National team

A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.

National teams often compete at various levels and age groups, and have a number of different selection criteria based on national and their respective federations’ rules. National teams are not always composed of the best available individual players.

National teams, like other sporting teams, are often grouped by sex, age or other criteria. The most prestigious national teams are often the senior men’s and women’s teams. However, they may not be the most popular or successful.

Under FIFA regulations, a player primarily qualifies for a national team by “holding a permanent nationality that is not dependent on residence in a certain country” — i.e., being a passport-carrying citizen of said country.

If a player’s single nationality enables them to play for more than one FIFA member, any of the following will be sufficient to establish eligibility for a specific association under that nationality:

1. Birth “on the territory governed by the relevant association”.
2. The birth of a biological parent or grandparent in said territory.
3. Two years of continuous residence in said territory at the time of his or her first appearance.

However, FIFA allows associations that share a common nationality to make an agreement among themselves, subject to FIFA approval, by which the residency criterion is deleted completely or amended to require a longer time limit. The most notable example of this situation is the United Kingdom, which has four national associations on its territory (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales).

Players become permanently tied to a national association, with one exception to be outlined below, once they play in “an official competition of any category or any type of football”. This includes any competition for national teams governed by FIFA, including qualifying matches for said competitions; international friendlies cannot tie players to a country under any circumstances.

Players who have more than one nationality, regardless of the method of acquisition, have slightly different eligibility requirements from those who have a single nationality, whether or not it is shared by multiple associations. In addition to holding the relevant nationality, any of the following will qualify a player to appear for said country:

1. Birth in that country.
2. Birth of a biological parent or grandparent in that country.
3. Five years of residence in that country after turning age 18.

This last rule is intended to prevent associations from naturalising players who lack birth or familial ties in that country, and immediately fielding them in international matches. FIFA will issue waivers to this last requirement if an association can show to FIFA’s satisfaction that the player had significant ties to that country prior to naturalisation.

Separate from the above rules, a player who holds multiple nationalities may petition FIFA for a one-time change of nationality if they have never appeared in an official senior international match for any country, and holds the nationality of the second country prior to appearing for said country. The aforementioned Zelalem case falls within the scope of these rules, since they had played for Germany at youth level.