Info

Vatican's national football team

By Vatican.com 5/17/2018

Vatican's national football team

The Vatican national football team is the football team that plays for the Vatican and represents it in international matches. As you may know, Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world and therefore has its own national football teams. However, the Vatican national football team is one of the seven national football teams that are not FIFA members (others are Monaco, Palau, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru and Federated States of Micronesia).

The only people eligible to play for the Vatican national football team are the Swiss Guards and the museum guards. This indicates that the players of the Vatican national football team have very limited time to train because of their responsibilities. As a matter of fact, security is needed at all times and therefore it is very difficult and challenging for the players to find the time to improve their football skills. In fact they can go for many days without training. It is basically because of these reasons that the Vatican national football team plays very few international games. The calendar of the Vatican national football team is very much disadvantaged.

From the several games that the Vatican national football team has played, their performance has not been very good. The team normally plays with other local teams in Rome as friendly matches but winning has always been a problem for it.

The Vatican national football team trains at a small ground just outside of the Vatican. The only international games that the Vatican national football team has played were against Monaco in 2002 and 2011. Unfortunately, the Vatican team did not win any of these international games. In the 2002 game, they drew 1-1, while in the 2011 game, they lost 2-1. The team has also played friendly games including a game with San Marino which they drew 1-1, a game against Palestine’s national football team which they lost 9-1, among other games. So far, the Vatican national football team has managed to play only seven games.

The Vatican national football team is fully supported by the Vatican. During the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, the pope used to visit the team when training and encourage the players stating the importance of sports and playing as a representative of their state.

As a way of improving the Vatican national football squad, there have been suggestions to take some players from the Catholic seminaries from different parts of the world. This suggestion has not yet been acted upon. If accepted, this will be one way of enabling a teem where the players have some time to train and play with other teams. Currently, the Swiss Guards and museum guards who are the only eligible players to join the Vatican national football team are always busy guarding the Vatican staff and property hence they have no time to train or play more games with the other teams.

Vatican.com

Featured Tours

Featured tours of the month. Skip the line tours in Vatican City.

$
151
00
/ Adult
Available:
Mon, Dec 9 2024
Time:
7:30 AM
Language:
English
Max Group Size:
10 people
 (42)
Discover the jaw-dropping treasures of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel at their best on this special early-morning tour
$
138
33
/ Adult
Available:
Mon, Dec 9 2024
Time:
12:45 PM, 1:45 PM, 9:15 AM
Language:
English
Max Group Size:
10 people
 (49)
Uncover great artistic masterpieces of the Vatican on this tour specifically designed for visitors with limited time.
$
176
34
/ Adult
Available:
Wed, Dec 11 2024
Time:
9:45 AM, 9:15 AM, 7:30 AM
Language:
English
Max Group Size:
10 people
 (14)
Our Vatican tour explores masterpieces of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica, with expedited entrance tickets.
>
I think that the Priests should play.
4
0
>
Do you even show their biggest win or loss? This is dope LOL :P
2
4
>
How do I get involved / help??!? I see the Vatican City National Team bringing joy, peace and happiness to the darkest places on earth as soon as we choose to do so! Its a beautiful vision that I can help enact immediately to spread TRUE Love to all corners of the earth, and leave everyplace we touch truly better for God's children. A soccer team that can help end war, genocide AND poverty, hunger, ... more etc. The Catholic Church is the mightiest Spiritual Force the earth has ever seen. Football is the most popular game the world has ever seen. Billions follow BOTH. Combine them (in true goodness for all) and the earth will rock. PeteRandall4all 719-661-9848 peterandall4all@gmail.com
3
6