Jelaskan 2014: First victory dari Tim nasional sepak bola Kepulauan Mariana Utara

2014 saw a return to EAFF Cup qualifying for the fourth time, drawn again in a qualifying group containing the weakest four nations in terms of ranking: Guam, Mongolia and Macau. Following an initial 4–0 loss to Mongolia, on 23 July 2014, the Northern Mariana Islands recorded their first ever international win in a match against Macau. Nicolas Swaim and Kirk Schuler scored to beat Macau, 2–1. Following the historic victory, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association held a celebratory dinner in honour of the team's victory. Younger players commented to national media about how proud they were to be a part of the victory, while older players reflected on how their first matches consisted of a team of veteran players trying to achieve a respectable result and that the victory was the result of years of hard work behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the team were not able to carry this momentum into their final game and again lost to Guam, this time 5–0. They were again eliminated at the first hurdle.

No further international matches were played until the 2017 EAFF East Asian Cup qualifying competition. During the send off to the competition, Ralph Torres, the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands committed to the team that the government would provide a new pitch in Koblerville, the ground breaking for which will take place in October 2016. the team were not able to repeat the comparative successes of the previous qualifying campaign however, losing all three games and being eliminated at the first stage again. the team lost their first match against Chinese Taipei 8–1, a result made all the more easier for their opponents once striker Joe Wang Miller was sent off for a second yellow card in added time at the end of the first half. A second loss followed against Macau, 3–1 before the campaign was rounded out with a third loss, 8–0, to Mongolia. The team were not aided in their qualifying campaign by a pre-tournament training camp in the Philippines which saw a large number of the squad taken ill. The team played three friendly matches against club sides. Prior to their second match, five of the squad were in hospital and a further five or six were recovering from a bacterial infection that had struck the squad. Nonetheless, they fulfilled all three matches. The results of the first two were not released, but the final match was a 5–1 loss to Kaya.