This article relates to a competition, national team or organisational matter associated with the FMF. Click here for further information.

Castilona national football team

From MicrasWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Castilona Castilona
FMF member 2020–
Confederation EMUFA
Home stadium La Fortalesa
FMF code CAS
First FMF intermicronational
North Antarctica North Antarctica 2–4 Mercury Mercury
Biggest win
North Antarctica North Antarctica 7–0 Lucerne Lucerne
Castilona Castilona 7–0 Ostland Ostland
Biggest defeat
Passas Passas 6–1 North Antarctica North Antarctica
FMF World Cup
Appearances 4 (first in 2013)
Best result Quarter-finals
CiboTap Championships
Appearances 2 (first in 2018)
Best result Third place
Copa Apollonia
Appearances 3 (first in 2012)
Best result Runners-up
EMU Championships
Appearances 1 (first in 2022)
Best result Group stage

The Castilona national football team is the football team which represents the Mercurian autonomous region of Castilona. It is a member of the EMUFA. The team is the official successor of North Antarctica, and as such retains its records.

History

The team was founded in mid-2020 after the foundation of Castilona as the successor state to the Mercurian autonomous territory of North Antarctica. Under the North Antarctica name, the team's competitive début came in 2012 as an independent nation, where they finished as runners-up in the inaugural Four Nations Internationals ahead of the 2012 FMF World Cup qualification rounds in which they placed second in their group. Although missing-out on a World Cup finals place, North Antarctica won the right to host the year's Copa Apollonia, where they finished fourth following a semi-final defeat shortly after performing poorly at the first Zeeburg Tournaments. The following year was more successful as the team topped their 2013 qualifying group to advance to a first World Cup finals, where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals after a solid performance, and a second Copa Apollonia, which saw them knocked-out at the group stage by the narrow margin of goals scored.

After being annexed by Haifa in early 2014, North Antarctica repeated their group-topping performance in the year's qualifiers to advance to the Copa Apollonia, in which their only defeat all tournament came in the final as they placed second, and their second World Cup, where they failed to advance past the group stages. The team switched allegiance to the CTFA and was annexed by Mercury ahead of the following year's qualifiers, which saw them labour to the top of the group and reach the 2015 FMF World Cup, where they advanced from their group in third before being knocked-out in the play-off round. The team failed to qualify for any finals in 2016, however, as they were beaten in a qualifying play-off for CiboTap 2016.

Another year of disappointment followed as the team placed lowly in their 2017 World Cup qualifying group, but a successful bid to host the 2018 CiboTap Championships led to a better subsequent year. As a tournament host, the team forewent the qualifiers and played in the 2018 FMF Confederations Cup, finishing bottom of a tough group, before a run to the CiboTap semi-finals on home soil ultimately ended with bronze medals for the squad. The team's momentum continued into the 2019 qualifying stages, advancing to the World Cup for the first time in four years, but ended with them crashing-out at the first hurdle in the finals after finishing bottom of their group. After qualifying comfortably for CiboTap 2020, the team ultimately finished in fourth place before being succeeded by Castilona soon afterwards.

The team first competed as Castilona in the 2021 FMF World Cup qualification rounds, finishing second in their five-team group with 19 points.

In the following year's EMU qualifiers, the team topped their five-team group unbeaten with twenty points to qualify for the 2022 EMU Championships, making them the first team to reach the finals tournaments of three confederations in their entire history. At EMU 2022, they were eliminated in the group stage after finishing third in their group with four points.

The 2023 FMF World Cup qualification rounds saw the team finish third in their six-team group with 21 points.

The team competed in the EMU 2024 qualifiers the following year, where they again placed third in their six-team group with 21 points, missing-out on a play-off place by the narrowest margin of goals scored.

Chronological competitive participation

As North Antarctica
As Castilona

Honours

Flag

Castilona has used the following flag during the entirety of its FMF affiliation:

2020–
Castilona
Retrieved from "https://micras.org/wiki/index.php?title=Castilona_national_football_team&oldid=340278"