Squidroidia national football team

The Squidroidia national football team is the representative team of the Dominion of Squidroidia in international association football competitions. The running of the national team is organized via the Squidroidian Football Association, owned directly by the Squidroidian government.

The team primarily contests the Independent Associations Championship and the World Cup (Plus the Cup of Harmony), which happen in 2 year cycles. Squidroidia have reached the Final of the IAC 12 tournament, losing to Tequilo. They also finished in 3rd place Baptism of Fire 73, the farthest they have gone in a World Cup Committee sanctioned tournament.

Early successes
Before the first Squidroidian international was held, neither Squidroidia or its predecessor nation Inkhalla had any form of a national team setup, although Inkhalla did have a sustainable domestic league that was lost when the Apocalypse occurred. As soon as the modern era of the Squidroidian Super League began in 2020, calls became clear for a national team to start competing for the World Cup, although this was held back until the end of the 2020 season. When Squidroidia played their first international football game against Sharktail, however, any doubt the government had was erased, as Squidroidia ran out 3-1 winners, with Yoneda Toshikuni scoring Squidroidia's first ever international goal.

After the success of the Sharktail friendly, however, the team began to dip in fortunes. In the Euro Cup subregional tournament Squidroidia drew 2 games in their group and lost 1, against Rivierenland, to send them last in their group. However, Ryūzaki Mito, the team's manager, held onto his job for the upcoming IAC X tournament in Omerica, in which their fortunes would turn around. Their group stage run, which included a 2-1 win against eventual champions Poafmersia, got the Inklings undefeated heading into the knockouts, where they won against Port Ember and surprise of the tournament Woryand to reach the semi-finals, only to lose 1 goal to zero against HUElavia. The Squidroidians would conclude their first major international tournament with a victory in the 3rd place match against Tequilo.

Squidroidia would once again get to the semi-finals of an international competition in Baptism of Fire 73, having a 4-1-0 record with the draw coming against Woryand, then beating the Liberal Democratic Socialist States and Iles Rogieres before coming short against Tioguldos. In the 3rd place game, however, they would crush the Gothanita Isles 5-0 to catch another bronze, tied for the biggest win in team history (The other being a 6-1 win against Fluvannia in the group stage of the same tournament). During qualification for World Cup 86, they would finish in 5th place in the "group of death" that was Group 15, highlights including winning against Quebec away and in both Flavovespia games, but embarrassing losses against Wymondham, Cassadaigua and Ihilthracna, coupled with giving Kulefati one of their sole 3 points in qualification, did not allow them to get any higher in their debut qualification campaign. They would once again do business in Cup of Harmony 78, advancing 2nd from their group which included Geektopia, New Lusitania and Valladares, before losing in the Round of 16 to Northwest Kalactin.

Second Cycle
Before IAC 11, the Squidroidian national team would play in 2 "friendly tournaments", the Twicetagrien Football Invitational and the 2nd International Football Cup, the latter Squidroidia would host themselves. In the Twicetagrien Football Invitational, the team would do the group stage performing squad rotations as part of a position battle - The first team won against Baker Park Women 2-1, before the reserves posted the joint biggest loss in the history of the national team, a 5-1 loss to Murphtannia. The team, which was almost exactly the same as the Cup of Harmony 78 team (Without famed keeper Go Kyushichi), would grab Squidroidia's 3rd straight 3rd place against Xanneria. The International Football Cup however went well for the Inklings, topping Group A, their only blemish being a draw against eventual champions Muralos. After beating Sylestone (Who they lost to in the TFI semi-finals) in the quarter-finals, the team set up a rematch against HUElavia on their home turf, but lost 3-5. They would win the 3rd place match against Megistos.

The team's return to the IAC, however, was a tricky one to say the least, marred by their shocking loss to A Flock of Seagulls in the group stage. The team would bounce back with a 5-4 win against Murphtannia and a 2-0 win against Vkyta to top the group and advance to the Round of 16, beating World Cup 86 participants Trolleborg 1-0 before a shocking loss to Megistos 3-1 in the Quarter-Finals sent them home.

Qualification for World Cup 87 would start the same way as it did in the previous cycle, opening up with a 1-0 loss at home to Wreckeria, but was worsened by a 2-1 loss to Darmen away from home. The rest of the campaign would be a little brighter, however, as the Inklings would end up recording big wins against the likes of Jabal Akhdar and Icecliff (The latter of which tied the record for Squidroidia's biggest win) and even scoring the 3 points against Darmen and Kelssek. Losses against Frestovenia and Valanora, however, doomed them to 4th place, which was only seen as a slight improvement from last edition.

In Cup of Harmony 79, however, things would turn worse for the Inklings squad. Placed in Group L with Omerica, Saint-Domingue and Hebitaka, the team were predicted to make the knockout stage in their second appearance. They would go and lose to Saint-Domingue 1-0 to open up the group, knowing that the game against Omerica would decide their fate in the tournament. A crushing 5-3 loss to the Incorrigibles would eliminate them from the tournament, costing Ryūzaki Mito's job in the national team. With his assistant manager in charge, they continued to flounder, ending the campaign with a 2-0 loss to Hebitaka.

Adam Johnson era
After sacking Ryūzaki Mito after the team were eliminated in Cup of Harmony 79, the Squidroidian national team appointed Barunian Adam Johnson as the manager. Johnson, who had previously guided his homeland to a Semi-Finals appearance in the inaugural IAC as well as a couple of World Cup appearances and the final of Cup of Harmony 69, would guide Squidroidia in their third IAC tournament in his first job outside of his native Barunia in IAC 12.

His return to the IAC after Barunia made their way to AO would start off with the usual 2-0 win against Kriegiersien, with Shiba Tetsuo scoring on his national team debut to kick off the Inklings' IAC campaign. A 2-2 draw with TJUN-ia was to follow before Squidroidia tied their all-time biggest victory with a 5-0 demolition against Srednjaci, their 2nd 5-0 win and the 4th time Squidroidia won by 5 goals in a competitive match. A 1-1 draw with Montaña Verde, however, put them on thin ice heading into their final group stage game against Sajnur, with a loss meaning that the Inklings would be eliminated from the group stage. They would narrowly win 1-0 to scrape into the knockout stage.

The IAC 12 knockout stage was the ride of the national team's life. In a Round of 16 tie against heavily favored New Lusitania, who scored the most goals in IAC group stage history and only giving up their first goal in their final group stage game, the Inklings would hold the game level before Makino Hideo fired the ball into the net to get the only goal in the game late, denying the Selecção a Quarter-Finals appearance for the first time since their appearance in IAC 2. In the Quarter-Finals, Squidroidia would find themselves up against two-time defending champions Poafmersia and once again won, beating the Red Panijas 1-0 off of a Shiba Tetsuo goal. In their second Semi-Final appearance in the IAC, they would face off against underdogs of the tournament Silver Beach. Playing the role of the favorites, they would beat them narrowly, 3-2, to advance to their first IAC Final.

The IAC 12 Final would be a rematch of the IAC X 3rd place match, as the Inklings would play Tequilo for the right to hoist the trophy up. Squidroidia would fall behind 1-0 off of a goal from Tsttnauayui in the 19th, which stayed throughout the first half. Squidroidia would win a penalty in the 60th minute, converted by Sho Itō, to tie up the game. From there until the 80th minute, it felt like the Final would head into extra time for the first time in the tournament. Pedro Rôa would say otherwise, scoring in the 81st to give the lead back to Los Pitxileros and scoring in the 88th minute to wrap up the game. Adam Johnson would leave Muralos with another silver medal. Tetsuo and team captain Takemoto Shingen would later play in the Teams of the Tournament match for Team Almuzahara, losing 2-1 to a Team Muralos team containing 7 members of the Tequilo national team.

Nickname
The Squidroidian national team has always been called the Inklings since the very first game. It is often believed that this was due to the nation's abundance of wild Inklings that settled onto Squidroidian territory and became the humanized Inklings that are a minority in the country. Inklings have been part of every national team since IAC X (With Florianne Meeuwessen earning her first cap that same tournament), although never in the goalkeeper position.

Kits
The usual Squidroidian kits are designed by a government owned clothing company in Squidroidia named Mako Designs, known for also making the kits for every Squidroidian domestic club. For the Squidroidian team, the company often likes to make different designs based on each tournament Squidroidia participates in (Checkers on the home kit for Baptism of Fire 73 for example), although the home kits are usually white and the away kits are usually blue with some accents pertaining to the host country of that tournament. The Squidroidian goalkeeper kit, however, has always stayed green and blue since its introduction.

Home stadium
The Squidroidian team plays its home games at Inkopolis City Stadium, the largest stadium in the country, seating 50,000 people. The centerpiece of not only the SFA but Super League side Inkopolis FC, Inkopolis City has also hosted the Squidroidian Cup semi-finals and final since 2020 (And the championship game during the classic era) and is often the home stadium of the Squidroidian gridiron football team during World Bowl competitions. The stadium was built just in time for the 2018 championship football game, and as such is also called the "Championship Grounds".