United Arab Emirates

UAE vs Iraq in the 2010 Gulf Cup

United Arab Emirates - Away - 2010

Mali

Mali vs Algeria

Mali - Home - 2007

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."

Lesotho

Lesotho - Home - ?

I have yet to find a photo of this shirt in use so I don't know the exac date for it. However, there are a number of clues. Firstly the shirt can be narrowed down to between 1987 and 2006 due to the flag used.

 

1966-1987

1987-2006

2006-

Secondly I've done a bit of research of Lesotho shirts whilst searching for a photo, indeed the 2000 shirt is very similar to this Bukta shirt in terms of simplicity, and the badge used. I would estimate that it roughly 1997.

This shirt came from Replay Football Shirts, they've got a decent selection of rare football shirt so they're worth checking out. 

Puerto Rico

 Puerto Rico vs Cuba in 2010


Puerto Rico - Home - 2010

The WANTED list

Can you help?

 I started this project in March 2010, just 17 months ago. Since then I have managed to tick off 173 countries, just 35 of them remain.


I have a few leads on a couple of the shirts but I'm really struggling to track down the final 45. I've produced a list of the 35 shirts which are absent from my collection. If you think you know any way that I can get hold of these, then please do get in touch.


I've had visits to the blog from over 150 countries and territories, including many of the countires whose shirts I am still looking for.

Thanks for looking.


63 - Libya (CAF)

Libya in their new green Puma shirt.

89 - Central African Republic (CAF)

These Adidas shirts are beautiful. The latest shirts are slightly different with the white and the yellow the other way round.

104 - Syria (AFC)

Syrua have been supplied by Diadora for a while now, but their distributors are ignoring my e-mails.


132 - Dominican Republic (CONCACAF)

The Dominican Republic playing against the British Virgin Islands in what appears to be a striped Umbro shirt.

138 - Turkmenistan (AFC)

Turkmenistan's home colours are a dark green. recently they've been supplied by Adidas, but they've also worn Jako in the past.

151 - Guinea-Bissau (CAF)

I almost got a few of these, it's a very long story, and one day I'll go into it in more detail. But it involved sending a little boy into a Portuguese ghetto.

168 - Aruba (CONCACAF)

Aruba playing (and probably losing) in orange Umbro against St Lucia in a World Cup Qualifier.

175 - Comoros (CAF)

This design is from 2010, at present I can't find any photos of the shirts worn at the 2011 Indian Ocean Island Games.

187 - Mauritania (CAF)

Mauritania have also played in Umbro and Baliston shirts.

188 - Eritrea (CAF)

Eritrea (blue) vs Rwanda (yellow)

191 - Somalia (CAF)

Either of these two adidas shirts will do.

194 - Djibouti (CAF)

Djibouti (blue) vs Ethiopia (green). It's a bit plain, but I still want one.


South Sudan