Football at the Island Games
Football has been a regular event since 1989 at the Island Games, the biennial multi-sports event for island nations, territories and dependencies. A 5-a-side competition for under-16s was held at the inaugural event on the Isle of Man, and the success this minor competition brought to the games meant senior men's football was included on the itinerary for the first time in the Faroe Islands, in 1989. Women's football was included on the games' schedule for the first time in 2001.
Over the years, the competition has grown in stature, becoming one of the most important competitions for 'national' teams in non-FIFA football, and has grown from a five-team round robin competition to a 16-team tournament. Football will not be included in the 2019 Island Games as hosts Gibraltar do not have enough pitches. As a replacement the 2019 Inter Games Football Tournament will be held in Anglesey, although it will not officially be part of the games.
Men's Tournament
Results
Medalists
Performances by team
- Blue square indicates host
| Year Participants | 1989 5 | 1991 8 | 1993 8 | 1995 8 | 1997 9 | 1999 14 | 2001 12 | 2003 15 | 2005 10 | 2007 11 | 2009 16 | 2011 15 | 2013 4 | 2015 16 | 2017 16 | 2019 0 | 2021 |
| 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 7th | 6th | 7th | 7th | 2nd | 4th | 9th | 7th | |||||||
| 11th | 14th | 16th | 15th | ||||||||||||||
| 4th | 1st | ||||||||||||||||
| 11th | 10th | 16th | 13th | 3rd | 12th | 16th | |||||||||||
| 1st | 1st | ||||||||||||||||
| 7th | 12th | 13th | 8th | 15th | 4th | 14th | |||||||||||
| 8th | 2nd | 6th | 11th | 5th | 6th | 1st | 9th | 5th | 10th | ||||||||
| 7th | 9th | 6th | 11th | 10th | 14th | 6th | |||||||||||
| 4th | 8th | 4th | 4th | 9th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 8th | 12th | 11th | 2nd | 5th | 2nd | ||||
| 6th | 5th | 4th | 9th | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | |||||||
| 8th | 13th | 15th | 12th | ||||||||||||||
 Isle of Man | 2nd | 8th | 2nd | 7th | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 8th | 2nd | 1st | |||||||
| 7th | 5th | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 10th | 1st | 6th | ||||||||
| 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 5th | 1st | 3rd | 7th | 5th | ||||||
| 9th | 7th | 7th | 3rd | 4th | |||||||||||||
| 12th | 8th | 9th | 9th | ||||||||||||||
| 5th | 6th | DNF | 2nd | 5th | DSQ | ||||||||||||
| 14th | 10th | 12th | 6th | 10th | 14th | 6th | 13th | 13th | |||||||||
| 14th | |||||||||||||||||
| 5th | 5th | 7th | 5th | 10th | 8th | 7th | 1st | 13th | 4th | 10th | |||||||
| 3rd | 3rd | 8th | 12th | 11th | 11th | ||||||||||||
| 2nd | 2nd | 5th | 6th | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 5th | 5th | 11th | 6th | 9th | 8th | 8th |
Top goalscorers
| Year | Player | Goals |
| 1989 |  Bergur Magnussen | 11 |
| 1991 | Jens Erik Rasmussen | 6 |
| 1993 |  Adam Greig | 7 |
| 1995 |  Adam Barsdell | 4 |
| 1997 |  Eifion Williams | 6 |
| 1999 | Peter Langridge | 9 |
| 2001 | Chris Higgins Daniel Craven | 5 |
| 2003 |  Roy Chipolina Graham Alvez | 9 |
| 2005 | Peter Langridge Johnny Myers  Martti Pukk | 4 |
| 2007 | ? | |
| 2009 | Lee Casciaro Ross Allen | 5 |
| 2011 |  Peter Lundberg | 5 |
| 2013 |  Zeiko Lewis Rai Simons  John-Ludvig Broberg Norsaq Lund Mathæussen Lejuan Simmons Angelo Simmons | 3 |
| 2015 | Dominic Heaume  Ashley Webster  Leighton Flaws Shane Jamieson | 4 |
| 2017 | Calum Morrissey | 8 |
Women's Tournament
Results
Medalists
Performances by team
- Blue square indicates host
| Year Participants | 2001 7 | 2003 8 | 2005 6 | 2007 11 | 2009 10 | 2011 10 | 2013 3 | 2015 11 | 2017 11 |
| Åland Islands | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 5th | ||
| Bermuda | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | ||||||
| Faroe Islands | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||||||
| Gibraltar | 10th | 11th | 10th | ||||||
 Gotland | 2nd | 6th | 2nd | 7th | 3rd | 1st | - | ||
| Greenland | 8th | 7th | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | 8th | |||
| Guernsey | 6th | 4th | 5th | 7th | 8th | 8th | |||
 Hitra | 9th | 9th | 3rd | 6th | 9th | ||||
| Isle of Man | 4th | 8th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 2nd | |
| Isle of Wight | 5th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 5th | 5th | 4th | ||
| Jersey | 3rd | 3rd | 11th | 6th | 8th | 1st | 3rd | ||
 Menorca | 6th | ||||||||
 Prince Edward Island | 2nd | ||||||||
 Rhodes | 7th | 10th | - | ||||||
| Saaremaa | 10th | 6th | |||||||
| Shetland | 6th | ||||||||
 Western Isles | 9th | 5th | 4th | 7th | 7th | ||||
| Ynys Môn | 7th | 6th | 10th | 11th |