FORGOTTEN FOOTBALL NATIONS

THE world has always been changing, with conflicts arising throughout history.

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Different borders spring up and therefore different nations do also. Some have remained whilst others have disappeared.

But what about their national football teams? Were these nations represented on an international level when it came to the beautiful game? Did any of them make their mark and qualify for a major tournament like the World Cup, for example? The answer is yes, they did.

Here are a selection of nations to have played football, but which are no longer recognised in the world of football, either by name or by geography...

EAST/WEST GERMANY

Let’s start off with a big one, and one that we all probably know of. Germany is one of the most successful footballing nations, winning the World Cup on four occasions (1954,1974, 1990 and 2014) whilst also winning the European Championships three times (1972, 1980 and 1996).

However, some people may dispute this record as it wasn’t officially Germany who won all those titles. Because of political upheaval after World War II, Germany was split into two countries, East Germany and West Germany, with the latter being the more successful of the two on the football pitch.

West Germany won three of these World Cups, while two of the European Championships were also under the West Germany banner.

East Germany, however, were not as successful and only ever qualified for one World Cup tournament, in 1974 in West Germany.

As it so happened, the two were placed in the same group and it was the East that came out on top, with a 77th minute winner scored by Jurgen Sparwasser. Both nations went through to the second group, but that was as far as East Germany got, with West Germany lifting the trophy.

Of course, after October 3, 1990, when the reunification of Germany was confirmed, so was the nation’s football team.

SAARLAND

While the two German nations may well be known, Saarland was not.