Right now there are 211 member nations in the FIFA football family, and in the Pacific there are three countries with high hopes of becoming the next to join.
Both Tuvalu and Kiribati have been trying for more than 20 years to achieve full membership of the Oceania Confederation, a move which would open the FIFA door for them.
But it looks like they could be beaten to the punch by the newest football playing nation on earth, Marshall Islands.
After making their debut against the US Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos in the United States last year, there are plans in the works for the team to play their first ever game on home soil next year.
The hope is that match would be the prelude to their joining the Asian Football Confederation, and with that would come FIFA membership, and based on the launch of what they are calling the 212 club, there is clearly some confidence in the Marshalls’ camp.
