[1] The UFWC was formalized by contributors to the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) in 2002[2] and published by English journalist Paul Brown in a 2003 FourFourTwo article.

[4][5][6] In 2002, football statisticians James Allnutt, Paul Crankshaw, Jostein Nygård, and Roberto Di Maggio defined the rules of the UFWC, traced its lineage and published it on the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website.

The following year, freelance journalist Paul Brown wrote an article on the UFWC in football magazine FourFourTwo.

[8] While the Unofficial Football World Championship was invented in 2002, the rules are such that results are analysed retrospectively to determine the theoretical lineage of champions from the very first international matches.

This time included the four-day reign of Netherlands Antilles, who beat Mexico 2–1 in a CONCACAF Championship match to become the smallest country ever to hold the title.

[24] After beating Germany in the group stages at UEFA Euro 2000, England took the title for the last time to date, before losing to Romania in the following match.

[27] The Czechs defended their title a few times, before losing it to the Republic of Ireland in a friendly via a last-minute winner by Robbie Keane.

[34] The title was brought back to Europe by Georgia on 15 November 2006, with both goals scored by Levan Kobiashvili in a 2–0 victory.

[49][50] North Korea's reign was memorable for the fact that so many low-ranking teams challenged to become holders of the crown – as well as the aforementioned AFC Challenge Cup, low ranking nations competing in the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup second preliminary round such as Kuwait,[51] Indonesia,[52] Chinese Taipei,[53] Guam,[54] and Hong Kong[55] all unsuccessfully attempted to take the title away from North Korea.

The title was finally taken from North Korea by Sweden in the 2013 King's Cup, a result not recorded as a full international by FIFA, but nevertheless considered valid by the UFWC website.

Shortly after the World Cup, the runners-up Argentina beat Germany in a friendly to claim the UFWC title.

This reign ended one match later, when Brazil won the UFWC title after winning 2014 Superclásico de las Américas.

Ultimately it was Peru took the Championship into the 2018 FIFA World Cup where the title ended with tournament victors France.

In terms of number of consecutive title defenses, the 2020–2021 streak by Italy, which included their victorious UEFA Euro 2020 campaign, was the joint longest in UFWC history (tied with the Netherlands in 2008–2010).

On 27 October, Sierra Leone lost to 149th-ranked Liberia, who in turn became both the Unofficial World Champion and the lowest ranked team to hold the title.

The UFWC website maintained an all-time ranking table of teams, sorting by number of championship matches won.

Owing mostly to their successes in the early years of international football, where competition was almost entirely limited to the British Isles, the top ranked team is Scotland.

The Netherlands have come closest, remaining unbeaten in both the 1974 and 2010 competitions right up until the final, where they lost to West Germany and Spain respectively.

The online community at the UFWC website tracked UFWC-like lineages confined to each FIFA confederation and a Women's Unofficial Football World Championships which could be traced back either to the first FIFA-recognised women's international in 1971 (a 4–0 victory for France over The Netherlands) or to earlier internationals that are not FIFA recognised.

[64][65] A similar virtual title, Nasazzi's Baton, traces the "championship" from the first World Cup winners Uruguay, after whose captain it is named.