Starting A National Team In A Country That Doesn’t Exist

Like most football-obsessed kids, those playing on the streets of Somaliand's capital, Hargeisa, dream of representing their country.

The problem is their country, officially at least, doesn't exist.

Somaliland has everything you expect from a country. Its people have Somaliland passports and pay with Somaliland shillings.

The Somaliland flag flies in the Somaliland parliament. The president was democratically elected in a "smooth and peaceful" election.

What it doesn't have is a Fifa-recognised international football team or the means to maintain one. However, that is something four Britons of Somaliland descent are determined to change.

In February, Ahmed Ali and Mohammed Saeed, both 26, from Birmingham, joined Abdisalam Ahmed, 22, and Hussein Adan, 26, from London to establish the Somaliland Football Academy in their parents' homeland.

"We think every young person should have the opportunity to play football," Ali, a former scout for West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City, tells BBC Sport.