Taeshan national football team

History
After their somewhat successful debut outing in the Hatchling Cup, the Purple Knights entered their first World Cup. The Knights surprised most sports fans by finishing just outside a playoff spot, just behind fellow Hatchling Cup participants Oikioda who also surprised the world when they won their playoff and went to their first and last World Cup. After qualifying was over the Knights went to the 29th Cup of Harmony, but were easily swept aside in the first round.

In their second turn at the World Cup the Knights did not get anywhere close to qualifying, finishing well out of the running for a Finals spot in World Cup 38. They then went to their second Cup of Harmony, the 30th, in which they performed much better than in the Qualifiers, making it to the tournament's Semi-Finals before losing. In World Cup 39's qualifiers the Knights yet again found a tough road and were yet again headed to a Cup of Harmony. In the 31st Cup of Harmony the Knights disappointed their fans, not coming up to the level of their previous success, being eliminated after the Group Stage.

World Cup 40's qualifiers saw the Knights yet again barely miss out when, on the last few match days, they fell down and out. They finished third in their Group, but were unable to defeat Cafundeu in a playoff for a finals spot. After the qualifiers Knights coach Jake Rios stepped down and Zeke was hired as the new coach, after he retired from the international stage with a team record of 42 goals. In the 32nd Cup of Harmony the team didn't even get a single win in the competition and was knocked out before the second round.

World Cup 41 was the fateful Cup for the Knights. After a long qualifying run the Knights qualified for the World Cup for the first time with six wins and three ties in their ten qualifying games. Though the team had qualified for the first time, they only managed to tie a single game in the Group Stage and was thus knocked out at the Group Stage.

World Cup 42 was a let down after the Knights failed to qualify, just a year after they made it to the ultimate stage for the first time. They missed out by many points. In the ensuing cup of Harmony the Knights yet again did not make it out of the first round. World Cup 43 was also a no-go as the Knights again missed out by many points.

The 35th Cup of Harmony turned out to be what many see as the turning point for Knights soccer. Hosted by West Zirconia and Newmanistan the Knights easily made their way through the Group Stage and Play-off round. They beat their West Zirconian hosts in the Final, giving them the teams only Championship in the sport to date. The Knights followed up their Cup of Harmony Championship by qualifying for World Cup 44, but in the World Cup Group Stage the Knights yet again failed in their second chance at glory.

World Cup 45 led to the Knights second letdown. They had just qualified for the second time in the previous Cup, but this time they again missed out on a place in the Finals. This led to yet another appearance in the 27th Cup of Harmony, but the Knights were knocked out by Peisandros in the Quarterfinals.

World Cup 46 saw the third qualification for the Knights as they easily finished as the number two team in their Group. Again, however, the qualification seemed in vain as they were eliminated after the Group Stage. World Cup 47 qualifying was an epic failure for the veteran Taeshani team, it led to the retirement of many players from the international seen including then Team Captain Tad Montague, and the whole entire Taeshani Defensive line, and backups. Then what has widely come known as the change from the first Generation to the second Generation began and during the ensuing Cup of Harmony the Purple Knights failed once again to make it past the Round of Sixteen match and would finish tied for ninth place in the tournament.

World Cup 48 was another disappointment for the Purple Knights as the team once again barely finished just out of a qualifying position as third in the group. In the following Cup of Harmony, the 40th event, the Knights would have a small turnaround of fortune as they made it to the QuarterFinals before falling to the Secristan Millionaires 2-1.

The team would again fail to qualify for World Cup 49 falling to both Bostopia and Krytenia. And follow suit in world Cup 50, and make the second round of the next Cup of Harmony. After that stars Brian Ying Uing, and A.F. Falcon would retire, with Ying Uing becoming the new national coach replacing Zeke, and Falcon taking the vacant assistant job. Zeke would be come the teams trainer.

The team again failed to qualify for World Cup 51. After which it was undecided whether they would be allowed to compete at Cup of Harmony 43, but ultimately the Knights withdrew to allow more training of their younger players and to allow the nation of Kosovoe take its rightful spot in the tournament.

The team would return only once more before the nation went into a long period of political turmoil in World Cup 52, but finished just outside of a qualification spot and would not go the Cup of Harmony. The teams first tournament back in the international scene was World Cup 55 qualifying where once again they failed to qualify and did not take part in the subsequent Cup of Harmony. They followed their poor performance at the previous cup in World Cup 56, in which they finished third in their group only three goals points and a bunch of goals behind qualification.

In World Cup 57 they followed their previous cup with another 3rd place qualifying finish, and followed it with a failure in the first round of the Cup of Harmony 49. The following year they finished in a playoff spot for World Cup 58, but lost to Pays de Horreur in the playoff 1-0, and followed it with a Cup of Harmony first round bow out. That failure to qualify was followed by a round of sixteen loss to Andossa Se Mitrin Vega in Cup of Harmony 49.

Taeshan qualified for the fourth time for the World Cup following a second place finish in Group ten for World Cup 59 qualifying. After extra time against Civil Citizenry the underdog Knights one on penalties in a scoreless draw 4-1. At the World Cup they would beat world #3 The Babbage Islands, before losing to both Akbarabad and Chetkosk ending their return to the biggest international stage.

The team failed to qualify for World Cup 60 finishing second behind Valanora, and falling to their foe from the previous Cup proper Akbarabad in the pod playoff. After their failure to qualify the team would finish third overall as the third ranked team in Cup of Harmony 52, losing to The Archregimancy in the Semi-Finals and defeating Audioslavia in the 3rd place game.

During qualifying for World Cup 61 the Knights once again managed a second place finish, which put them for the third time into the playoffs. In the playoffs they qualified with a 1-0 victory over their Yesopalithan counterparts. At world cup 61 the Knights would make it to the Round of Sixteen after tying Pasarga, defeating 8th ranked Cassadaigua and tying the lowest seed in the group #90 Starblaydia. After topping the group they fell to Astograth 1-0 in the Round of Sixteen.

The next season they finished second place again in qualify, and for the second season behind Licentiapacisterra, they managed to then qualify after a playoff victory over Kinitaria. This marked the first time in team history where they qualified for two straight world cups. In the finals the Knights one again went 1-2-0 in the group stage, winning the group on 5 points. They would improve though on their Round of Sixteen performance by making it to the Quarterfinals after a defeat of FSSO after a 1-1 draw for 120 minutes, with a 3-2 penalty victor, after which they fell to The Babbage Islands 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

The team breezed through qualification for World Cup 63 ultimately winning Group 1 by 5 points after a last day loss at [[Sargossa]. After World Cup 63 they took part in their first regional competition, Copa Rushmori 13, they managed a quarterfinal appearance losing in extra time to Western Cuba and going 4-0-1. They played for the first time with a "b" team expanding the national teams overall pool.

The national team then moved on to qualifying for World Cup 64 where they qualified with 3 matchdays to spare, and lost only their last match of the campaign to Lalo Limahina. Newcomers Barunia finished second pushing [Karditan] of its expected finish.

World Cup 65 marked a downturn for the Knights, after a good first half of qualifying they faded late and ending up needing to go the playoffs, where they lost to a team ranked only one spot below them, The Archregimancy and for the first time in years the team failed to qualify, at the same time they reached their highest rank in team history. They would follow it up by managing only a Round of Sixteen appearance in Cup of Harmony 57, albeit being the top seeded team by far in the tournament.

In their third appearance in the Copa Rushmori they once again managed a nice run but were defeated by the hosts in their bid to make a second straight semi-final appearance.

Many believe that the team returned to it's mediocre flair when they managed a big victory at the 22nd Copa Rushmori, beating reigning Rushmore and World Champions Pasarga in the final giving the Knights their first regional title, and their third major international soccer title.

World Cup

 * *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Copa Rushmori

 * *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
 * **Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Captains

 * Zeke World Cup 37 - World Cup 39
 * Tad Montague Cup of Harmony 31 - World Cup 48
 * Brian Ying Uing World Cup 48 - World Cup 50
 * Doug Newier World Cup 51 - World Cup 53
 * Anderson Patton World Cup 55 - World Cup 60
 * Ezekiel Catamount World Cup 61
 * Elijah Knickerbocker World Cup 62 - World Cup 63
 * Gwyn Juniper World Cup 64 - World Cup 65
 * Ender Wiggin World Cup 66 - World Cup 68
 * Tyler Pantoum World Cup 69- World Cup 71
 * Lysander Ying Uing World Cup 72 - World Cup 74
 * Maxwell McMichael World Cup 74- World Cup 76
 * Andrew Chesnut Copa Rushmori 26-World Cup 78
 * Miles Snavely World Cup 78 - World Cup 81
 * Jansen Jewsbury Cup of Harmony 73 - Cup of Harmony 74
 * Randall Abl Bakr Copa Rushmori 32 - World Cup 84
 * Shiloh Morgenstern Copa Rushmori 34-

NSWC Player Hall of Fame

 * Zeke - World Cup 43
 * Brian Ying Uing - World Cup 50
 * Tad Montague - World Cup 59
 * A.F. Falcon - World Cup 59
 * Gwyn Juniper - Spot Awarded after World Cup 64, Player named World Cup 69
 * Ender Wiggin - Spot Awarded World Cup 66, Player Named World Cup 69
 * Tyler Pantoum - World Cup 73
 * Miles Snavely - Spot Awarded 79, Player Named Post World Cup World Cup 83