Up until 2003, players from this region represented Yugoslavia. Between 2003 and 2006, two former republics of Yugoslavia played international football as Serbia & Montenegro. Montenegro declared independence from Serbia in 2006, with Serbia's team seen by FIFA as the direct descendant of the Yugoslavia national team. Montenegro were admitted to FIFA and UEFA the following year.

The first official competition that the Montenegro national team competed in was the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. They have entered every campaign since without reaching the finals, and remain one of the European nations yet to appear at a World Cup.

Campaign Group position Record (W-D-L)
2010 5th 1-6-3
2014 3rd 4-3-3
2018 3rd 5-1-4
2022 4th 3-3-4
2026 4th 3-0-5

For the 2026 tournament, Montenegro were drawn in Group L alongside Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar. Three wins and five defeats from their eight matches left them fourth on nine points, well behind Croatia, who won the group with 22 points to qualify directly, and the Czech Republic, who went through to the play-offs.

Montenegro have never qualified for the European Championship, either. The closest they have come to a major tournament was the play-offs for Euro 2012, when the Czech Republic beat them 2–0 and 1–0 for a 3–0 aggregate win in November 2011. Not long before that, in June 2011, Montenegro had climbed to 16th in the FIFA world rankings, a high for a country then only five years old.

Stevan Jovetić is both the most capped player in the country's history, with 92 appearances, and its leading scorer with 37 goals.