Wikipedia

Vanuatu national football team

(Redirected from Etienne Mermer)
This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Vanuatu women's national football team.

The Vanuatu men's national football team (French: équipe du Vanuatu de football) represents Vanuatu in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the Vanuatu Football Federation, which is currently a member of FIFA and the Oceania Football Confederation.[5]

Vanuatu
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Men in Black and Gold
AssociationVanuatu Football Federation (VFF)
ConfederationOFC (Oceania)
Head coachJoel Rarua
CaptainBrian Kaltak
Most capsKensi Tangis (39)
Top scorerRichard Iwai (20)[1]
Home stadiumPort Vila Municipal Stadium
FIFA codeVAN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 164 Decrease 1 (10 July 2025)[2]
Highest131 (October 2007)
Lowest201 (October–November 2015)
First international
 New Zealand 9–0 New Hebrides 
(Nouméa, New Caledonia; 4 October 1951)[3]
Biggest win
 Kiribati 0–18 Vanuatu 
(Lautoka, Fiji; 7 July 2003)
Biggest defeat
 New Zealand 9–0 New Hebrides 
(Nouméa, New Caledonia; 4 October 1951)
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances10 (first in 1973)
Best resultRunners-up (2024)
Pacific Games
Appearances15 (first in 1963)
Best resultRunners-up (1971)
Melanesia Cup / MSG Prime Minister's Cup
Appearances9 (first in 1988)
Best resultMelanesia Cup: Champions
(1990)
MSG Prime Minister's Cup: Third place
(2023)
Wantok Cup
Appearances3 (first in 2008)
Best resultChampions (2011)

History

edit

Early years (1951–2022)

edit

It was known as the New Hebrides until the New Hebrides became Republic of Vanuatu in 1980. It finished fourth in the OFC Nations Cup in 1973, 2000, and 2002. In the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup, Vanuatu beat New Zealand 4–2, preventing the regional powerhouse from making the final and, consequently, the running for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Vanuatu caused another shock in the 2007 South Pacific Games by knocking out the Solomon Islands for bronze medal and also enable to enter the second stage of qualification for the OFC Nations Cup and consequently a chance with a playoff for the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa. The last time they had won against Solomon Islands was back in 1998 and had since been on the receiving side of many losses save for one draw against them. In July 2008, Vanuatu faced two national teams from the Solomon Islands during the inaugural edition of the Wantok Cup. Vanuatu lost 1–2 to the Solomons' team A, but defeated their team B by two goals to one.

Recognition of the team efforts (2023–present)

edit

In 2023, Vanuatu was invited for the 2023 Intercontinental Cup tournament held in India which is the team first tournament outside Oceania. In the first match on 9 June 2023, they would face Lebanon but suffered a 3–1 defeat. In the next match, Vanuatu conceded a late goal losing to host India on a narrow 1–0 lost. On 15 June 2023, Vanuatu found themselves with a bright smiles as they would go on to win Mongolia 1–0 thus earning them the 3 points and finishing in third place.

FIFA Series tournament

edit

In 2024, FIFA invited Vanuatu to the 2024 FIFA Series tournament held from 21 to 26 March 2024 in Jeddah where they would face Guinea (CAF) and Brunei (AFC). On 21 March, Vanuatu faced their first ever opponent from the Africa continent, Guinea in a 6–0 lost.

First Oceanian final

edit

Vanuatu progressed to the final of the OFC Nations Cup for the first time in 2024 and finished as runners-up of the tournament on 30 June 2024 after losing to New Zealand with a 3–0 scoreline.[6][7]

Team image

edit

Kit sponsorship

edit
Kit provider[8] Period
  Lotto 2011–2012
  Veto 2013
  Nike 2014
  Best Promotions 2015
  Pasifika 2016–2019
  KPI Sports 2019–2022
  Macron 2022–2023
  Lotto 2023–2024
  Cikers 2024–

Results and fixtures

edit
Main article: Vanuatu national football team results

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2025

edit

Coaching staff

edit
Position Name
Head coach   Joel Rarua
Assistant coach   Pinto Duro
Assistant coach   François Sakama
Team Manager   Peter Takaro
Goalkeeper coach   Jimmy Obed
Assistant Goalkeeper coach   Jean Yves Galinie
Physio   Albert Lata

Coaching history

edit

New Hebrides

Vanuatu

Players

edit

Current squad

edit

The following 23 players were called up for the PacificAus Sports Football Series in September 2024.[9]

Caps and goals are correct as of 30 June 2024, after the match against New Zealand.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Massing Kalotang (2002-08-26) August 26, 2002 (age 23) 8 0   Erakor Gold Star
1GK Anthony Quai 0 0   Penama
1GK Dick Sablan (1996-12-23) December 23, 1996 (age 28) 0 0   Ifira Black Bird
2DF Michel Coulon (1995-12-03) 3 December 1995 (age 29) 17 1   Mauriki
2DF Timothy Boulet (1998-11-29) November 29, 1998 (age 26) 15 0   Ifira Black Bird
2DF Selwym Vatu (1998-06-13) 13 June 1998 (age 27) 13 0   ABM Galaxy
2DF Tasso Jeffrey (1998-08-12) 12 August 1998 (age 27) 12 0   Western Strikers
2DF Jacques Wanemut (1992-02-02) February 2, 1992 (age 33) 4 0   Ifira Black Bird
2DF Zidane Maguekon (2000-06-03) June 3, 2000 (age 25) 1 0   Classic
2DF Thomas Salemu 0 0   Ifira Black Bird
2DF Joshua Tokio (2001-04-04) April 4, 2001 (age 24) 0 0   Ifira Black Bird
3MF John Alick (1991-04-25) 25 April 1991 (age 34) 25 0   Solomon Warriors
3MF John Wohale (1997-07-09) 9 July 1997 (age 28) 17 1   Ifira Black Bird
3MF Jared Clark (1998-01-21) 21 January 1998 (age 27) 8 0   FK Beograd
3MF Harry Norman (2003-12-31) 31 December 2003 (age 21) 8 1   Exe Green Rovers
3MF Alick Worworbu (1997-08-27) 27 August 1997 (age 28) 4 0   Yatel
4FW Alex Saniel (1996-11-08) 8 November 1996 (age 28) 23 1   Northern Demons
4FW Johnathan Spokeyjack (1998-11-13) 13 November 1998 (age 26) 16 2   Ifira Black Bird
4FW Godine Tenene (1998-05-03) 3 May 1998 (age 27) 16 3   Ifira Black Bird
4FW Tony Kaltak (1996-11-05) 5 November 1996 (age 28) 16 15   Erakor Gold Star
4FW Jean Kaltak (1994-08-19) 19 August 1994 (age 31) 8 9   Erakor Gold Star
4FW Tonly Kalotang (1997-05-19) 19 May 1997 (age 28) 2 0   Ifira Black Bird
4FW Jordy Tasip (2000-07-14) 14 July 2000 (age 25) 0 0   Ifira Black Bird

Recent call-ups

edit

The following players have also been called up to the national squad in the last twelve months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK James Iamar (1997-01-25) January 25, 1997 (age 28) 4 0   Tafea 2024 OFC Nations Cup
GK Dgen Leo (2000-08-06) August 6, 2000 (age 25) 3 0   Classic 2024 OFC Nations Cup
GK Joshua Willie (2000-06-13) June 13, 2000 (age 25) 2 0   ABM Galaxy 2024 FIFA Series
GK Anthony Taiwia (1994-09-04) 4 September 1994 (age 30) 0 0   Ifira Black Bird 2023 Pacific Games
DF Brian Kaltak (1993-09-30) 30 September 1993 (age 31) 30 5   Perth Glory 2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF Jason Thomas (1997-01-20) 20 January 1997 (age 28) 27 1   Erakor Golden Star 2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF Lency Philip (1997-06-08) 8 June 1997 (age 28) 12 0   Classic 2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF Kerry Iawak (1996-03-16) 16 March 1996 (age 29) 5 0   Ifira Black Bird 2024 OFC Nations Cup
DF Samuel Kaloros (1989-09-16) 16 September 1989 (age 35) 4 0   Ifira Black Bird 2024 FIFA Series
DF Joseph Kalotiti 1 0   Pango Green Bird 2024 FIFA Series
DF Bethuel Ollie (1997-08-19) 19 August 1997 (age 28) 2 0   North Efate United 2023 Pacific Games
MF Bong Kalo (1997-01-18) 18 January 1997 (age 28) 27 4   ABM Galaxy 2024 OFC Nations Cup
MF Claude Aru (1997-04-25) 25 April 1997 (age 28) 14 1   North Efate United 2024 OFC Nations Cup
MF Barry Mansale (1995-11-01) 1 November 1995 (age 29) 11 1   Yatel 2024 OFC Nations Cup
MF Raoul Coulon (1995-12-03) 3 December 1995 (age 29) 3 0   Yatel 2023 Pacific Games
MF Jean Taussi (1996-07-17) 17 July 1996 (age 29) 3 0   Ifira Black Bird 2023 Pacific Games
MF Lee Taiwia (1995-12-23) 23 December 1995 (age 29) 0 0   Ifira Black Bird 2023 Pacific Games
FW Kensi Tangis (1991-12-19) 19 December 1991 (age 33) 36 9   ABM Galaxy 2024 OFC Nations Cup
FW Joe Moses (2002-05-22) 22 May 2002 (age 23) 9 2   ABM Galaxy 2024 OFC Nations Cup
FW Maliwan Thomas (2005-01-26) 26 January 2005 (age 20) 1 0   Tafea 2024 FIFA Series
FW Keshly Joseph 0 0 2024 FIFA Series
FW Azariah Soromon (1999-03-01) 1 March 1999 (age 26) 17 7   Western Strikers 2023 Pacific Games

Player records

edit
As of 21 December 2024[10]
Players in bold are still active with Vanuatu.

Most appearances

edit
Rank Name Caps Goals Career
1 Kensi Tangis 39 9 2011–present
2 Richard Iwai 34 20 2000–2011
3 Etienne Mermer 33 15 1998–2008
Brian Kaltak 33 5 2011–present
Bong Kalo 33 5 2015–present
6 Fedy Vava 30 2 2000–2012
John Alick 30 2 2017–present
8 Lexa Bibi 29 2 2000–2004
Seimata Chilia 29 9 2000–2011
10 Pita David Maki 28 2 2000–2008

Top goalscorers

edit
Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Richard Iwai 20 34 0.59 2000–2011
2 Tony Kaltack 15 16 0.94 2016–2019
Etienne Mermer 15 33 0.45 1998–2008
4 Seule Soromon 10 10 1 2007–2011
Jean Kaltack 10 11 0.91 2011–present
Azariah Soromon 10 26 0.38 2017–present
7 Seimata Chilia 9 29 0.31 2000–2011
Kensi Tangis 9 39 0.23 2011–present
9 Bill Nicholls 6 8 0.75 2015–2019
François Sakama 6 12 0.5 2007–2015
Robert Tasso 6 12 0.5 2011–2016
Mitch Cooper 6 12 0.5 2019–present

Competitive record

edit

FIFA World Cup

edit
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Host Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1986 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
1990   Italy Did not enter Did not enter
1994   United States Did not qualify 4 0 0 4 1 18
1998   France 2 0 1 1 2 3
2002   South Korea
  Japan 		4 1 0 3 11 21
2006   Germany 9 4 1 4 21 11
2010   South Africa 12 5 1 6 30 19
2014   Brazil 3 1 0 2 8 9
2018   Russia 3 1 0 2 3 8
2022   Qatar Withdrew Withdrew
2026   Canada
  Mexico
  United States 		Did not qualify 3 1 0 2 5 11
2030   Morocco
  Portugal
  Spain 		To be determined To be determined
2034   Saudi Arabia
Total 0/10 40 13 3 24 81 100

OFC Nations Cup

edit
Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
as   New Hebrides
  1973 Fourth place 4th 5 1 1 3 5 10 Squad No qualification
  1980 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 6 9 —
as   Vanuatu
1996 Did not qualify 4 0 1 3 5 12
  1998 Group stage 5th 2 0 0 2 2 13 Squad 4 2 1 1 8 6
  2000 Fourth place 4th 4 1 0 3 5 8 Squad 4 2 0 2 12 7
  2002 Fourth place 4th 5 2 0 3 2 6 Squad Qualified automatically
  2004 Group stage 6th 5 1 0 4 5 9 Squad 4 3 1 0 16 2
2008 Fourth place 4th 6 1 1 4 5 13 Squad 6 4 0 2 25 6
  2012 Group stage 5th 3 1 0 2 8 9 Squad Qualified automatically
  2016 7th 3 1 0 2 3 8 Squad
    2024 Runners-up 2nd 4 2 0 2 3 8 Squad
Total Runners-up 10/11 40 10 2 28 44 93 — 22 11 3 8 66 33

Pacific Games

edit
Pacific Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
as   New Hebrides
  1963 Group stage 6th 1 0 0 1 3 6
  1966 Bronze medal 3rd 4 1 2 1 9 14
  1969 Group stage 5th 5 1 1 3 13 13
  1971 Silver medal 2nd 4 2 1 1 9 12
  1975 Group stage 5th 2 0 0 2 1 6
  1979 Fifth place 5th 6 4 0 2 19 6
as   Vanuatu
  1983 Group stage 6th 1 0 0 1 0 6
  1987 Fourth place 4th 6 2 1 3 16 13
  1991 Fourth place 4th 5 2 0 3 9 8
  1995 Fourth place 4th 5 2 0 3 10 9
  2003 Bronze medal 3rd 6 3 3 0 23 3
  2007 Bronze medal 3rd 6 4 0 2 25 6
  2011 Group stage 6th 5 4 0 1 18 7
  2015 See Vanuatu national under-23 football team
  2019 Group stage 5th 4 2 1 1 25 2
  2023 Semi-finals 4th 4 1 1 2 9 6
Total 15/15 0 Titles 64 28 10 26 189 117

Head-to-head record

edit

Up to matches played on 15 November 2024.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD WPCT
  American Samoa 4 4 0 0 39 1 +38 100.00
  Australia 4 0 0 4 0 7 −7 0.00
  Brunei 1 0 0 1 2 3 −1 0.00
  Cook Islands 1 1 0 0 8 1 +7 100.00
  Estonia 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0.00
  Fiji 37 11 7 19 41 83 −42 29.73
  Guam 3 3 0 0 14 0 +14 100.00
  Guinea 1 0 0 1 0 6 −6 0.00
  India 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0.00
  Indonesia 1 0 0 1 0 6 −6 0.00
  Kiribati 1 1 0 0 18 0 +18 100.00
  Lebanon 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0.00
  Mongolia 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100.00
  New Caledonia 40 8 7 25 45 101 −56 20.00
  New Zealand 15 1 0 14 11 73 −62 6.67
  Papua New Guinea 23 9 5 9 33 29 +4 39.13
  Samoa[a] 6 6 0 0 40 2 +38 100.00
  Solomon Islands 36 7 7 22 38 78 −40 19.44
  Tahiti 26 5 3 18 28 64 −36 19.23
  Tonga 5 5 0 0 33 2 +31 100.00
  Tuvalu 4 4 0 0 22 1 +21 100.00
  Wallis and Futuna 2 2 0 0 10 1 +9 100.00
Total 214 68 29 117 384 463 −79 31.78
Source: 1951–July 1980 results and July 1980–present results.
Notes:
  1. ^ Includes results as Western Samoa.

Honours

edit

Continental

edit

Regional

edit

Summary

edit
Senior Competition       Total
OFC Nations Cup 0 1 0 1
Total 0 1 0 1

Historical kits

edit
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1987 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1992 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1992 Away
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1999
 
 
 
 
 
 
2000 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2002 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2004 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2004 Away
 
 
 
 
 
2007
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011 Away
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012 Away
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017 Away
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2019 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2022 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2022 Away
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2024 Home
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2024 Away

Sources:[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Mamrud, Roberto; Stokkermans, Karel. "Players with 100+ Caps and 30+ International Goals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  2. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  3. ^ "Vanuatu (New Hebrides) – List of International matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  4. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  5. ^ Sarkar, Uttiyo (4 June 2023). "Hero Intercontinental Cup Rival Watch: Vanuatu". khelnow.com. Khel Now India. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  6. ^ "New Zealand vs Vanuatu: live 29 june 2024. Team News, Preview, Lineups, Streaming, Sopcast | Soccer365". soccer365.me. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  7. ^ "New Zealand win record sixth OFC Nations Cup title". FIFA.com. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Antigo(a) Vanuatu camisas de futebol". Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Head Coach Juliano Schmeling 23-man squad for the PacificAus Sports Football Series". Twitter. Vanuatu Football Federation. 28 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Vanuatu". National Football Teams.
  11. ^ "ANOTANDO FÚTBOL - VANUATU". 2023.
  12. ^ "2007".
  13. ^ "2011".
  14. ^ "2012". YouTube. 5 June 2012.
  15. ^ "2017".
  16. ^ "2019". 6 March 2020.
  17. ^ "2024".

Notes

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vanuatu_national_football_team&oldid=1307490014"