Sao Tome and Principe

Sao Tome & Principe U17s (red and green) battling hard against a suspicious looking Cameroon "U17" team in 2008.

For now Sao Tome and Principe are still FIFA members, however, they haven't played a senior international since Libya beat them 8-0 in November 2003. given how remote the islands are it's hardly surprising that they struggle to take part in competitions. The cost of travelling thousands of miles to get thrashed on a regular basis cannot be justified.

 

Okay, I'm unbelievably happy to obtain this shirt. I was originally offered this shirt by a collector in London who wanted £600 for it (a reasonable price given it's rarity) which I had to turn down. It was then put up for sale on eBay, I didn't win the auction, but I was later contacted saying that the sale had fallen through due to payment difficulties. Fortunately my brother also lives in London so he was able to collect the shirt for me.

I haven't just obtained the rarest shirt in the FIFA 208, but I've demonstrated that this challenge is definately achievable. I've also set my upper limit that I'm willing to pay for a shirt.

Timor-Leste

Okay, so I've been in touch with Alfredo Esteves, the player who's name appears on the back of this shirt:

"Hi Nick,

I never seen that jersey. Maybe some younger teams used, but not the A team that I remember. Sorry"

US Virgin Islands

The US Virgin Islands is a small group of islands in the Caribbean with a population of just 110,000 (roughly the size of Peterborough). Formerly known as the Danish West Indies the islands were bought by the USA in 1916 during the first world war due to a fear of German invasion.

The USVIFA was formed in 1989 but didn't join FIFA untill 1998. Since then they#ve frequently occupied the bottom few places in the FIFA World Rankings, despite there being several countries with smaller populations. All three of the USVI wins have come against the neighbouring British Virgin Islands, most recently in the 2014 World Cup Qualifying.

US Virgin Islands - Home - ?

This shirt is another from Replay Football shirts.

"The USVI shirts were purchased from a contact in the USA. They are
believed to be from a friendly match between USVI and the British
Virgin Islands in a non-official (pre-FIFA) friendly. Apparently the
shirts were initially given to the USVI by the BVI (hence the kit
being made by Umbro). Approx year is 1990. I've been asking around for
more detailed info and photos of the match but with no luck so far. I'll
be in touch if I have anything."