The American Samoa national football team was founded in 1984. The team joined FIFA and the Oceania Football Confederation in 1998. American Samoa hold the world record for the biggest defeat in a senior international match. In 2001 the team lost to Australia 31-0.
American Samoa recorded a first win one year before being recognised by FIFA. A 3-0 victory against another non-FIFA team, Wallis and Futuna came in the 1983 South Pacific Games. The games are American Samoa’s favourite tournament. The team has competed in four editions.
The world cup has welcomed American Samoa since the 2002 competition. It was during the team’s first ever world cup that the unwanted world record defeat was set. In that campaign’s three other games, American Samoa conceded twenty-six goals without reply. 2006 was a slight improvement. The team lost all their games again but managed to score a first ever world cup qualifying goal. Sadly, the 2010 world cup qualifying campaign was no better.
For 2014 qualifying things improved for the side. Although they were again eliminated in the first round robin stage, they did managed to record their first win. It was a 2-1 win over Tonga.