Sri Lanka national football team

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Sri Lanka

Nickname(s)	Golden Army රන් හමුදාව கோல்டன் ஆர்மி
Association	Football Sri Lanka
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach	Amir Alagić
Captain	Sujan Perera
Most caps	Channa Ediri Bandanage (64)
Top scorer	Kasun Jayasuriya (27)[1]
Home stadium	Sugathadasa Stadium Colombo Racecourse
FIFA code	SRI
First colours Second colours Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current	204 (23 December 2021)[2]
Highest	122 (August 1998)
Lowest	206 (February 2020)
First international
Ceylon 0–2 India  (Colombo, Ceylon; 1 January 1952)
Biggest win
Sri Lanka 7–1 Pakistan  (Taipei, Taiwan; 4 April 2008)  Sri Lanka 6–0 Bhutan  (Dhaka, Bangladesh; 6 December 2009)
Biggest defeat
Ceylon 1–12 East Germany  (Colombo, Ceylon; 12 January 1964)[3]
SAFF Championship
Appearances	13 (first in 1993)
Best result	Champions (1995)
AFC Challenge Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 2006)
Best result	Runners-up (2006)

The Sri Lanka national football team (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු කණ්ඩායම, Tamil: இலங்கை தேசிய கால்பந்து அணி) represents Sri Lanka in Association football and is administered by Football Sri Lanka, the governing body of football in Sri Lanka. They have been a member of FIFA since 1952 and a member of AFC since 1954. Sri Lanka's home stadium is the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Sri Lankan team was known as the Ceylon national football team until 1972 when Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka.^[5]

A member of the AFC, the team has yet to make their first appearance in FIFA World Cup or AFC Asian Cup finals. They have been South Asian champions once, in 1995. As is true elsewhere on the sub-continent, top-level football in Sri Lanka stands somewhat in the shadow of the country's Cricket team. However, the side did reach the second qualification stage for the 2006 World Cup. In the same year, they became the runners-up in the 2006 Challenge Cup.

In 2014, at the 75th anniversary of FFSL, FIFA President Sepp Blatter visited Sri Lanka and opened a new football stadium in Jaffna. During the visit, Blatter said he was not pleased with the development of Football in Sri Lanka and that the authorities haven't taken enough steps to support football on the island. The AFC President Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa also joined the visit.^[6]

In the qualification round of the 2018 World Cup, Sri Lanka lost both matches against Bhutan and failed to qualify for the next round. However, Sri Lanka national football team had managed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2015 SAFF Championship.

History[]

Early history[]

Football was introduced to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) by the British. There is evidence of it being played in Galle Face, a sandy area near the coast, by British servicemen stationed in Colombo in the 1890s. The game was also played at grounds of the barracks at Echelon Barracks and the army grounds (presently the Taj Samudra Hotels).

British servicemen of the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery and the Royal Garrison Command began and promoted competitive football in Ceylon. The British administrative service and the planting community enthusiastically took it to the Central, Southern, and Up-Country regions. By early 1900 competitive football was popular with the local youth.

The game became popular and local football clubs were formed. St. Michael's SC, Havelock's Football Club, Java Lane SC, Wekande SC, Moors FC, and CH & FC, the last being a European monopoly, were some of the first clubs in Columbo. Harlequins FC and Saunders SC soon joined. The trophies of the early tournaments were the De Mel Shield and the Times of Ceylon Cup.

Football also became popular in the country's Southern Provence, where the planting and administrative community promoted the game. British planter T R. Brough in Deniyaya heavily promoted football in the south between 1910 and 1920, and British servicemen from the Navy wireless station in Matara also helped popularise it.^[7]

In 1952, Ceylon became a member of FIFA and got the opportunity to play football at the international level. The country's first International friendly was played against India. The Football Federation organised a tournament called Colombo Cup, which helped the national team to improve their skills and compete with other nations. From the 1960s, the under-19 football team competed in the AFC u19 championship.

1990s to 2018[]

In 2015 Sri Lanka played for the first time in the Bangabandhu Cup. This tournament was organised by Bangladesh Football Federation. The national U-23 teams of Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia and Singapore participated in this tournament. The national football teams of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also competed in this tournament.

Sri Lanka was placed in the group with Malaysia and Bangladesh. In the first game Sri Lanka played against the Malaysian team. Malaysia won the match by 2–0. The second match was played against the host Bangladesh. Sri Lanka lost the game 1–0. Sri Lanka failed to score a goal in this tournament. After a six years of poor performance in the international football field Sri Lanka football team managed to qualify for the Semi Final of 2015 SAFF Championship. The poor performance continued in the Solidarity Cup as well. They had another shock defeat this time by the hands of Mongolia the lowest ranked team in Asia. As a result of this defeat Sri Lanka eliminated in the Group Stage of the tournament.^[8]

In July 2018, Sri Lanka welcomed a historical encounter when they faced Lithuania, marked for the first time Sri Lanka will face a European team. The Sri Lankans managed a respectable 0–0 draw to the UEFA side but lost 0–2 in the second encounter.^[9] During 2022 World Cup campaign however, Sri Lanka suffered another poor performance as the team fell 0–1 in Zhuhai to Macau. Macau was subsequently disqualified, as the team refused to travel to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings,^[10] Sri Lanka was awarded a 3–0 win in response, thus qualified to the second round of the World Cup for the first time since 2006 campaign.^[11]

2020–present: Amir Alagic era[]

In the second round, Sri Lanka was unlucky to be drawn with four 2019 AFC Asian Cup participants, South Korea, North Korea, Lebanon and Turkmenistan. As predicted, Sri Lanka proved too weak for the group, losing all matches without scoring a single goal as for the end of 2019, and was eliminated from World Cup contention. Sri Lanka had improved since then, and participated in the 2020 Bangabandhu Cup, but the team still finished bottom with two defeats and no goal.

In February 2020, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka announced the appointment of Bosnian-Australian specialist Amir Alagić as head coach of the national team.^[12] Sri Lanka then travelled to South Korea to finish their two remaining games against Lebanon and South Korea, losing both, yet optimism rose when Sri Lanka demonstrated an outstanding performance against Lebanon, scoring two goals and only lost by one goal margin, which was also the country's first-ever goals in the qualification.

Team image[]

Media coverage[]

There is no official TV broadcaster for the football matches played by the Sri Lanka team because the Football Federation of Sri Lanka has not sold broadcasting rights. The SAFF Championship was broadcast by several channels, and tournaments in the 1990s and 2000s were broadcast free-to-air by Channel Eye. The 2013 SAFF Championship was broadcast by CSN. Star Sports also broadcast the SAFF Championship on pay TV satellite broadcasters.

The official online broadcaster of Sri Lankan football matches is thepapare.com^[13] which streams the games of the Sri Lanka Football Premier League, the finals of the Sri Lanka FA Cup, and the AFC U-19 Championship.^[14]

Colours[]

The team uses different kits for home and away games. The kits are currently manufactured by Grand Sport Group.

Home[]

The traditional home kit of the national team has mostly been maroon shirts and maroon shorts, but blue colours have also been used. The colours are derived from the 15th century flag of Kingdom of Kandy.

Away[]

The away shirt colour has changed several times between a white shirt with white shorts or a black shirt with black shorts. White shirt with white shorts has been the more frequent choice.

Home stadiums[]

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Sugathadasa Stadium[]

Sugathadasa Stadium is the former athletic stadium in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1972 and has a capacity of 28,000.^[15] The stadium is mostly used for athletics and football. The 1995 and 2008 SAFF Championship tournaments were held in this stadium. This is the home stadium of Sri Lanka National Football Team.Sri Lanka won their first major football tournament in his stadium. It was defeating India in the Final of 1995 SAFF Championship.

All the FIFA World Cup qualification matches of Sri Lankan team also played in this ground. This ground has become a lucky ground for Sri Lanka team because they have won much of the matches played in here. The draw against Philippines Football team and The Tajikistan Team were well known. In recent times Sri Lanka lost to Bhutan in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualify matches against Bhutan in this Stadium. The 2014–15 FA Cup Final also held in this ground.

Major football tournaments that played in here were the AFC President's Cup and AFC Challenge Cup.

Kalutara Stadium[]

Kalutara Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. This stadium also known as the Vernon Fernando ground. It is currently used mostly for football matches and hosts the home games of Kalutara Park SC. The stadium holds 15,000 people. This stadium is popularly known as "Kalutara Park Ground". This stadium is located in the heart of Kalutara city. This stadium is mostly use in the Sri Lanka Champions League and Sri Lanka FA Cup tournaments.

Results and fixtures[]

2021[]

Players[]

Squad[]

The following players were named in the final squad for the 2021 Four Nations Tournament.^[16]

Caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2021 after the match against Seychelles.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Sujan Perera	(1992-07-18) 18 July 1992 (age 29)	41	1	Up Country Lions
	1GK	Prabath Ruwan Arunasiri	(1993-06-19) 19 June 1993 (age 28)	4	0	Air Force
	1GK		(1995-03-25) 25 March 1995 (age 26)	0	0	Colombo FC
	2DF	Harsha Fernando	(1992-11-21) 21 November 1992 (age 29)	21	0	Air Force
	2DF	Asikur Rahuman	(1993-12-31) 31 December 1993 (age 27)	21	1	Defenders
	2DF	Charitha Rathnayake	(1992-12-26) 26 December 1992 (age 29)	21	1	Colombo FC
	2DF	Duckson Puslas	(1990-04-04) 4 April 1990 (age 31)	18	0	T.C. Sports
	2DF	Chamod Dilshan	(1997-03-11) 11 March 1997 (age 24)	5	0	Colombo FC
	3MF	Kavindu Ishan	(1992-10-17) 17 October 1992 (age 29)	35	1	Up Country Lions
	3MF	Chalana Chameera	(1993-01-10) 10 January 1993 (age 28)	21	0	Colombo FC
	3MF		(1990-04-10) 10 April 1990 (age 31)	21	1	Blue Star
	3MF	Jude Supan	(1998-07-30) 30 July 1998 (age 23)	18	0	Renown
	3MF	Mohamed Rifnas	(1995-01-09) 9 January 1995 (age 26)	14	2	Renown
	3MF		(1999-06-10) 10 June 1999 (age 22)	9	0	Renown SC
	3MF	Ahmed Waseem Razeek	(1994-09-13) 13 September 1994 (age 27)	13	9	Free agent
	3MF		(1999-03-12) 12 March 1999 (age 22)	8	0	Ratnam SC
	3MF	Dillon De Silva	(2002-04-18) 18 April 2002 (age 19)	6	1	Queens Park Rangers
	3MF	Marvin Hamilton	(1988-10-08) 8 October 1988 (age 33)	10	2	Sittingbourne
	3MF			0	0	Blue Star
	3MF		(2001-09-20) 20 September 2001 (age 20)	0	0	Colombo FC
	4FW	Mohamed Aakib	(2000-06-26) 26 June 2000 (age 21)	18	3	Colombo FC
	4FW	Mohamed Shifan	(1998-12-19) 19 December 1998 (age 23)	4	0	Up Country Lions
	4FW		(1993-01-15) 15 January 1993 (age 28)	0	0	Colombo FC

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have also been called up to the Sri Lanka squad within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK		(1993-05-17) 17 May 1993 (age 28)	0	0	New Youngs	v.  South Korea; 9 June 2021
GK		(1998-02-19) 19 February 1998 (age 23)	0	0	Police SC	v.  Lebanon; 5 June 2021 INJ
DF	Sunil Roshan Appuhamy	(1993-07-06) 6 July 1993 (age 28)	4	0	Defenders	2021 SAFF Championship
DF		(2001-10-30) 30 October 2001 (age 20)	0	0	Woking FC	v.  South Korea; 9 June 2021
DF	Chathuranga Madushan	(1993-08-09) 9 August 1993 (age 28)	2	0	Up Country Lions SC	v.  Lebanon; 5 June 2021 COV
DF			0	0	New Young's SC	v.  Lebanon; 5 June 2021 PRE
MF	Edison Figurado	(1990-07-25) 25 July 1990 (age 31)	10	1	Free agent	2021 SAFF Championship
MF		(1996-04-23) 23 April 1996 (age 25)	16	1	Colombo FC	v.  South Korea; 9 June 2021
MF			0	0	Java Lane SC	v.  Lebanon; 5 June 2021 PRE
FW	Rifkhan Mohamed	(1999-10-25) 25 October 1999 (age 22)	2	0	Defenders	2021 SAFF Championship
FW	Mohamed Musthaq	(1998-12-16) 16 December 1998 (age 23)	1	1	Up Country Lions	2021 SAFF Championship
FW		(1998-05-21) 21 May 1998 (age 23)	0	0		2021 SAFF Championship
FW	Nipuna Bandara	(1991-07-17) 17 July 1991 (age 30)	20	2	Air Force SC	v.  South Korea; 9 June 2021
FW	Mohammadu Fasal	(1990-04-30) 30 April 1990 (age 31)	14	1	Colombo FC	v.  South Korea; 9 June 2021
FW	Shabeer Razooniya	(2001-05-21) 21 May 2001 (age 20)	3	0	Colombo FC	v.  Lebanon; 5 June 2021 PRE
FW			0	0	Air Force SC	v.  Lebanon; 5 June 2021 PRE
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary/Standby squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue COV Tested positive for COVID-19

Player records[]

As of 19 November 2021

Players in bold are still active with Sri Lanka.

Coaching history[]

Competitive record[]

FIFA World Cup[]

FIFA World Cup										FIFA World Cup qualification
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1938	Part of  United Kingdom									Part of  United Kingdom
1950	Not a FIFA Member									Not a FIFA Member
1954 to 1990	Did not enter									Did not enter
1994	Did not qualify									8	0	0	8	0	26
1998										3	1	1	1	4	4
2002										6	1	1	4	8	20
2006										8	1	3	4	7	11
2010										2	0	0	2	0	6
2014										2	0	1	1	1	5
2018										2	0	0	2	1	3
2022										8	1	0	7	5	24
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total	0/22	—								39	4	6	29	26	99

AFC Asian Cup[]

AFC Asian Cup										AFC Asian Cup qualification
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1956 to 1968	Withdrew									Withdrew
1972	Did not qualify									3	0	0	3	1	10
1976	Withdrew									Withdrew
1980	Did not qualify									4	1	0	3	5	12
1984										4	1	1	2	6	11
1988 to 1992	Did not enter									Did not enter
1996	Did not qualify									6	2	0	4	5	25
2000										4	0	0	4	2	18
2004										8	2	0	6	6	26
2007	Did not enter									Did not enter
2011	Did not qualify									AFC Challenge Cup
2015
2019										2	0	0	2	1	3
2023	To be determined									To be determined
Total	0/17	—								31	6	1	24	26	106

SAFF Championship[]

Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1993	Runners-up	2nd	3	1	1	1	4	2
1995	Champions	1st	3	2	1	0	5	3
1997	Semi-finals	4th	4	2	0	2	6	3
1999	Group stage	5th	2	0	1	1	2	3
2003	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	3	3
2005	Group stage	7th	3	0	0	3	1	5
2008	Semi-finals	3rd	4	2	1	1	5	3
2009	Semi-finals	4th	4	2	0	2	9	7
2011	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	4	6
2013	Group Stage	7th	3	1	0	2	6	15
2015	Semi-finals	4th	3	1	0	2	1	7
2018	Group stage	6th	2	0	1	1	0	2
2021	Group stage	5th	4	0	1	3	2	5
Total	13/13	1st	41	13	7	21	48	64

AFC Challenge Cup[]

AFC Challenge Cup										AFC Challenge Cup qualification
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2006	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	2	7	2		No qualifying round
2008	Group stage	7th	3	0	0	3	1	9		3	2	1	0	14	4
2010	Group stage	5th	3	1	0	2	4	7		3	2	1	0	9	4
2012	Did not qualify									3	0	1	2	0	5
2014										3	1	0	2	5	5
Total	3/5	Runners-up	12	5	1	7	12	18		12	5	3	4	28	18

• In 2011 and 2015 The AFC Challenge Cup acted as the qualification for the Asian Cup.
• The AFC Challenge Cup was cancelled by the AFC.

AFC Solidarity Cup[]

Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2016	Group stage	6th	3	0	1	2	2	5

Head-to-head record[]

As of 5 June 2021^[17]

Country	Matches	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Win/Draw %
Afghanistan	8	1	1	6	6	17	−11	25.00
Bahrain	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	00.00
Bangladesh	18	4	2	12	12	27	−15	22.22
Bhutan	7	5	0	2	18	5	+13	71.43
Brunei	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	100.00
Cambodia	3	1	0	2	2	10	−8	33.33
China PR	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2	00.00
Chinese Taipei	4	3	1	0	9	4	+5	100.00
Guam	1	1	0	0	5	1	+4	100.00
Hong Kong	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	00.00
India	19	2	5	12	13	32	−19	11.11
Indonesia	6	0	1	5	6	29	−23	33.33
Iran	2	0	0	2	0	11	−11	00.00
Japan	3	0	0	3	0	16	−16	00.00
Kyrgyzstan	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	00.00
Laos	7	2	2	3	11	10	+1	28.57
Lebanon	5	1	0	4	6	18	−12	25.00
Lithuania	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	00.00
Macau	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2	66.66
Malaysia	9	1	0	8	7	33	−26	10.00
Maldives	17	2	8	7	12	32	−20	11.76
Mongolia	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	50.00
Myanmar	7	2	0	5	10	18	−8	28.57
North Korea	3	0	0	3	0	8	−8	00.00
Nepal	17	6	7	4	23	16	+7	37.50
Oman	3	0	1	2	1	14	−13	00.00
Pakistan	19	8	4	7	36	21	+15	75.00
Philippines	4	1	1	2	5	9	−4	50.00
Qatar	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	00.00
Saudi Arabia	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	00.00
Singapore	5	1	0	4	6	15	−9	20.00
South Korea	2	0	0	2	0	14	−14	00.00
Seychelles	2	1	0	1	2	4	−2	50.00
Sudan	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	00.00
Syria	3	0	0	3	0	17	−17	00.00
Tajikistan	4	0	1	3	3	11	−8	00.00
Thailand	6	0	0	6	2	20	−18	00.00
Timor-Leste	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100.00
Turkmenistan	5	0	1	4	2	10	−8	00.00
United Arab Emirates	8	0	0	8	3	35	−32	00.00
Uzbekistan	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	00.00
Vietnam	4	0	3	1	6	7	−1	00.00

Total	Played	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
	235	47	40	138	225	515	-290

Honours[]

• AFC Challenge Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2006
• SAFF Championship
  • Champions (1): 1995
  • Runners-up (1): 1993
• ANFA Cup (Nepal)
  • Runners-up (1): 2009^[18]

See also[]

• Sri Lanka women's national football team
• Sri Lanka national under-23 football team
• Sri Lanka national under-20 football team
• Sri Lanka national under-17 football team

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Sri Lanka national football team on FIFA
• Sri Lanka national football team picture

Preceded by 1993 India

South Asian Champions 1995 (First title)

Succeeded by 1997 India