# Why does England compete as a separate entity in the World Cup instead of a UK team? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900 "2010-06-12T08:05:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/1 "2010-06-12T08:05:05Z")
England, Scotland, Wales, N Ireland aren’t separate entities in the Olympics, so why in the World Cup? The german states haven’t always been united but you don’t have a Bavarian team competing, for example. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/2 "2010-06-12T08:13:47Z")
How would England get the satisfaction of beating the Scot’s, if we all banded together? 🙂 And why should the Welsh get a share of the glory when they’ve only ever had 2 good players? ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/3 "2010-06-12T08:42:43Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > How would England get the satisfaction of beating the Scot’s, if we all banded together? 🙂 > > And why should the Welsh get a share of the glory when they’ve only ever had 2 good players? lol. Every board i’ve asked this on get’s a similar answer. Is this some sort of secret the brits hide from outsiders? Is there a factual answer embedded in the history of British soccer? Shall I go to my grave never knowing the answer to this question? The other board I asked this got the following answer from an Englishman: \* I guess it isn’t really fair for 4 countries to unite as one when it comes to the Olympics.\* FWIW, i have this question going on 4 boards now. Every answer has been something about how the scots and welsh are no good at soccer and the island belongs to england anyways. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/4 "2010-06-12T09:12:04Z")
WAG that the best answer you’ll get is that the majority of Scot and Welsh simply don’t want to compete as part of the UK. for the Olympics the IOC only recognizes the UK so they have no choice. It’s not just soccer Scotland and Wales put forward national teams in most other international competitions as well. Scotland national Rugby Team > **[Scotland national rugby union team](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_national_rugby_union_team)** > > The Scotland men’s national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship, where they are the current Calcutta Cup holders. They also participate in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years. > As of 6 February 2023, Scotland are 5th in the World Rugby Rankings. > The history of the team extends back to 1871 when the Scottish rugby team played their ... Scotland National Cricket Team > **[Scotland national cricket team](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_national_cricket_team)** > > ODI and T20I kit > The Scotland men's national cricket team represents the country of Scotland. They play their home matches at The Grange, Edinburgh, and also some other venues. > Scotland became Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1994 after severing links with the England cricket team two years earlier. Since then, they have played in three ODI World Cups (1999, 2007 and 2015) and five T20 World Cup tournaments (2007, 2009, 2016, 2021 and 2022). However, their firs... etc etc… ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/5 "2010-06-12T09:16:39Z")
Tbh, I’d love to see our island’s footballers play as **UK United** at least once. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/6 "2010-06-12T09:28:45Z")
I do not know the answer, but it occurs to me that, as football (as the sport is properly called) is a British invention, the different parts of the United Kingdom, or, at least, England and Scotland, were playing against each other, and developed a sporting rivalry, before any other countries horned in. Our other chief national sport, cricket, is also played internationally by an England (not U.K.) team (unlike football, however, if the other parts of the U.K. have national teams they do not compete at the same international “Test” level). Of course, if we did play as a U.K. team, we might actually have won the World Cup more than once, ever. :mad: On the other hand, why don’t the U.S. states compete internationally as separate entities? 😛 They have more political autonomy than the countries of the U.K. ---
**Author:** ![merrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@merrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrick)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/7 "2010-06-12T09:42:30Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I do not know the answer, but it occurs to me that, as football (as the sport is properly called) is a British invention, the different parts of the United Kingdom, or, at least, England and Scotland, were playing against each other, and developed a sporting rivalry, before any other countries horned in. Pretty much, this. The English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish Football Associations are the oldest national football associations in the world and the first ever international match was between England and Scotland. They joined FIFA (and later UEFA) as independent entities and have always competed separately at international level. Other countries haven’t always been happy with this - why should the UK get four votes - but the Scots and Welsh aren’t about to give up their independence to please them. There’s also the point that (post-Ryan Giggs) adding in the Scottish and Welsh players would do very little to strengthen the England team, and requiring the Scots to support a team with 10-11 Englishmen would probably start a new War of Independence. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/8 "2010-06-12T09:51:22Z")
Well, to understand it, just look at Canada. You know how they just like to pretend that they are a real, independent country, with their own money and all that? And how the USA just humors them and plays along? Pretty much that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/9 "2010-06-12T09:52:31Z")
Are there any other countries which play international competitions (for whichever sport) differently to their actual political makeup? ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/10 "2010-06-12T10:05:49Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Are there any other countries which play international competitions (for whichever sport) differently to their actual political makeup? I looked in Wikipedia at the teams that have competed since it started in 1930, and the answer appears to be no. Germany of course,from the 1954 world cup until 1990, but they were 2 states, even if in hindsight that situation will be a historical blip. ---
**Author:** ![merrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@merrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrick)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/11 "2010-06-12T10:10:07Z")
The Faroe Islands are part of Denmark but have their own football team. North and South Korea fielded a united team at the last Olympics ---
**Author:** ![charlie145](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@charlie145](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charlie145)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/12 "2010-06-12T10:26:06Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Tbh, I’d love to see our island’s footballers play as **UK United** at least once. You can watch that team, they are playing USA shortly 😉 I honestly don’t think any Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish players would get into the starting 11 for England. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/13 "2010-06-12T10:26:31Z")
> [@merrick](#): > > North and South Korea fielded a united team at the last Olympics I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/14 "2010-06-12T10:43:45Z")
Puerto Rico has their own team at the Olympics even though they are part of the US ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/15 "2010-06-12T10:49:56Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Well, to understand it, just look at Canada. You know how they just like to pretend that they are a real, independent country, with their own money and all that? And how the USA just humors them and plays along? > > Pretty much that’s it. Letting the Canadian hockey teams win at the Olympics was a nice touch. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/16 "2010-06-12T10:58:50Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Are there any other countries which play international competitions (for whichever sport) differently to their actual political makeup? There is the [West Indies cricket team](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Indies_cricket_team) which represents 15 countries and dependencies in the Caribbean in international cricket. ---
**Author:** ![merrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@merrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrick)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/17 "2010-06-12T11:34:52Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > I did not know that. That’s because it didn’t happen :smack: According to Wikipedia, that was the _plan_, but negotiations broke down. At several Olympics, the Koreas have paraded as a single group under the United Korea flag, but apparently they’ve always competed separately. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/18 "2010-06-12T14:01:59Z")
I think that its only recently that the U.K. have entered a U.K. team for the Olympics, before that I’m sure that we used to enter seperate national teams. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/19 "2010-06-12T15:03:00Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Puerto Rico has their own team at the Olympics even though they are part of the US Puerto Rico also has its own World Cup team, if memory serves. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900/20 "2010-06-12T15:27:00Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I think that its only recently that the U.K. have entered a U.K. team for the Olympics, before that I’m sure that we used to enter seperate national teams. It [doesn’t seem that way](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain_and_Northern_Ireland_Olympic_football_team) from what I could find. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-england-compete-as-a-separate-entity-in-the-world-cup-instead-of-a-uk-team/542900.md?page=2)