Founded in 1983 and affiliated to FIFA in 2000, the Bhutan national football team recorded their first competitive win on the date of the 2002 world cup final. In a game dubbed ‘The Other Final’, they beat the then lowest ranked team Montserrat 4 – 0. The match in Bhutan was organised by film makers to highlight the less glamorous side of international football.
The country is a small state in South Asia, neighboring both India and China. The national sport is archery. Football ranks below several other traditional games and cricket, but is rising in popularity.
The Bhutan national team had actually played football unofficially since the 1970’s. Their first FIFA approved match was a 3-1 loss to Nepal in 1983. Since then, Bhutan have remained locked to the bottom of world football. The new millennium saw some interesting matches for the team, setting best and worst score records. A 6-0 win over Guam in 2003 came after a 20-0 defeat to Kuwait in 2000.
Bhutan were not able to enter their first world cup as planned. Their stadium was not ready for the 2010 competition, and they did not enter the 2014 qualifiers either. At that point they were the only FIFA affiliated team not to have attempted to qualify for a world cup.
