Football in Monaco is one of the leading sports in the small Principality of Monaco, enjoying large popularity alongside motor racing, yachting

Yachting

Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...

, and tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

.

International Football

Monaco is unique amongst sovereign European states as it is not a UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 member and doesn't have a national team competing in UEFA Euro qualifiers or FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 qualifiers. The cause of this may be the historically close ties to France, but this is also true of Andorra

Andorra

Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...

, while they have their own separate team. It may be purely because Monaco have never applied to join UEFA, despite fulfilling all the required criteria. In recent years, there has reportedly been more interest in achieving this status.

The Monaco national team

Monaco national football team

The Monaco national football team represents Monaco in association football and is controlled by the Monegasque Football Federation, the governing body for football in Monaco. The current manager is Thierry Petit....

 instead tend to play small-scale matches against non-FIFA members. They play their matches at the 18,500 seat Stade Louis II

Stade Louis II

The Stade Louis II is a stadium located in the Fontvieille district of Monaco. It serves primarily as a venue for football, being the home of AS Monaco and the Monaco national football team, as well as the location of the annual UEFA Super Cup match...

 stadium named for a former Prince.

Club Football

Football in Monaco is dominated by AS Monaco

AS Monaco FC

Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club are a French football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. The club was founded in 1924 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II located within Fontvieille...

, who were founded in 1919 and play in the French Ligue 1

Ligue 1

Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

, which they have won on seven occasions, also winning five French Cups in the process. The club have traditionally been heavily backed by the monarchy, with large financial support which helps the club compete with teams from much larger cities. The club plays at the Stade Louis II, where average attendances have sometimes been as low as 5,000 demonstrating the need for financial aid to compete with teams who draw crowds several times that figure.

In 2004, they were runners-up in the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 to FC Porto, widely regarded as the most prestigious club tournament in world-wide football. Their success and the large financial subsidy they receive has caused occasional bad feelings; it has been proposed, often by rival clubs in the Ligue 1, that AS Monaco should not be allowed to qualify for European competition from the French League, thereby taking a place allocated for a French team, with some even suggesting they should be expelled from French football altogether.

One compromise that has been suggested is that AS Monaco continue to play in the French League system, but take part in a yearly qualifying tournament to earn the right to represent Monaco in European competition, as teams in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 do by the Canadian Championship

Canadian Championship

The Canadian Championship—known as the Nutrilite Canadian Championship for sponsorship reasons—is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams...

. This solution would require the Principality to gain full or associate member status of UEFA first.

The complete list of clubs in Monaco is:

• AS Monaco
• Fonction Publique
• Monaco Telecom Le Groupe
• SBM Administration
• SBM Slot Machines
• Sun Casino
• Association Jeunesse et Sport des Monéghetti
• Ribeiro Freres

Super Cup and UEFA Draw

Every year, Monaco hosts the UEFA Super Cup between the winners of the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 and the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

, which offers the Principallity a high profile game. Monaco also plays hosts to the draw for the Champions League.