Novatainia national football team

**Novatainia**
Association	NFF
FMF member	2007–
Confederation	AEFA
Home stadium	Novatica International Stadium
FMF code	NOV
First FMF intermicronational
	Novatainia 0–3 Passas
Biggest win
	Novatainia 16–0 Lucerne
Biggest defeat
	Alexandria 5–0 Novatainia
FMF World Cup
Appearances	5 (first in 2007)
Best result	Group stage
Copa Apollonia
Appearances	2 (first in 2012)
Best result	Winners

The Novatainia national football team is the football team which currently represents the Gralan constituent nation of Novatainia, and previously represented the independent kingdom of the same name. It is a member of the AEFA and is run by the NFF.

History

The team was founded in 2007 after Novatainia was granted FMF membership after existing on Micras since late 2006. Novatainia successfully bid to host that year's World Cup alongside neighbours Tokidoki, whose national team had competed in the inaugural tournament the previous year. The team finished third in their group after losing their first two matches but beating Matbaa in their final game. Because of this, the team is the only host side to not advance from their World Cup group since the tournament was founded so far. Later in the year, Novatainia joined with Tokidoki and Passas to form Gralus, with each constituent nation retaining its separate FMF membership.

The team competed in their first World Cup qualifiers the following year, where they finished third in their four-team group with four points and failed to qualify. Novatainia regained its independence from Gralus in mid-2008.

Prior to the 2009 qualifiers, Gralus was reformed as Novatainia joined with Toketi and Relaram. In the qualifiers themselves, the team finished second in their five-team group to advance to the play-offs, where they successfully beat the Torrington Islands 3–1 on aggregate. In the finals, the team lost all three of their group matches and finished bottom of their group.

The team successfully qualified for a second consecutive World Cup in 2010 after topping their qualifying group by a point after not losing a match. However, the team again faltered in their finals campaign, coming bottom of their group with only two 0–0 draws and a narrow loss to Nova England to their name.

In 2011, the team finished second in a tightly-fought qualifying group alongside Mahoz HaSephardim and Victoria. The team finished with the same record as Victoria, but missed-out on qualification by virtue of their head-to-head record, which Victoria bettered with a 4–3 aggregate scoreline.

The team's fortunes improved in 2012's qualifiers despite their group ending almost as tightly as the previous year's. The team finished on eleven points, alongside Babkha and North Antarctica, but topped the group on goal difference to qualify for the finals and the first Copa Apollonia. In the World Cup, the team finished an unbeaten third in their group with three draws to their name. Novatainia's success continued later in the year as they topped their Copa Apollonia group before beating both Hurmu and Mahoz HaSephardim 2–0 in the semi-final and final, respectively, to win their first ever title.

Novatainia's success continued into the following year's qualifying, where they finished top of their group with 21 points above Stormark on goal difference to reach the 2013 FMF World Cup, thanks to a record 16–0 victory over Lucerne, as well as earning a place in the 2013 Copa Apollonia as holders. In the Copa Apollonia, the team won their group with five points before beating hosts Senya on penalties in the semi-finals. However, the team could not retain their title as they lost 1–0 to Hurmu in the final. In the World Cup, the team was less fortunate, and finished third in their group with three points.

In 2014's qualifiers, the team failed to reach any finals tournaments as they finished third in their six-team group with 18 points.

Chronological competitive participation

FMF World Cup record

Year	Round	Opponents	Score
2007	Group stage (Group A)	Passas	0 – 3
		Gaia	1 – 2
		Matbaa	2 – 1
2008	Did not qualify
2009	Group stage (Group C)	Alexandria	0 – 5
		Batavia	1 – 3
		Passas	0 – 1
2010	Group stage (Group C)	Nova England	0 – 1
		Craitland	0 – 0
		Natopia	0 – 0
2011	Did not qualify
2012	Group stage (Group A)	Antica	0 – 0
		Interland	2 – 2
		Batavia	0 – 0
2013	Group stage (Group D)	Nova England	1 – 0
		Zandarijn	0 – 2
		Craitland	1 – 2

Copa Apollonia record

Year	Round	Opponents	Score
2012	Group stage (Group A)	North Antarctica	1 – 1
		Toketi	1 – 0
		Athlon	4 – 0
	Semi-final	Hurmu	2 – 0
	Final	Mahoz HaSephardim	2 – 0
2013	Group stage (Group B)	Mahoz HaSephardim	0 – 0
		Stormark	3 – 1
		Gerenia	1 – 1
	Semi-final	Senya	0 – 0 (a.e.t.) (2 – 0 pens.)
	Final	Hurmu	0 – 1