New Issue: The San Marino National Football Team (San Marino)

There was an interesting new issue this week, when a particular European country decided to celebrate the success of its national football team. Who could it be? Could it have been one of the teams who this week qualified for the World Cup? No. Was it a former winner of the World Cup or the European Championship? No. Maybe it was one of the women's teams? Wrong again. No, it is San Marino, Yes, the team that currently is ranked 210 out of 210 FIFA international teams! Often called "the worst team in international football", here is a stamp to celebrate their success and achievements! I've had a look at the data and, since their first game on 14th November 1990, the San Marino men's team has played 223 matches. They have lost 210 of those, drawn ten and won three. The three they have won have all been against Liechtenstein, but don't go thinking that they'd love to play Liechtenstein every week because they've also lost three times to their slightly-higher ranked (205th out of 210) European opponents. San Marino have scored two goals this year, including taking the lead against Romania in a World Cup qualifier earlier this week - which was a nice way to mark their 35th anniversary as an official member of UEFA. Unfortunately, Romania then scored seven goals at the other end, but it was a good start for San Marino. Why has San Marino issued this stamp? My first thought was that it was connected to the anniversary and, while the San Marino team may not be the most successful in world football, the country is rightly proud of them. The team might not be winning World Cups, but it is their team. However, it seems I was wrong. The WOPA website tells us this: "Poste San Marino, in collaboration with the Sammarinese Football Federation (FSGC), celebrates the San Marino National Football Team with the issuance of a commemorative stamp from the 'Sport' postal series, a thematic series that combines San Marino's philatelic tradition with the universal values ​​of sport. The project, born from the synergy between Poste San Marino and FSGC, celebrates the memorable success of November 18, 2024, when the San Marino National Football Team achieved a historic victory in Group D of the UEFA Nations League, securing promotion to Group C and writing an unforgettable page in the country's sporting history. This achievement sparked enthusiasm and recognition both nationally and internationally."

Basically, they're celebrating beating Liechtenstein 3-1 - but saying it like that wouldn't sound quite so good. However, context matters and I think this does show that sporting achievement is relative and what others may shrug at or perhaps take little notice of means a lot to others. Group D of the Nations League probably didn't mean anything to anyone outside of San Marino, Gibraltar and Lichtenstein, but it clearly meant a lot to people in San Marino to have their team winning not just a game but coming top of the group. After 34 years of nothing very much exciting happening, it must have felt as good as winning the World Cup. It is difficult to know what to do with this stamp. Should I add it to my collection, or buy a few to send to people in Gibraltar and Liechtenstein? More importantly, what do I think of the stamp? Design Quality - Well, it's a bit uninspiring isn't it? Simple designs can work well, but when your national football team does surprisingly well and you want to celebrate, is a plain picture of the shirt the right idea? Couldn't they have included some action photographs of the goals, or perhaps a team picture showing the players who achieved this historic victory? I think this is very unadventurous, and maybe the team deserved something better? It just feels a very average design, rather than something that is celebrating an important sporting achievement. 5/10

Theme and Subject Choice - The theme is a really good one, and as I have said sporting achievement is all relative. Celebrating their national football team seems a pretty good subject choice to me. 9/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance - In terms of the history of the San Marino football team, the Nations League group win was a pretty outstanding achievement. It is of huge cultural relevance in San Marino! 10/10

Innovation and Creativity - There's not really much innovation and creativity on display here. It's a very plain design and a bit disappointing. 4/10

Collectability - People like football stamps, and this is one that is a little bit different! There is also a lot of interest in the San Marino national football team, so this should prove quite popular. 9/10

Personal appeal - I have some football stamps and I am thinking of buying this one, simply because it is a bit different to the others and a great reminder that success in sport isn't about winning the big tournaments - it's about making people proud. I think I like the idea of this stamp more than I like the stamp itself, which is probably not as exciting as it should be. 8/10

Overall score - 45/60