Maldives

The Football Association of Maldives was founded on 1 January 1982, though the national side had already played its first match three years earlier, against Seychelles. Affiliation followed later in the decade — associate status with the Asian Football Confederation in 1984, full membership in 1986, and FIFA membership on the same date. The team plays in red, which explains the nickname The Red Snappers, after the national fish rather than the shirt alone.

Two SAFF Championship titles stand out from the record: 2008, when Mukhthar Naseer's goal beat India 1–0 in the final, and 2018, when Ibrahim Mahudhee and Ali Fasir scored in a 2–1 win over the same opponents. The World Cup has stayed out of reach, but the qualifying rounds produced their own extremes — a 12–0 win over Mongolia in 2003, the country's largest, set against a 17–0 defeat to Iran in 1997.

No player is more tied to the team's story than Ali Ashfaq. He scored 58 goals in 101 caps, a haul that has not been approached since. Imran Mohamed holds the appearance record with 110 caps between the posts.