Football in Guam began in the 1960s, on the initiative of two pioneers: an Irish priest, Tony Gillespie, and an owner of a construction company, Charles Whang, who settled in Guam and created the Guam Soccer Cup before becoming the first president of the Guam Football Association in 1975.
Guam played its first international match at the 1975 Pacific Games against Solomon Islands, losing 5–1. This result was followed by an 11–0 loss to Fiji, eliminating them from the competition. In the 1979 Games, Guam again lost twice to New Caledonia 11–1 and New Hebrides 5–0. Progressing to the Consolation Tournament, Guam registered their first victories, beating Western Samoa 4–2, and Tuvalu 7–2 before losing again to New Hebrides, 5–1.
AFC and FIFA Member (1991–2011)
Despite being considered part of Oceania, and having never faced an Asian team to that point, Guam became an associate member of the AFC in 1991 but continued to participate in the Pacific Games.[6] In 1996, Guam became both a full member of the AFC and of FIFA.
In 1998, Guam played in the Micronesian Games, though the tournament was a 9-a-side competition with 80 minute matches. Guam finished top of the group stage but lost 3–0 to Northern Mariana Islands in the final.[7] Guam entered the 2000 Asian Cup qualification but finished last in their group again, losing to Vietnam (11–0), China (19–0), and Philippines (2–0).
Gary White became Guam's manager in 2012 and called-up players of Guamanian origin based in the United States like Ryan Guy and A. J. DeLaGarza to improve the level of his team. In the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, Matao managed to advance past the first round by beating Northern Marianas (3–1) and Macao (3–0). Guam then participated in the 2012 Philippine Peace Cup, replacing Hong Kong, losing against Philippines (1–0) and Chinese Taipei (2–0) but beat Macao (3–0) in its final group game to finish third. Guam advanced to the second qualifying stage of both the 2015 and 2017 EAFF Championship finishing third and fourth respectively and failing to advance the final competition.
During the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Guam beat Bhutan 5–1 over two legs but lost all eight of their second round matches and finished bottom of their group, scoring two goals and conceding 32.
After nearly not playing an international match for a year, Guam participated in the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Singapore, where they would ultimately lose 3–1 on aggregate.
Nickname
Until 2011, the nickname of the Guamanian selection was Chamorros, in reference to the local population of Guam. When Gary White took charge of Guam, the team has changed their nickname to Matao, referring to highest social class in ancient Chamorro society in the Chamorro language. White also promoted the use of the Guam pledge before each match of the selection, referred to as the Inifresi.[8][9]
^Vénétitay, Guillaume (March 24, 2016). "Interview with Gary White". So Foot. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
