Gibraltar will be able to enter the World Cup qualification process after a court ruled they can become a full FIFA member.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport made its decision after the Gibraltar Football Association appealed against a decision in September 2014 that stated the requirements for admission to FIFA “had not been met”.
A statement said: “The GFA’s appeal against the decision issued by the FIFA Executive Committee is partially upheld to the extent that the FIFA Executive Committee is ordered to transmit the Gibraltar Football Association’s application for FIFA membership to the FIFA Congress, which shall take all necessary measures to admit the Gibraltar Football Association as a full member of FIFA without delay.”
Gibraltar played their first international after receiving UEFA membership in November 2013, drawing 0-0 with Slovakia, and were in the qualifying stages for Euro 2016.
They lost all 10 of their games in group D, scoring twice and conceding 56 times, with their home games played in Portugal.
Qualifying in the European section of the 2018 World Cup begins on September 4.
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