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Interland national football team

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Interland Interland
Association IFA
FMF member 2007–15
Confederation EMUFA
Home stadium Niki National Arena
FMF code INT
First FMF intermicronational
Interland Interland 1–1 New Nsawam New Nsawam
Biggest win
Babkha Babkha 2–7 Interland Interland
Biggest defeat
Interland Interland 0–5 Mercury Mercury
FMF World Cup
Appearances 7 (first in 2008)
Best result Fourth place
EMU Championships
Appearances 6 (first in 2007)
Best result Winners

The Interland national football team was the football team which represented the micronation of Interland. It was a member of the EMUFA and was run by the IFA.

The team was generally seen as one of the strongest national sides on Micras, having qualified for seven FMF World Cups, finishing fourth in 2011, and winning EMU 2013.

History

The team was founded in 2007 after Interland was granted FMF membership not too long after its Micrasian claim was successful. Later in the year, the team competed in their first qualifiers for the FMF World Cup, where they finished third in their four-team group. The team also competed in the inaugural EMU Championships that year, finishing third in their group, one point behind Craitland.

The following year, the team had a more successful World Cup qualifying campaign, as they topped a tough group with twenty points. In their first finals appearance, the team were eliminated after their first two games, losses to hosts Amokolia and eventual runners-up Passas, but won their final match against Stormark to finish third in the group.

In 2009's qualifiers, the team again won its group, finishing above Hamland by a point without losing a match. However, the team's EMU 2009 and finals exploits were less fortunate, with a draw in both competitions being the team's best results as they finished last in both of their groups.

The team successfully qualified for the 2010 FMF World Cup with a comfortable second-placed finish in their group. Despite winning their opening finals match against Stormark, the team finished bottom of their group after losing their following two games.

Interland had their most successful year in 2011. After successfully winning their qualifying group, the team came second in their EMU 2011 group to reach the third-place play-off where they beat Nova England. In the 2011 FMF World Cup finals, the team continued their good form, beating Babkha with a record 7–2 and topping their group before surpassing Natopia in the quarter-finals. However, the team lost to hosts Shireroth in the semi-finals and Hamland in the third-place play-off to come fourth and seal their best World Cup finish.

In the following year's World Cup qualifying, Interland again topped their group, overtaking Nova English Korea in their last match to finish on 18 points. In the finals, the team disappointingly finished bottom of their group with only two points to their name. However, the team also qualified for EMU 2012 later in the year, where they topped their group before losing in the semi-finals and being beaten 4–3 in extra time by Craitland in the third-place play-off.

The 2013 qualifiers were also successful for Interland, as they finished top of their group with 12 points, without losing a match, to qualify for both the World Cup and EMU 2013, the latter of which they won the right to host. In EMU 2013, the team topped their group with six points, before overcoming Mercury in the semi-finals and beating holders Hamland 1–0 in the final for their first ever silverware. In the World Cup later in the year, the team topped their tough group with five points, but were well-beaten 5–0 by Mercury in the quarter-finals.

In 2014, the team topped their five-team qualifying group with 19 points to reach the 2014 FMF World Cup. The team also automatically qualified for EMU 2014 as holders, but finished bottom of their group with three points by virtue of goals scored. In the World Cup, the team finished third in their four-team group with three points after winning one of their matches.

In the 2015 qualifiers, the team failed to qualify for the first time in eight years; finishing third in their six-team group with 15 points, behind Indokistan in the play-off place. Interland left Micras soon afterwards.

Chronological competitive participation

Honours

Flag

Interland used the following flags during its FMF affiliation:

2007–09 2009–15
Interland
Interland