The Artsakh national football team (Armenian: Արցախի ֆուտբոլի հավաքական), until 2017 known as Nagorno-Karabakh national football team, was the national representative of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), which was internationally unrecognized. Consequently, it was not a member of FIFA or UEFA and was therefore not eligible to enter the World Cup or the European Championship.
On 17 September 2012, they became a provisional member of the N.F.-Board and a week later played their first competitive match away against Abkhazia.[1] The following month they played the return match at home against Abkhazia.[2] Their first competitive competition was the ConIFA World Football Cup which took place in Östersund, Sweden. The Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan failed to stop their participating in the competition after contacting ConIFA. ConIFA refused to revoke their invitation and Artsakh finished 9th overall after losses to Ellan Vannin, Nice and wins against Darfur and Sapmi.[3]
In 2019, Artsakh came back to CONIFA competitions by organising the 2019 CONIFA European Football Cup, where they finished in the fifth position.
In 2023, Artsakh will compete in the 2024 CONIFA World Cup Qualification. They were drawn in Group D with Abkhazia. Their match was originally to be scheduled on 10 July 2023. But the match was delayed by CONIFA to a later date. It was eventually cancelled due to rising tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan due to the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. On 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive against Artsakh, the government surrendered and announced the dissolution of all government institutions by the end of 2023. It's currently unknown if the team will regroup again. However, Artsakh remains a listed member of CONIFA and was listed as an active member at the 2024 AGM.[4]
The following 23 players were called up to the squad for the 2019 CONIFA European Football Cup.
