View source for Mercury national football team

{{Mercurian article}}
{{Infobox national team
| Name               = '''{{team flag|Mercury|nolink=yes}}'''
| Nickname           = 
| logo               = Mercury logo.png
| pixels             = 125px
| Association        = [[MeFA]]
| FMF years          = 2011&ndash;
| Confederation      = [[EMUFA]]
| Coach              = 
| Captain            = [[Joe Foxon (footballer)|Joe Foxon]]
| Most caps          = 
| Top scorer         = 
| Home Stadium       = [[Freddie Mercury Memorial Arena]]
| FMF Trigramme      = MER
| FMF Rank           = 
| FMF max            = 
| FMF max date       = 
| FMF min            = 
| FMF min date       = 

| First game         = {{team flag-rt|Barrington|football}} 0&ndash;1 {{team flag|Cyberia|football}}
| Largest win        = {{team flag-rt|Mercury|nolink=yes}} 13&ndash;0 {{team flag|Lucerne|football}}
| Largest loss       = {{team flag-rt|Valencia|football}} 4&ndash;1 {{team flag|Barrington|football}}
| World cup apps     = 7
| World cup first    = 2012
| World cup best     = Winners
| Regional name      = EMU Championships
| Regional cup apps  = 8
| Regional cup first = 2011
| Regional cup best  = Winners

| website            = [http://mercuryfa.webs.com/ MeFA]
}}

The '''Mercury national football team''' is the [[wikipedia:Association football|football]] team which represents the micronation of [[Mercury]]. The team is the official successor of [[Barrington national football team|Barrington]] and [[Wyke national football team|Wyke]], the latter of which played in no [[FMF]]-affiliated matches, and as such retains their records. It is a member of the [[EMUFA]] and is run by the [[MeFA]]. 

Having qualified for their first [[FMF World Cup]] in 2012, the team is seen as a major force in [[Micras]]ian football, having since won the [[2014 FMF World Cup]], the [[2014 EMU Championships|2014]], [[2018 EMU Championships|2018]] and [[2020 EMU Championships]], and the [[2020 FMF Confederations Cup|2020 Confederations Cup]].

==History==
The Mercury national team was founded with the successful transition of [[microwiki:Republic of Wyke|Wyke]]'s lands to [[Mercury|Mercurian]] rule in early 2011. Wyke's [[Wyke national football team|national side]] was the successor of [[Barrington national football team|Barrington's]] but played no matches. Barrington first competed in the [[2010 FMF World Cup qualification|2010 World Cup qualifiers]], where the team finished their group in second-last place, failing to win a single game.

In preparation for the [[2011 FMF World Cup qualification|2011 qualifiers]], the renamed Mercury team took on [[Craitland national football team|Craitland]] in a two-legged friendly match. In the away leg, Mercury showed an impressive amount of promise, but were defeated 3&ndash;2. They lost the return leg two weeks later 1&ndash;0, but this result was a kick start for a vastly improved qualifying campaign, in which Mercury finished third in their group, qualifying for the [[2011 EMU Championships]]. Mercury drew their opening game against [[Passas national football team|Passas]], before an unfortunate 1&ndash;0 defeat to [[Hamland national football team|Hamland]]. They then held out for three consecutive 0&ndash;0 draws, to finish fourth in the six-team group.

Prior to [[2012 FMF World Cup qualification|the following year's qualifiers]], the team took part in the [[2012 Four Nations Internationals|inaugural]] friendly [[Four Nations Internationals]] tournament, beating [[North Antarctica national football team|North Antarctica]] in the two-legged final. The team continued their run of form into the qualifiers, where they won their five-team group without losing a match to qualify for [[2012 FMF World Cup|their first World Cup]], in which they finished third in their group, losing out to [[Craitland national football team|Craitland]] on goal difference. In the [[2012 EMU Championships|fourth EMU Championships]], which Mercury hosted, the team won their group and beat [[Interland national football team|Interland]] in the semi-final, before losing to Hamland on penalties in the final. Later in the year, Mercury organised and competed in the [[2012 Territories Cup|first]] [[Territories Cup]], where the team won the [[2012 Territories Cup#Football|football tournament]] by beating [[Nova England national football team|Nova England]] in the final.

The team topped their [[2013 FMF World Cup qualification|2013 qualifying group]] unbeaten with ease to reach the [[2013 FMF World Cup|World Cup]] and [[2013 EMU Championships|EMU 2013]] with 14 points. In EMU 2013, the team topped their group with six points, before losing their semi-final to hosts and eventual champions Interland, but beat [[Nova English Korea national football team|Nova English Korea]] in the third-place play-off. The team's success continued into the World Cup, where they advanced from their group on goal difference, with six points, before beating Interland 5&ndash;0 in the quarter-finals. Following a victory over Craitland on penalties in the semi-finals, the team finished as runners-up after a 1&ndash;0 loss to Hamland in the final.

In the [[2014 FMF World Cup qualification|2014 qualifiers]], the team topped their four-team group with 15 points to reach their [[2014 FMF World Cup|third World Cup finals]]. The team also qualified for [[2014 EMU Championships|EMU 2014]], where they advanced from their group unbeaten before beating Hamland on penalties and [[Passas national football team|Passas]] 2&ndash;0 in the semi-final and final, respectively, to win their first ever title. The team's success continued into the World Cup, where they topped their group thanks to three 2&ndash;0 victories before beating [[Elwynn national football team|Elwynn]] 3&ndash;2 and [[Senya national football team|Senya]] 1&ndash;0 to reach the final for the second consecutive year. After drawing 1&ndash;1 with Hamland after extra time, the team won on penalties to secure their first ever [[FMF World Cup]] title.

As reigning champions, Mercury were not required to enter qualification for the [[2015 FMF World Cup]] after being awarded an automatic berth. In the finals, the team topped a tricky group unbeaten with ten points and progressed directly to the quarter-finals, where they were beaten 3&ndash;2 in extra time by [[Tellia national football team|Tellia]].

In 2016, as holders of the [[EMU Championships]], Mercury qualified automatically for [[2016 EMU Championships|the year's tournament]] and instead competed in the [[2016 FMF Confederations Cup|inaugural]] [[FMF Confederations Cup]], where they topped their group with twelve points before beating [[Calbion national football team|Calbion]] and losing to [[Gerenia national football team|Gerenia]] in the final to place second. In the EMU Championships, the team advanced from their group with four points, ahead of [[Valencia national football team|Valencia]] on goal difference, but lost on penalties to [[Nova England national football team|Nova England]] in the semi-finals before beating [[Talenore national football team|Talenore]] 3&ndash;2 to finish third.

The team's good form continued into the [[2017 FMF World Cup qualification]] rounds as they finished top of their five-team group with 21 points and qualified for a [[2017 FMF World Cup|fifth successive World Cup]]. In the finals, the team topped their group unbeaten with ten points to advance to the quarter-finals, where they overcame [[Vyktory national football team|Vyktory]] 2&ndash;1. After being beaten by hosts Senya on penalties in the semi-final, the team then lost 4&ndash;2 to [[Alexandria national football team|Alexandria]] to finish in fourth place.

After winning the hosting rights to [[2018 EMU Championships|EMU 2018]], Mercury qualified automatically and instead participated in the [[2018 FMF Confederations Cup]], where they topped their group unbeaten with 16 points. After losing to [[Birgeshir national football team|Birgeshir]] on penalties in the semi-finals, they defeated the [[Kingdom of Coria national football team|Kingdom of Coria]] 4&ndash;1 to finish third. At EMU 2018, the team were very successful. After topping their group with nine points after winning all three matches, they beat holders Passas after extra time in the semi-final and overcame [[Caputia national football team|Caputia]] 2&ndash;1 in the final to earn a second [[EMUFA]] crown on home soil.

In the [[2019 FMF World Cup qualification|2019 World Cup qualifiers]], the team won all ten of their matches as they finished top of their six-team group and qualified for a [[2019 FMF World Cup|sixth consecutive finals]]. The team's winning run continued into the finals, where they topped their group with twelve points before beating Talenore 1&ndash;0 in the quarter-finals. After overcoming hosts Birgeshir on penalties in the semi-final, they ultimately lost the final 1&ndash;0 to Senya to finish as runners-up.

As holders, Mercury qualified automatically for the [[2020 EMU Championships]] and the team participated in [[2020 FMF Confederations Cup|the year's]] [[FMF Confederations Cup]], where they topped their four-team group with eleven points to advance to the semi-finals. After beating [[Batavia national football team|Batavia]], the team won the final 2&ndash;0 over Senya to become the first nation to lift both the Confederations Cup and World Cup. At EMU 2020, the team topped their group after winning all their matches before beating hosts [[Sanpantul national football team|Sanpantul]] 2&ndash;1 in the semi-finals and Talenore 1&ndash;0 in the final to lift a joint-record third EMUFA title.

In the [[2021 FMF World Cup qualification]] rounds, the team finished top of their five-team group with 21 points and qualified for a [[2021 FMF World Cup|seventh finals]]. In the finals, the team advanced from their group as comfortable winners with twelve points to advance to the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by a shock 2&ndash;1 defeat to tournament débutants [[Meckelnburgh national football team|Meckelnburgh]].

As reigning champions, Mercury qualified automatically for the [[2022 EMU Championships]] and also received a place in [[2022 FMF Confederations Cup|the year's]] [[FMF Confederations Cup]], where they finished top of their group unbeaten before losing to Craitland on penalties and [[Floria national football team|Floria]] 2&ndash;1 in the knock-out stages to place fourth overall. At EMU 2022, they advanced from their group as winners with nine points after winning all three games to reach the semi-finals, where they beat hosts [[Phinbella national football team|Phinbella]] on penalties to reach a third consecutive final. However, they lost to [[Nouvelle Alexandrie national football team|Nouvelle Alexandrie]], also on penalties, in the final to place second overall.

==Chronological competitive participation==
{{col-css3-begin|3}}
*[[2010 FMF World Cup qualification]] (as Barrington)
*[[2011 FMF World Cup qualification]]
*[[2011 EMU Championships]]
*[[2012 Four Nations Internationals]]
*[[2012 FMF World Cup qualification]]
*[[2012 FMF World Cup]]
*[[2012 EMU Championships]] (hosts)
*[[2012 Territories Cup#Football|2012 Territories Cup]] (hosts)
*[[2013 FMF World Cup qualification]]
*[[2013 EMU Championships]]
*[[2013 FMF World Cup]]
*[[2014 FMF World Cup qualification]]
*[[2014 EMU Championships]]
*[[2014 FMF World Cup]]
*[[2015 FMF World Cup]]
*[[2016 FMF Confederations Cup]]
*[[2016 EMU Championships]]
*[[2017 FMF World Cup qualification]]
*[[2017 FMF World Cup]]
*[[2018 FMF Confederations Cup]]
*[[2018 EMU Championships]] (hosts)
*[[2019 FMF World Cup qualification]]
*[[2019 FMF World Cup]]
*[[2020 FMF Confederations Cup]]
*[[2020 EMU Championships]]
*[[2021 FMF World Cup qualification]]
*[[2021 FMF World Cup]]
*[[2022 FMF Confederations Cup]]
*[[2022 EMU Championships]]
*''[[2023 FMF World Cup]]'' (hosts)
{{col-css3-end}}

==Records and statistics==
{{main|Mercury national football team statistics}}

==Kit==
[[File:Mercury kits.png|Kit]]

==Honours==
*'''[[FMF World Cup]]: 1'''
**[[2014 FMF World Cup|2014]]
**[[2013 FMF World Cup|2013]], [[2019 FMF World Cup|2019]] &ndash; Runners-up
**[[2017 FMF World Cup|2017]] &ndash; Fourth place

*'''[[FMF Confederations Cup]]: 1'''
**[[2020 FMF Confederations Cup|2020]]
**[[2016 FMF Confederations Cup|2016]] &ndash; Runners-up
**[[2018 FMF Confederations Cup|2018]] &ndash; Third place
**[[2022 FMF Confederations Cup|2022]] &ndash; Fourth place

*'''[[EMU Championships]]: 3'''
**[[2014 EMU Championships|2014]], [[2018 EMU Championships|2018]], [[2020 EMU Championships|2020]]
**[[2012 EMU Championships|2012]], [[2022 EMU Championships|2022]] &ndash; Runners-up
**[[2013 EMU Championships|2013]], [[2016 EMU Championships|2016]] &ndash; Third place

*'''[[Four Nations Internationals]]: 1'''
**[[2012 Four Nations Internationals|2012]]

*'''[[Territories Cup]]: 1'''
**[[2012 Territories Cup|2012]]

==Flag==
Mercury has used the following flag during the entirety of its FMF affiliation:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin: 0 auto; width: 10%"
|-
!2011&ndash;
|-
|{{team flag big|Mercury|flag}}
|}

==See also==
*[[Mercury B national football team]]


{{National sports teams of Mercury}}
{{Mercury football}}
[[Category:National football teams]]