186 down, 22 to go - A progress report

Just under two years ago I embarked upon this mission to collect the football shirt from each of FIFA's 208 member nations. Since then I have spent a ridiculous percentage of my earnings, and a vast amount of my time collecting shirts from every corner of the planet.

Here's a quick run down of the 16 remaining countries.

66 - Libya

The Libyan team continue to be supplied by Addias, but no longer play in the green commonly associated with former Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi. This is the black away shirt used against Ivory Coast in a recent friendly, but I would be just as happy with the home shirt, or indeed one of the old green shirts (surely there must be hundreds of these lying about?).

117 - Syria

Given current the civilian uprising in Syria now possibly isn't the best time to be attempting to source a football shirt. This merely adds to the challenge.

128 - Central African Republic

129 - Dominican Republic

146 - Turkmenistan

152 - Curacao

162 - Guinea-Bissau

164 - Aruba

The Aruban Football Association keep telling me that the jerseys will be available soon, so we'll just have to wait on this one.

187 - Comoros

189 - Eritrea

 I have had very little luck finding an official Eritrea shirt. An online Eritrean community called Eri-United do sell a wonderful looking Eritrea shirt, but unfortunately these are not the shirts worn by the national team.

190 - Somalia

The Somali Football Federation are quite active on the internet, with lots of information about Somali football. It's just a shame that they never answer their e-mails. Also, you can't jsut post a letter to Somalia, it must be sent by FedEx.

198 - Djibouti


204 - Mauritania

I'm really kicking myself here. A Mauritania shirt appeared on eBay last year, and since missing out on that I haven't even had a hint of a lead. Most recently they have been supplied by Umbro and Adidas. So if you know anyone from Mauritania, particularly if they play for the national football team, then please ask about the availability of football shirts.