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Natopia national football team

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Natopia Natopia
Logo of the Natopia national football team
Nickname(s) The Nasties
Association NSF
FMF member 2006–07, 2008–
Confederation CTFA
Home stadium National Stadium
FMF code NAT
First FMF intermicronational
Riponia Riponia 5–0 Natopia Natopia
Biggest win
Lucerne Lucerne 0–7 Natopia Natopia
Natopia Natopia 7–0 Eternia Eternia
Biggest defeat
Riponia Riponia 5–0 Natopia Natopia
FMF World Cup
Appearances 7 (first in 2006)
Best result Quarter-finals
CiboTap Championships
Appearances 10 (first in 2007)
Best result Winners

The Natopia national football team is the football team which represents the micronation of Natopia. The team is a founding member of both the FMF and the CTFA, and is run by the NSF.

The team has existed twice in the FMF's history; firstly between the organisation's foundation and late 2007, and secondly since early 2008.

History

Natopia was one of the founding members of the FMF when the organisation was created in October 2006 prior to the first FMF World Cup. The national team competed in the tournament, finishing third in its group with three points.

The team finished third in their qualifying group the following year, with their sole win coming as result of a forfeit applied to Zindaria, finishing third in their first CiboTap Championships in the process. Later in the year, Natopia left Micras after being declared dead, with Athlon and South Mehlville seceding but neither's team being the official successors of the Natopian side.

In early 2008, Natopia returned to Micras and the team regained their FMF membership. In their first qualifiers since returning, the team finished bottom of their four-team group, losing all three of their matches.

The following year, Natopia finished fourth in its five-team qualification group with four points. Despite not qualifying for that year's World Cup, the team secured fourth place in the 2009 CiboTap Championships.

In 2010's qualifiers, the team finished second in their group to Alexandria, who qualified automatically as winners of the previous tournament. The team came third in CiboTap 2010 and qualified for the 2010 FMF World Cup, where they advanced from their group, beating 2009 runners-up Nova England in the process. However, the team lost 3–1 to neighbours Monovia in the quarter-finals.

The team finished second in the CTFA's sole six-team group in the following year's qualifiers, placing ahead of Zandarijn on goal difference, to qualify for the 2011 FMF World Cup. The team also advanced to the CiboTap 2011 final, where they lost to Alexandria. In the World Cup finals, the team advanced from their group in second despite a 5–2 loss to Victoria in their final match, before being narrowly beaten by Interland in the quarter-finals.

Natopia's successes continued throughout the 2012 qualifiers, with the team winning their four-team group with eleven points to qualify for the year's World Cup. In doing so, the team also advanced to CiboTap 2012, beating Zandarijn in extra time in the semi-finals before overcoming rivals Alexandria in the final on penalties to win their first ever title. In the World Cup, Natopia finished second in their group on goal difference, despite only gaining two points, and advanced to the quarter-finals where they were beaten 1–0 by hosts Antica.

In the 2013 qualifiers, Natopia finished an unbeaten second in their six-team group, advancing to CiboTap 2013 in the process. The team lost to Zandarijn 2–1 in their semi-final, failing to qualify for the World Cup but finishing in third place in CiboTap.

The team failed to reach a finals tournament for the first time since 2008 after finishing third in their four-team 2014 qualifying group with eight points.

In 2015's qualifiers, the team finished second in their five-team group with 16 points.

The qualifying rounds for CiboTap 2016 saw Natopia win their five-team group with 16 points to qualify for the finals, where they gained four points to finish third in their group and fail to advance.

Natopia performed well in the 2017 World Cup qualifiers, and topped their five-team group with 17 points to qualify for a first World Cup finals in five years. However, the team could only finish bottom of their finals group after losing all four of their matches.

The team competed in the 2018 CiboTap Championships qualification rounds, where they topped their four-team group unbeaten with 16 points to qualify for the finals. At CiboTap 2018, the team topped their four-team group unbeaten with seven points before losing 3–2 to Vyktory, after extra time, and 3–1 to hosts North Antarctica to place fourth.

The team's form continued into the 2019 World Cup qualifiers, where they topped their six-team group unbeaten with 26 points to reach a sixth World Cup finals. In the finals, the team advanced from their group in third place with four points before losing 4–1 after extra time to Krasnarus in the play-off round.

In the following year's CiboTap qualifiers, the team topped their four-team group with 18 points after winning all of their matches to qualify for the finals. At CiboTap, the team topped their group by virtue of goal difference over hosts Zandarijn with seven points before beating North Antartica 4–3 in the semi-finals to reach a first tournament final since 2012, where they overcame holders Birgeshir 3–1 after extra time to become champions of the CTFA for only the second time in history.

Ahead of the 2021 World Cup qualifiers, in late 2020, the team entered the inaugural edition of the Raspur Pact Nations League and competed in its top tier, finishing third in their four-team group with five points. In the qualifiers, the team placed an unbeaten second in their six-team group with 24 points and advanced to the interconfederational play-off, where they lost on penalties to the Unified Governorates after a 1–1 aggregate draw.

As reigning champions, Natopia qualified automatically for the 2022 CiboTap Championships and also received a place in the year's FMF Confederations Cup, where they finished bottom of their group after drawing just one of their six matches. Natopia split into two political entities but maintained a unified team prior to the beginning of the CiboTap finals. At CiboTap, they advanced from their group as winners, after winning all of their matches, to reach the semi-finals where they bettered hosts Hazar on penalties before losing to Calbion 1–0 in the final to place second overall.

Natopia reunified in early 2023 during the team's World Cup qualifying campaign. Those qualification rounds saw the team top their six-team group unbeaten with 24 points and qualify for the finals, where they were eliminated at the first hurdle after placing fourth in Group C with three points, missing-out on advancing on goal difference.

Chronological competitive participation

Uniform and logos

2019 home kit
2019 away kit
2020 kits

Honours

Flag

Natopia has used the following flags during both of its FMF affiliations:

2006–07
2008–14 		2014–
Natopia
Natopia
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