Nauru, the world's smallest island nation, is attempting to establish football for the first time, despite never having fielded a team in an official international match and having only a single hard-sand pitch. The effort, led by British former academy player Charlie Pomroy alongside a group of volunteers, comes as the country seeks to improve both its international image and public health, with football seen as one route to a more active population on an island where obesity and type 2 diabetes rates are extremely high.

Nauru's phosphate mining wealth left much of its 21 square kilometre landscape uninhabitable, crowding its roughly 12,000 residents onto the coast with little space for sport, while over 90% of food is imported and largely processed. Aussie rules remains the dominant sport, played by around 30% of the population, and Nauru has previously only come close to international football fixtures via informal matches in 1994 and 2014. The Nauru Soccer Federation, which describes itself as the last country without a senior international side, hopes the 2028 Micronesian Games, which it will host and which includes football, will help build momentum for the sport.