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Vatican City national football team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Vatican City women's national football team.

The Vatican City national football team (Italian: Selezione di calcio della Città del Vaticano) is the football team that represents Vatican City under the control of the Vatican Amateur Sports Association, headquartered in the Vatican's Cortile di San Damaso.[3] The Vatican City football association was founded in 1972. Its current president is Domenico Ruggiero.[4][5] Massimiliano Strapetti, an Italian, is the current head coach.[4]

Vatican City
Shirt badge/Association crest
AssociationASD Vaticano
Head coachMassimiliano Strappetti[1]
Home stadiumCampo Pio XI
FIFA codeVAT
First colours
Second colours
First international
Unofficial
 Vatican City 3–0 Austrian journalists Austria
(1985)
Official
 Vatican City 0–0 San Marino Amateurs 
(Rome, Italy; 22 November 1994)
Biggest win
Unofficial
 Vatican City 9–1 Station Carabinieri of Rome Italy
(Rome, Italy, 3 February 2011)
Official
 Vatican City 4–3 China U23 
(Rome, Italy; 25 October 2008)
Biggest defeat
Unofficial
Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 21–4 Vatican City 
(Mönchengladbach, Germany; 13 August 2016)
Official
 Palestine 9–1 Vatican City 
(al-Khader, Palestine; 12 June 2011)

The team played its first match in 1985, a 3–0 victory against a representative of Austrian journalists.[6] In 2018, the Vatican also created a women's representative team.[7]

Overview

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Albert II, Prince of Monaco greeting team in June 2013
 
A carousel in the Cortile del Belvedere in 1565, 44 years after the first Calcio Fiorentino match was held in the Vatican.[8]
 
Jersey worn by Vatican City in April 2017 during its friendly match with Monaco

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II established a Vatican sports department with the aim of "reinvigorating the tradition (of sport) within the Christian community".[9] In 2006, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone suggested that the Vatican could field a team of men from Catholic seminaries. About the prospect, the cardinal stated, "If we just take the Brazilian students from our Pontifical universities we could have a magnificent squad." The cardinal also noted that in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, there were 42 players in the final round who attended Salesian training centres worldwide.[10] For example, Marcelino, Spanish hero of the 1964 European Nations' Cup, was a former seminarian. It was Bertone's proposal that the Vatican's players, even if accepted by UEFA, would be drawn from the population within the Catholic Church worldwide, not just citizens of Vatican City. He was unclear at the time whether the Vatican would grant these players Vatican citizenship to make this possible.[11]

With the smallest population of any nation, approximately 900, it is difficult to form a squad. The Vatican City squad consists entirely of employees of the Vatican: police officers, postal workers, government officials and members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, the Vatican's de facto army, charged with protecting the pope. Since most Vatican citizens are members of the Swiss Guard, they cannot be amassed in large numbers for a long time. Therefore, the national team has played only a few rare international matches, often drawing a fair amount of interested press.[4] When Vatican City played its first match in 2002, only one player, Marcello Rosati, had a Vatican passport. In 2010, Vatican City was invited to participate in the Viva World Cup by the N.F.-Board and were expected to participate[12] but were unable to do so because they could not assemble a 15-man roster.[13] In total, Vatican City have played only four full international matches against other nations, one draw and three defeats to Monaco in 2002, 2011, 2013, and 2014 respectively.

In addition to its full international matches, the team has played a friendly match, its first, against the San Marino reserve team in 1994.[14] The final score of that match is believed to be a 0–0 draw but Steve Menary's book 'Outcasts: The Lands that FIFA Forgot' states that Vatican insiders told him that the match ended 1–1.[15] In 2010, the Vatican organized a team to play a friendly game against Palestine. However, the team was made up of Catholic priests and was not considered the Vatican City national team.[16] In 2006, the Vatican City played SV Vollmond, a team from Switzerland, at Stadio Petriana with Vatican City prevailing 5–1.[10][17] The team has also competed against a representative team from the Diocese of Limburg.[18] In September 2016 the team participated in a triangular tournament at the Manlio Scopigno Stadium in Rieti to raise funds for earthquake victims. Former Italian international Simone Perrotta also participated in the tournament.[19]

In April 2019 it was announced that the team had signed its first-ever sponsor, Poderi di San Pietro, a family-owned winery in Milan. The agreement was reached after ensuring that the organization met the strict ethical criteria established by the team. Previously, the Association was approached by a sports betting organization offering a very large sponsorship but was rejected for not aligning with those ethical standards.[20]

The Vatican's stance on football

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Vatican footballing history began on 7 January 1521 when the first match of Calcio Fiorentino was played in the Vatican in the Cortile del Belvedere, in the presence of Pope Benedict XV. The first Vatican league was created in 1973 and was first won by employees of L'Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Holy See.[8]

The Vatican has typically expressed strong support for football. Pope John Paul II was reportedly a goalkeeper in his youth in Poland, and an ardent supporter of Cracovia Kraków.[21] Late German pope Pope Benedict XVI was an ardent supporter of Bayern Munich since his youth growing up in Bavaria, Germany.[22] Benedict is quoted as saying, "The sport of football can be a vehicle of education for the values of honesty, solidarity and fraternity, especially for the younger generation."[21] In October 2007, the Pope was presented with a #16 shirt (in reference to the sixteenth use of his papal name) by Serie B side Ancona after Benedict supported their initiative to become a "beacon of morality" by adopting an "innovative, ethical model of practising football".[21]

In 2010, Benedict and the Vatican reaffirmed their belief that football should be a beacon of morality by lashing out at Serie A after matches for the upcoming season were scheduled at 12:30pm on Sundays to appease pay-per-view companies wishing to spread out Serie A matches over the weekend. The Vatican previously questioned the league's decision to play matches on Sundays at all, but "I consider this a truly harmful development," Monsignor Carlo Mazza told Tuttosport. "Putting people in front of the television screen at 12.30 CET, when they are having lunch with their families, to me seems like a 'pitch invasion' on life."[23] Additionally, on 18 December 2006, Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See, stated, but only in jest, that he did not preclude the possibility that the Vatican, in the future, could put together a football team of great value, that could play on the same level as, Roma, Internazionale and Milan or Genoa.[24][25] The current Argentinian pope, Pope Francis is an ardent fan of his hometown club San Lorenzo,[26] and exhibited disappointment when Argentina lost the 2014 World Cup final against Germany.[27]

FIFA membership

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Vatican City is one of only nine fully recognized sovereign states the national teams of which are not FIFA members. The others are the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom (though the UK's four "home nations"—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—have individual FIFA teams each of which is also a member of the IFAB).[4]

In 2006, UEFA spokesperson William Gaillard told a media outlet that he saw no reason why Vatican City should not have a national team in international competitions. He said, "We already have states of 30,000 citizens like San Marino, Liechtenstein, and Andorra. If the Vatican wants to become a member of UEFA all it has to do is apply. If it meets the requirements, it will be accepted". At that time Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone insisted that the Vatican's football future lies only in amateur games and competitions.[28]

In May 2014, Domenico Ruggerio, president of the national football association, reinforced Bertone's words from eight years prior, stating that "I prefer to be amateur...To join FIFA, at that level, will be like a business" after stating "The important message of friendship and love is demonstrated by the sport — the real sport, not the business that is in football these days...It is not just important to win a match; it is how you carry yourself." Therefore, that, he added, meant that "the ethos of the Vatican’s soccer team was at odds with FIFA membership."[4]

In an April 2019 interview Danilo Zennaro, football director of Vatican City, told the St. Galler Tagblatt that the association would also not seek membership in an alternate confederation like ConIFA because of "political reasons" such as the diplomatic strife that would ensue from being in the same organization as breakaway regions and disputed territories.[29]

In May 2022, the association celebrated the conclusion of its fiftieth anniversary. Despite a history of contrary comments, among the topics discussed was the possibility of the association joining UEFA. It was revealed that Pope Francis spoke with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin about the possibility when the latter visited the Pope ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 final.[30]

Kit

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In the past, the kit has been provided by Diadora. The shorts were all white while the top is solid yellow with a narrow blue and white line around the right upper quadrant of the body.[31] The team's kit was then provided by Sportika SA until July 2021. The kit had an image of Saint Peter's Basilica ghosted on the front.[32]

In July 2021 the association introduced a new kit by Joma. For the first time, the kits became readily available to the public as they were sold in the gift shop of the Vatican Museums with the profits benefitting Pope Francis's works of charity.[33] The kit included a badge on the arm commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Vatican football association.[30]

Complete international results

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No. Date Venue Opponents Score Competition Vatican City scorers Ref.
1 22 November 1994 Campo Pio XI, Rome   San Marino Amateurs 0–0 Friendly
2 23 November 2002 Stadio Pio XII, Albano Laziale   Monaco 0–0 Friendly [34]
3 25 October 2008 Campo Pio XI, Rome   China U23 4–3 Friendly Unknown [35][36]
4 7 May 2011 Stadio Pio XII, Albano Laziale   Monaco 1–2 Friendly Quarto [34]
5 12 June 2011 Al-Khader Stadium, al-Khader   Palestine 1–9 Friendly Unknown
6 22 June 2013 Stade Municipal Cap-d'Ail, Cap-d'Ail   Monaco 0–2 Friendly [34]
7 10 May 2014 Campo Pio XI, Rome   Monaco 0–2 Friendly [34]
8 29 April 2017 Campo Pio XI, Rome   Monaco 0–0 Friendly [34]
9 23 March 2019 Campo Pio XI, Rome   Raetia 2–2 Friendly Unknown [37]
10 24 April 2022 A.S.D. Polisport Capoliveri, Capoliveri   Elba 2–4 Friendly Unknown [38]

Head-to-head record

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As of 24 April 2022

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD WPCT
  Elba 1 0 0 1 2 4 −2 0.00
  China U23 1 1 0 0 4 3 +1 100.00
  Monaco 5 0 2 3 1 6 −5 0.00
  Palestine 1 0 0 1 1 9 −8 0.00
  Raetia 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 0.00
  San Marino Amateurs 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00
Total 10 1 4 5 10 24 −14 10.00
Source: Results

Unofficial results

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No. Date Venue Opponents Score Competition Vatican City scorers Ref.
1 1985   Austrian journalists 3–0 Friendly Unknown
2 1985   Selection of UN officials 3–3 Friendly Unknown
3 3 February 2006 Campo Pio XI, Rome   SV Vollmond 5–1 Friendly Unknown [39]
4 18 June 2007   Nazionale Italiana Religiosi 3–0 Friendly Unknown
5 23 October 2010   Guardia di Finanza 0–1 Friendly
6 3 February 2011 Rome   Station Carabinieri of Rome 9–1 Friendly Unknown
7 10 August 2014 Mönchengladbach   Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–8 Friendly Unknown [40]
8 14 May 2015   Nazionale Sindaci Italiana 5–3 Friendly Unknown
9 17 June 2015 Campo Pio XI, Rome   Lutherstadt Wittenberg 1–0 Friendly Unknown
10 20 June 2015 Campo Pio XI, Rome   FC Azzurri Schaan 2–2 Friendly Unknown [41]
11 12 May 2016 Campo Pio XI, Rome   Associazione Italiana Arbitri Seregno 1–1 Friendly Unknown
12 13 August 2016 Mönchengladbach   Borussia Mönchengladbach 4–21 Friendly Unknown
13 7 November 2016 Stadio Pietro Fortunati, Pavia   Fondazione Ospedale San Matteo 1–2 Friendly Unknown [42]
14 17 June 2017 Arthur-Lambert-Stadion, Wittenberg   Lutherstadt Wittenberg 0–2 Friendly [43]
15 16 June 2018 Sportanlage Rheinwiese, Schaan   FC Azzurri Schaan 1–8 Friendly Pouti [44]
16 30 March 2019   Atlético Pop United 2–2 Friendly Unknown
17 10 June 2019   WEINELF 1–1 Friendly Unknown
18 15 June 2021 Centro Sportivo Ciriaci, Rome   Rappresentativa OPBG 2–3 Friendly Unknown
19 21 November 2021 Formello Sports Centre, Rome   World Roma Federation 7–7 Friendly Unknown
20 17 June 2023 Campo Pio XI, Rome   KSV Johannisthal 7–1 Friendly [45]
21 12 October 2024 Käthe Tucholla Stadium, Berlin   KSV Johannisthal 2–3 Friendly [46]

Final results

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Up to matches played on 12 October 2024.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD WPCT
  Vatican City 31 8 10 13 71 94 −23 25.81
Total 31 8 10 13 71 94 −23 25.81
Source: Results

Coaches

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The team has been managed by Giovanni Trapattoni in the past.[47][48][49] His first match as manager was played on 23 October 2010 when Vatican City faced a team composed of Italian financial police.[50]

 
Giovanni Trapattoni coached the team in 2010.

Historical kits

edit
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1990s Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1998 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1998 Away
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2000s Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2000s-2010s
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016 Away
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Special Pope
Fratelli Tutti
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
50 year FA
anniversary

Sources:[51][52]

See also

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Notes

edit
  1. ^ "Chi siamo". Sport in Vaticano. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  3. ^ Nuti, Nicola. "Vaticano: 7 squadre per il campionato di calcio" (in Italian). News Cattoliche. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e Montague, James (12 May 2014). "A Friendly Game for a Beatific State". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Vaticano". fedefutbol.net. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  6. ^ Ferrera, Elena. "VATICANO NEL PALLONE CON SQUADRE PAPALI" (in Italian). altrenotizie.org. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  7. ^ Wimmer, Anian Christoph. "Abortion, LGBT activists disrupt Vatican women footballers' debut". catholicherald.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  8. ^ a b Mattei, Giampaolo. "Lo scudetto vaticano? Ai Gendarmi E per gli Svizzeri". vatican.va. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  9. ^ "Vatican Cup lifts spirits in Rome". FIFA. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  10. ^ a b Saffer, Paul. "Pray as you play". Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  11. ^ Relano, Alfredo (20 December 2006). "Lo que el Vaticano quiere es Selección" (in Spanish). opinion.as.com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  12. ^ Colchester, Max (June 2010). "The World Cup For Everyone Else". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  13. ^ Parada, Gonzalo. "La Selección de fútbol del Vaticano vuelve al verde césped" (in Spanish). gamacero.blogspot.com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  14. ^ "Vatican Football". The Path Less Traveled. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  15. ^ "Praying for a win – the Vatican City at World Cup 2014?". Six Balls Between Us. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  16. ^ Willey, David (19 December 2006). "Vatican plays down soccer 'joke'". BBC News.
  17. ^ "Fussball im Vatikan" (in German). 1. FC Ratzinger. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  18. ^ Pradelli, Christian. "Trap ct della nazionale vaticana Sfiderà la Guardia di Finanza il 23/10" (in Italian). Sport Media Set. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  19. ^ "Terremoto Centro Italia - Venerdì a Rieti la Nazionale italiana sindaci partecipa a triangolare di solidarietà" (in Italian). anci.it. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  20. ^ Gerevini, Maria (4 May 2018). "Per la "nazionale" del Papa ora c'è uno sponsor (di)vino" (in Italian). corriere.it. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  21. ^ a b c "Pope: Football a moral guide to life". CNN. 10 January 2008.
  22. ^ "Pope heading to World Youth Day aboard 'Shepherd One'". news.com.au. 9 July 2008.
  23. ^ "Vatican slams Serie A Sunday lunchtime kick-offs". ESPN. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  24. ^ "Vatican team will have the hand of God". Agence France-Presse. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007.
  25. ^ David Willey (19 December 2006). "Vatican plays down soccer 'joke'". BBC News. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  26. ^ "Pope Francis to celebrate birthday with visit from his favourite football team". Catholic Herald. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  27. ^ "Former Pope Benedict Please With Germany's World Cup Victory, Hopes Argentina 'Recovers Soon'". The Christian Post. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  28. ^ "Vatican squashes soccer team idea". Italy Magazine. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  29. ^ Lemmenmeier, Adrian (2 April 2019). "Abseits der Fifa: Der Fussball-Verband nicht anerkannter Staaten wächst – auch ein Team aus Graubünden ist dabei" (in German). St. Gallen Tagblatt. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  30. ^ a b "Sport: presentata la maglietta per i 50 anni dell'Associazione ASD Sport in Vaticano. Card. Gambetti (vicario), "creare fraternità per vincere la partita della vita"" (in Italian). agensir.it. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  31. ^ "First half goals secure Monaco win against Vatican City". Non-FIFA Football. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  32. ^ "2017 Kit". Doing the 116. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  33. ^ "THE OFFICIAL TEAM SHIRT IS FOR SALE AT THE VATICAN MUSEUMS". Sport in Vaticano. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  34. ^ a b c d e "World Football Elo Ratings: Vatican City". Eloratings.net. World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  35. ^ "Vatican : Un pape, une équipe de foot, un observatoire". 13 March 2013.
  36. ^ "Le saviez-vous ? Le Vatican dispose d'une équipe nationale de football". 18 February 2022.
  37. ^ "Die FA Raetia duellierte sich mit der Papst-Elf". 24 March 2019.
  38. ^ "Elba Island – CONIFA profile". CONIFA. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  39. ^ Keller, Giorgio (28 July 2005). "Vatican goes Serie A and try International!". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  40. ^ "Calcio Estero, Germania batte Vaticano 8-1: Gol di una guardia svizzera". 2014.
  41. ^ "Vatikan Fussballmeisterschaft 2018 / 2019".
  42. ^ "Rappresentativa Calcistica Dipendenti Vaticani History". sportinvaticano.com/storia-rappresentativa-dipendenti-vaticano/. Sports in the Vatican. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  43. ^ "Wenn der Vatikan Fußball spielt…". 18 June 2017.
  44. ^ "Vatikan ging in Schaan mit 8:1 unter". 19 June 2018.
  45. ^ "Vatikan-Fußballerinnen verlieren erstes internationales Spiel" (in German). vaticannews.va. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  46. ^ "Kein Spielglück" (in German). Dom Radio. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  47. ^ "'Lose well rather than win badly' - How Vatican City are taking on the world and losing". goal.com.
  48. ^ "Football thrives in Vatican City". fifa.com.
  49. ^ "The things they say: Giovanni Trapattoni". FIFA. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  50. ^ "Trapattoni betreut Vatikan-Auswahl" (in German). fussball24.de. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  51. ^ "Vatican City". 25 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  52. ^ "1990s". Facebook.
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