Jabarkan 2010: Undian Pertama dari Tim nasional sepak bola Kepulauan Mariana Utara

Pada 19 Juni 2010 NMI meraih hasil imbang 1-1 dengan tetangga Guam di Piala Marianas 2010. Pertandingan berakhir imbang karena kondisi lapangan yang kurang penerangan untuk melanjutkan pertandingan. Joe Wang Miller mencetak gol untuk NMI pada menit ke-68 dan Jason Cunliffe membalas pada menit ke-89 untuk menyelamatkan hasil imbang Guam.

Terlepas dari upaya NMIFA, penundaan dalam pengambilan keputusan tentang apakah turnamen sepak bola Pasifik Games 2011 akan digandakan sebagai acara kualifikasi Piala Dunia FIFA berarti bahwa tim nasional tidak bisa masuk. Akibatnya, tidak ada pertandingan yang dimainkan selama dua tahun berikutnya hingga Juli 2012 ketika The Blue Ayuyus mengikuti 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup First Preliminary Round yang diselenggarakan lagi oleh Guam. Pelatih baru Chikashi Suzuki sadar akan tugasnya untuk menghentikan kekalahan beruntun dari pertandingan melawan Guam, ia telah mengakui bahwa pemain sebelumnya telah berisi sejumlah besar pemain veteran dan mulai memanggil sejumlah pemain muda seperti Lucas Knecht dan Bo Barry yang masing-masing bermain sepak bola untuk klub perguruan tinggi dan sekolah menengah di Amerika Serikat. Namun, tim tersebut masih mencakup berbagai usia pemain, Enrico del Rosario dan Brian Lee adalah yang termuda di usia 15 tahun dengan Dan Westphal tertua dengan umur 42 tahun.

Optimism that the team might finally be able to beat Guam appeared well placed when Joe Wang Miller opened the scoring for the Northern Mariana Islands, but two fouls from William Dunn allowed Guam to score through a penalty and a free kick before a handball from Kirk Schuler gifted Guam their third goal confirming a fourth defeat out of five games against Guam. Despite the result, the team expressed confidence that they would be able to beat Macau, the other team in the three team qualification group, who still had to play Guam, and potentially secure the single qualifying berth for the next round. However, this confidence was to be misplaced. Macau took a 2–0 lead at half time, despite resolute defending from the Blue Ayuyus in the first twenty minutes, and although Kirk Schuler was able to halve the deficit in the 51st minute, Macau scored three more goals, including a penalty to eliminate the Northern Mariana Islands at the first hurdle for the third consecutive time.

In 2013, the team played their first ever series of matches against opposition from outside the EAFF, taking part in the qualifying rounds for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. With the football federation founded only a year prior to the inaugural edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, the team not only had to acclimatize to the elevated environment in which they would be playing, they would also have to face some very strong teams in the shape of Palestine, Bangladesh and Nepal

In their opening game against Nepal, they were dominated from the start, with Bharat Khawas opening the scoring in the fourth minute and completing his hat trick in the 72nd, with three other Nepalese players completing a 6–0 rout. In their second match they fared even worse, losing 9–0 to Palestine, the middle-eastern team scoring four times in the first half and five in the second. Despite already being eliminated following their initial two defeats, the Blue Ayuyus defense performed well in their final game, despite losing 4–0 to Bangladesh, the team managed to keep the scoreline respectable with the result flattering Bangladesh as they scored two very late goals.