Dzeia national football team

Dzeia

Nickname(s)	X̣ṭeḿpʻuł̣un (Blue Archer) Ł̣utʻsʻtaaŋiq (The Nighthawks)
Association	Dzean Football Association (DFA)
Confederation	EKFA
Sub-confederation	TFC
Head coach	Tix̣ł̣utʻ Pʻuł̣un
Captain	Xax̣łńux̣ Qihuutli
Most caps	Łaaqńoł̣q Ńiitli (177)
Top scorer	Xeł̣x̣ḿeŋ Çaamun (101)
Home stadium	Astral Sky Stadium
Code	DZE
First colours Second colours
World ranking
Current	1
Highest	1 (November 2015 - October 2016, February 2025 -)
Lowest	13 (January 1981 - April 1982)
First international
Dzeia 0–3 Etrius (Ŋołtʻokeq, Dzeia; 17 November 1953)
Biggest win
Dzeia 11–0 Khali'tur (Łʻysxḿoˮniq, Dzeia; 23 June 1997)
Biggest defeat
Etrius 7–1 Dzeia (Kiros, Etrius; 5 August 1981)
World Cup
Appearances	12 (first in 1982)
Best result	Champions (2026)
Sunrise Cup
Appearances	12 (first in 1980)
Best result	Champions (2000, 2012, 2016, 2024)

The Dzeia national football team, also known by the nickname Pʻuł̣unx̣ṭeḿ (Blue Archer), represents Dzeia in men's international football and is supervised by the Dzeia Football Association (DFA), the governing body for football in Dzeia.

Founded in 1957, until the 1980's it was a small and amateur team. For a long time traditional sports were overwhelmingly dominant and the niche was only found in those foreign expats living in Ŋołtʻokeq. After 1981, when football was fully professionalized, Dzeia has emerged as one of the most successful teams in the East, achieving second place in 1994, 2010 KFA World Cup and 2014, as well as third place in 2002 and 2006, with 11 world cup appearances so far. They have won the Sunrise Cup a total of three times, the second most in the EKFA, as well as two being back-to-back victories.

Dzeia's progress in a short period has served as an inspiration and example of how to develop football. Their principal rivals are the nations of Otyken, Etrius and Brennus, with whom the nation routinely contends the semi-finals and finals, as well as a more recent rivalry arising with the nations of Honalulu and Eldamar.

History

1950's-1970's: Amateur era

The first interactions the nation had with the sport occured during the founding of Ŋołtʻokeq in 1951, where those moving to the etrian sector introduced football to the Tsotʻaan, Xanaaq̇ut, who would take a liking to it. By 1953, an amateur team, mostly comprised of etrian migrants and a few dze from the neighbouring tribes, would be formed to play the first international matches, though it would suffer from a lack of matches, as only the nations of Etrius and Brennus had agreements with the Dze this far back, hampering their ability to professionalize. The nation would also join KFA that year, though they would not play any world cups due to a lack of funds and a professional team to play for three decades.

This continued into the 60's, where the nation played a total of twenty matches throughout the decade, though the entry into REK allowed for the nation to begin playing with a more diverse set of nations, even as the team remained almost entirely amateur, with little in the way to pay for the improvement of the standards as the nation entered a period of reclusion under the rule of Ł̣utʻtońat in the mid-60's. This meant that during the next decade, even less matches were played, with the players being exclusively from Ŋołtʻokeq or the neighbouring clans as not even a professional domestic league could be created; regardless, it was this decade that saw the sport start to gain a following with the autochtonous populations, slowly, as the nation re-entered the world stage during it's role as a safe haven for refugees during the Cipher War.

1980's-1990's: Rise from nothing

It was in the Tsodzuńńi of 1979 that Ł̣utʻtońat would be persuaded to open the country once more, through a ten year process to prepare the nation for the 15-year period of modernization. One of the things brought forward during the meeting, via a popular petition from Ŋołtʻokeq's citizenry, was the professionalization of dzean football, which was agreed upon. A professional league and team were created in 1980 just in time for the 1980 EKFA Sunrise Cup and the 1982 Qualifications, in the latter of which they managed to narrowly beat Bristol (Kalrania) for 3rd place in their group, avoiding a knock-off match with Honalulu, though they would lose at the group stage with only 1 point. With a similar story in 1986, the nation would qualify first of its group to the World Cup, but fail to qualify to the semi-finals, achieving 7th place overall.

Despite the lackluster results during the decade, it was during this time that the nation gained the experience and play-time required to become an internationally competitive team, with the nation scoring 2nd place in the 1990 Qualifications and reaching 4th place over-all, having lost the third-place match against Otyken. The full results of the work came in 1994 where the nation got to the finals, losing 1-0 to the host nation, Brennus, on aggregate time; four years later, the same miracle would be played, though this time the nation would lose the semi-final 2-0 to Etrius, beating Eldamar 3-1 for the third place.

Becoming one of the top five nations worldwide by the end of the decade, the national team had made quite the impression due to their tenacity during matches and the un-orthodox strategies used by its coach at the time, Kilo Farrassi, who made use of the dze's physical edge to its fullest extent, as well as the work of his student and successor as coach, René Leclère, having reached the finals with both coaches.

2000's: Boffrand-Giroud era

Entering the century as one of the best teams worldwide, becoming champions of the 2000 EKFA Sunrise Cup, winning the tournament for the first time in a magnificent 5-1 victory over Otyken, the previous champions. Two years later, the nation would once again reach the semi-finals during the 2002 KFA World Cup, however they would lose 2-1 against Nonadia in a highly controversial match, nevertheless managing to win the third place by beating Etrius on penalties 4-2. A recurring story, they would reach the semi-finals in 2006, but they would be defeated by the would-be champions of Brennus in a 3-2 victory, then losing 4-3 on penalties against Sodor (Kalrania) for the third place.

2010-2017: On top of the world

In the road to the 2010 KFA World Cup, the team would face a tough qualifications phase, being beaten in the scoreboard by Otyken and Honalulu, however they would win all three matches in their group stage, beating Rykensvik 2-0, then obtaining the revenge for 2002 against Nonadia in a resounding 4-0 victory, to then narrowly beat Brennus 3-2. The team would then go on to beat the Outer Union in Quarter-finals 3-1 and Gora 6-0; the semi-final win against the host nation was one of the most memorable games in World Cup history, after a somewhat lackluster first half, the team would score three goals in five minutes, having a 4-0 lead by the 67th minute. The nation would, however, lose to Etrius 1-0 with a goal on the 117th minute.

The nation would then, despite the harsh loss, go on to have an almost clean season, only drawing 1-1 against Honalulu during the semi-finals, at the 2012 Sunrise Cup, triumphing over Tsienzhou 3-2 to become champions for a second time, however a 2-1 loss against Eldamar in a friendly match would mean the end to their first place on the KFA ranking. During the road to the 2014 cup, the nation would emerge first in the EKFA qualifications with a six point difference over Honalulu. Then, during the world cup proper, the nation would once again rise first in their group, with a 2-0 victory over Outer Union, a hard-fought 3-3 against Etrius and a final 3-0 victory against Gullblatt; in the quarter-finals they would soundly beat Saakalistal 3-0, later on defeating their long standing rivals in Brennus 2-1 in aggregate time in the semi-finals, however, they would lose the final to Allessia in penalties 5-4 in one of the closest matches to date.

Quickly recovering from their defeat, the nation would then win its third Sunrise Cup in 2016 with a 4-1 victory against Otyken, successfully defending their title with an unbeaten season, with only two ties, one being a 0-0 match against Honalulu in the group stage and the other being the 2-2 match against Tsienzhou in the semi-finals, which they won 4-2 on penalties. The Dzean Golden Age, however, would end as coach Tʻuuqaḳeełʻ Ç̇uˮin would resign on the 13th of December of that year.

2017-2018: Fall from grace

With the Sodorian Freyr Taimiasala taking the mantle as coach, the nation would then start their rocky qualifications for 2018 with a 1-1 draw against Kynthes and a 0-1 defeat against Honalulu, eventually qualifying 3rd in the group stage behind Tsienzhou and Honalulu. During the world cup itself, the nation would score two draws in a 1-1 match against Africa and a lackluster 0-0 against Etrius, only having a 3-1 victory against Baltocarpathia and manage to qualify second, to then lose in the quarter-finals against Brennus in a dissapointing 3-0 loss. Following this defeat, Taimiasala would resign as coach, with assisstant manager Tix̣ł̣utʻ Pʻuł̣un taking up the role in a pinch.

2019-present: Re-surgence under Pʻuł̣un

Although at first having struggles throughout 2019, losing his first friendly against Etrius 1-0 and tying the next game against Gora 1-1, the period before the 2020 EKFA Sunrise Cup he would spend drilling the team, winning the two friendly matches before the tournament in a crushing 5-0 against Solingarch and a 2-0 avenging against Brennus. During the tournament itself, his team would defeat Xing and Khali'tur 2-0 and 3-1, respectively, whilst drawing against Otyken 0-0 and rising first on the group stage, the nation would then defeat Amberleaf 4-0 on the quarter-finals and the guests in Sodor 4-1 in penalties after a 0-0 draw during the semi-finals, however they would be beaten by Tsienzhou on the finals, again by penalties 6-5, after a 1-1 draw.

Despite not winning the cup, the performance of the team was undeniably recovering from the past three years, and the team would then find itself scoring even more victories as they emerged first in the TFC first-stage qualifications with an almost clean record, only tying once 0-0 with Khali'tur, to then emerge unbeaten in the EFKA Qualifications, winning all 14 matches and only conceding 7 goals and scoring a total of 39.

During the 2022 KFA Centenary World Cup, the nation would defeat the nation of Schweiz 1-0, to then triumph decisively 8-0 against Baltocarpathia and end the group stage with a 3-1 victory over the Outer Union, then beating Nonadia 2-0 in the quarter-finals and Etrius 2-1 on the road to the final, which they would lose 3-2 against Brennus, who would earn their fourth title. Despite the setback, the nation would regain its top 5 status in the ranking, having an almost unbeaten semester.

Team image

Nicknames

Dzeia's national football team is officially nicknamed the Blue Archer (X̣ṭeḿpʻuł̣un) by the DFA. The team is also often known by the last name of the manager or, in the case the manager being foreign, by the local nickname. For example, under Tʻuuqaḳeełʻ Ç̇uˮin they were known as Ç̇uˮin Dzeia (Ç̇uˮinxdze), while under his predecessor Arsène Giraud, they were known as Giraud Dzeia abroad, but internally as the White Maneback Dzeia (Tṡiqowx̣ŋdze), usually translated as White Lion Dzeia, due to a nickname awarded to him due to his aggressive game plan. Lately, the team has also been known, both nationally and abroad, as The Nighthawks (Ł̣utʻsʻtaaŋiq) due to their employment of Tʻuç̇ŋul, known as the "Player's whistle", a sociolect of Neo-Khunul, which they use to communicate before and during matches, translated as whistles, hence the nickname, rather than infrasonic or normal speech to communicate further, giving the impression that they are mostly silent.

Rivalries

Brennus

Main article: Dzeia-Brennus football rivalry

Etrius

Main article: Dzeia-Etrius football rivalry

Otyken

Main article: Dzeia-Otyken football rivalry

Honalulu

Main article: Dzeia-Honalulu football rivalry

Results and fixtures

Main article: Dzeia national football team results and fixtures

2021

v

v

2026

v

v

Coaching staff

Managerial history

Last Updated on the 22nd of June, 2026, after the match against Saakalistal.

Manager	Period	Record
		Matches	Won	Draw	Lost	Win %
ETR Vallen Nomanov	1977-1984	-	-	-	-	--.--%
BRN Simon Beaumont	1984-1990	-	-	-	-	--.--%
ETR Kilo Farrassi	1990-1997	-	--	-	-	--.--%
BRN Timothé Boffrand	1997-2006	-	--	-	-	--.--%
BRN Arsène Giraud	2006-2012	-	--	-	-	--.--%
DZE Tʻuuqaḳeełʻ Ç̇uˮin	2012-2017	-	--	-	-	--.--%
ETR Ummyan Naffali	2017-2018	-	-	-	-	--.--%
DZE Tix̣ł̣utʻ Pʻuł̣un	2019-	77	60	14	3	77.92%
Manager	Period	Record
		Matches	Won	Draw	Lost	Win %

Honours

International

AIFA World Cup

• Champions (1): 2026
• Runners-up (4): 1994, 2006, 2010, 2022 (record)
• Third place (3): 1998, 2002, 2014

Continental

EKFA Sunrise Cup

• Champions (4): 2000, 2012, 2016, 2024
• Runners-up (4): 1996, 2004, 2008, 2020
• Third place (1): 1992

VFC Cup

• Runners-up (1): 2025