermer	15	33	0.45	1998–2008
4	Seule Soromon	10	10	1	2007–2011
	Jean Kaltack	10	11	0.91	2011–present
	Azariah Soromon	10	26	0.38	2017–present
7	Seimata Chilia	9	29	0.31	2000–2011
	Kensi Tangis	9	39	0.23	2011–present
9	Bill Nicholls	6	8	0.75	2015–2019
	François Sakama	6	12	0.5	2007–2015
	Robert Tasso	6	12	0.5	2011–2016
	Mitch Cooper	6	12	0.5	2019–present

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Host	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
1990	Italy	Did not enter								Did not enter
1994	United States	Did not qualify								4	0	0	4	1	18
1998	France									2	0	1	1	2	3
2002	South Korea  Japan									4	1	0	3	11	21
2006	Germany									9	4	1	4	21	11
2010	South Africa									12	5	1	6	30	19
2014	Brazil									3	1	0	2	8	9
2018	Russia									3	1	0	2	3	8
2022	Qatar	Withdrew								Withdrew
2026	Canada  Mexico  United States	Did not qualify								3	1	0	2	5	11
2030	Morocco  Portugal  Spain	To be determined								To be determined
2034	Saudi Arabia
Total		0/10	40	13	3	24	81	100

Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
as  New Hebrides
New Zealand 1973	Fourth place	4th	5	1	1	3	5	10	Squad	No qualification
New Caledonia 1980	Group stage	7th	3	0	0	3	6	9	—
as  Vanuatu
Pacific Community 1996	Did not qualify									4	0	1	3	5	12
Australia 1998	Group stage	5th	2	0	0	2	2	13	Squad	4	2	1	1	8	6
French Polynesia 2000	Fourth place	4th	4	1	0	3	5	8	Squad	4	2	0	2	12	7
New Zealand 2002		4th	5	2	0	3	2	6	Squad	Qualified automatically
Australia 2004	Group stage	6th	5	1	0	4	5	9	Squad	4	3	1	0	16	2
Pacific Community 2008	Fourth place	4th	6	1	1	4	5	13	Squad	6	4	0	2	25	6
Solomon Islands 2012	Group stage	5th	3	1	0	2	8	9	Squad	Qualified automatically
Papua New Guinea 2016		7th	3	1	0	2	3	8	Squad
Fiji Vanuatu 2024	Runners-up	2nd	4	2	0	2	3	8	Squad
Total	Runners-up	10/11	40	10	2	28	44	93	—	22	11	3	8	66	33

Pacific Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
as  New Hebrides
Fiji 1963	Group stage	6th	1	0	0	1	3	6
New Caledonia 1966	Bronze medal	3rd	4	1	2	1	9	14
Papua New Guinea 1969	Group stage	5th	5	1	1	3	13	13
French Polynesia 1971	Silver medal	2nd	4	2	1	1	9	12
Guam 1975	Group stage	5th	2	0	0	2	1	6
Fiji 1979	Fifth place	5th	6	4	0	2	19	6
as  Vanuatu
Samoa 1983	Group stage	6th	1	0	0	1	0	6
New Caledonia 1987	Fourth place	4th	6	2	1	3	16	13
Papua New Guinea 1991	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	9	8
French Polynesia 1995	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	10	9
Fiji 2003	Bronze medal	3rd	6	3	3	0	23	3
Samoa 2007	Bronze medal	3rd	6	4	0	2	25	6
New Caledonia 2011	Group stage	6th	5	4	0	1	18	7
Papua New Guinea 2015	See Vanuatu national under-23 football team
Samoa 2019	Group stage	5th	4	2	1	1	25	2
Solomon Islands 2023	Semi-finals	4th	4	1	1	2	9	6
Total	15/15	0 Titles	64	28	10	26	189	117

Up to matches played on 15 November 2024.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
American Samoa	4	4	0	0	39	1	+38	100.00
Australia	4	0	0	4	0	7	−7	0.00
Brunei	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	0.00
Cook Islands	1	1	0	0	8	1	+7	100.00
Estonia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0.00
Fiji	37	11	7	19	41	83	−42	29.73
Guam	3	3	0	0	14	0	+14	100.00
Guinea	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	0.00
India	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0.00
Indonesia	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	0.00
Kiribati	1	1	0	0	18	0	+18	100.00
Lebanon	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	0.00
Mongolia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
New Caledonia	40	8	7	25	45	101	−56	20.00
New Zealand	15	1	0	14	11	73	−62	6.67
Papua New Guinea	23	9	5	9	33	29	+4	39.13
Samoa [a]	6	6	0	0	40	2	+38	100.00
Solomon Islands	36	7	7	22	38	78	−40	19.44
Tahiti	26	5	3	18	28	64	−36	19.23
Tonga	5	5	0	0	33	2	+31	100.00
Tuvalu	4	4	0	0	22	1	+21	100.00
Wallis and Futuna	2	2	0	0	10	1	+9	100.00
Total	214	68	29	117	384	463	−79	31.78

• OFC Nations Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2024

• Pacific Games
  • Silver medal (1): 1971
  • Bronze medal (3): 1966, 2003, 2007
• Melanesia Cup
  • Champions (1): 1990
  • Runners-up (1): 1998
  • Third place (3): 1988, 2000, 2023
• Wantok Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2008

Sources:^{[12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]}

• Vanuatu national under-15 football team
• Vanuatu national under-17 football team
• Vanuatu national under-20 football team
• Vanuatu national under-23 football team
• Vanuatu women's national football team
• Vanuatu women's national under-20 football team

• Vanuafoot – Vanuatu Football Federation Official site
• Vanuatu at OFC
• Vanuatu at FIFA
• Vanuatu Football Federation Official Blog site
• VFFFoot.over-nlog.com

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vanuatu_national_football_team&oldid=1281630888"

Categories:

• Vanuatu national football team
• Oceanian national association football teams

Hidden categories:

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from May 2018
• Articles containing French-language text
• Pages using sports table with both adjust and startpoints
• Pages using national squad without sport or team link