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Sri Lanka national football team facts for kids

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This page is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Sri Lanka women's national football team.
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Sri Lanka
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Golden Army
රන් හමුදාව
தங்கப் படை
Association Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL)
Confederation AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach Andy Morrison
Captain Sujan Perera
Most caps Channa Ediri Bandanage (64)
Top scorer Kasun Jayasuriya (27)
Home stadium Sugathadasa Stadium
Colombo Racecourse
FIFA code SRI
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 201 Steady (7 February 2019)
Highest 122 (August 1998)
Lowest 207 (October 2022)
Elo ranking
Current 217 Increase 3 (3 March 2019)
Highest 105 (23 March 1952)
Lowest 225 (September 2019)
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)
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 Shri Lanka Papandu Kandayama, Tamil: இலங்கை தேசிய கால்பந்து அணி) represents Sri Lanka in Association football and is administered by Football Federation of 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.

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.

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 (1890s–2014)

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.

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 U-19 championship.

Renaissance of Sri Lanka football (2015–2019)

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.

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. 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, 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.

Amir Alagic era (2020–2022)

Soccer Field Transparant.svg

Sujan (C)
H. Fernando
C. Dilshan
M. Aakib
C. Chameera
Asikur
Rathnayake
Shazny
Basith
Razeek
Hamilton
Sri Lanka's starting lineup for the Four Nations Football Tournament 2021 final

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. 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. Alagić resigned as coach of Sri Lanka after the qualification, as Sri Lanka, rated as the weakest team in the group, were eliminated without scoring a point. He was replaced by Scottish manager, Andy Morrison.

FIFA suspension and Participation in FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifying (2023)

On 22 January 2023, FIFA announced the suspension of the FFSL from 21 January 2023 until further notice due to the government interference in football, but was provisionally included in the draw, pending a resolution. Therefore, all teams/clubs affiliated with the FFSL are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions. However, after the issue was settled, the ban was lifted allowing Sri Lanka to take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification under a strict condition: FFSL must conduct a new election ten days before the fixture against Yemen; failure to do so would result in automatic disqualification of the team. The suspension was lifted on 29 August 2023.

Sri Lanka then participated in the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification facing against Yemen on 12 October 2023 but lost 3–0 in the process.

Team image

Sri Lankan Soccer Team
Sri Lanka team line-up during a FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Lebanon in 2021

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 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.

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

Sugathadasa Stadium

Sugatadasa Stadium
Sugathadasa Stadium

Sugathadasa Stadium is the former athletic stadium in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1972 and has a capacity of 28,000. 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

Main article: Sri Lanka national football team results (2010–present)

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

      Win       Draw       Loss       Fixture

2023

2024

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Scotland Andy Morrison
Assistant coach England Keith Stevens
Goalkeeping coach Scotland John Turnbull
Technical coach Scotland Ryan McCullogh
Performance Analyst Sri Lanka Sanka Jayamina
Team Doctor Scotland Dr. Matt Ferguson
Media Officers Sri Lanka Isuru Maduwantha
Physiotherapist Sri Lanka Gimhani Rathnayake
Masseur Scotland Niall Cook
Kitman Scotland Vinny Kelly

Coaching history

  • Sri Lanka Neville Dias (1990)
  • Germany Burkhard Pape (199?)
  • Brazil Jorge Ferreira (1993–1995)
  • Malaysia M. Karathu (1999–2000)
  • Brazil Marcos Ferreira (2000–2004)
  • Sri Lanka Sampath Perera (2004–2006, 2009, 2015–2016)
  • South Korea Jang Jung (2007–2008, 2010–2012)
  • Sri Lanka Mohamed Amanulla (2009–2010)
  • Brazil Claudio Roberto (2013–2014)
  • Serbia Nikola Kavazović (2014–2015)
  • Sri Lanka Dudley Steinwall (2016–2018)
  • Sri Lanka Nizam Pakeer Ali (2018–2020)
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina Australia Amir Alagić (2020–2022)
  • Scotland Andy Morrison (2022–present)

Players

Current squad

  • The following players were called up for the 2024 FIFA World Series matches.
  • Match dates: 22 and 25 March 2024
  • Opposition:  Papua New Guinea  Bhutan
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
21 1GK Kaveesh Lakpriya Fernando (1995-01-10) 10 January 1995 (age 29) 2 0 Sri Lanka Blue Star SC
1 1GK Sujan Perera (1992-07-18) 18 July 1992 (age 32) 45 0 Maldives TC Sports
16 1GK Prabath Ruwan (1993-06-19) 19 June 1993 (age 31) 4 0 Sri Lanka Air Force
88 2DF Claudio Kammerknecht (1999-07-19) 19 July 1999 (age 25) 1 0 Germany Dynamo Dresden
88 2DF Jack Hingert (1990-12-26) 26 December 1990 (age 33) 2 0 Australia Brisbane Roar
99 2DF Jason Thayaparan (1995-10-01) 1 October 1995 (age 29) 2 0 Germany SV Eintracht Trier 05
3 2DF Chalana Chameera (1993-10-01) 1 October 1993 (age 31) 20 0 Sri Lanka Up Country Lions SC
40 2DF Jude Supan (1998-08-30) 30 August 1998 (age 26) 11 0 Sri Lanka Renown SC
19 2DF Chamod Dilshan (vice-captain) (1997-09-26) 26 September 1997 (age 27) 19 2 Maldives Da Grande Sports Club
2 2DF Harsha Fernando (1992-07-21) 21 July 1992 (age 32) 34 3 Sri Lanka Blue Eagles
15 2DF Charitha Rathnayake (captain) (1992-07-07) 7 July 1992 (age 32) 18 2 Sri Lanka Colombo FC
6 3MF Barath Suresh (2003-06-11) 11 June 2003 (age 21) 2 0 Germany Niendorfer TSV II
31 4FW Afeel Mohamed (1996-10-16) 16 October 1996 (age 28) 8 1 Sri Lanka Navy Sea Hawks FC
31 4FW Steven Sacayaradjy (1998-09-16) 16 September 1998 (age 26) 1 0 Malta Gudja United
17 4FW Dillon De Silva (1998-10-08) 8 October 1998 (age 26) 13 3 England Wealdstone
14 3MF Kavindu Ishan (1992-04-13) 13 April 1992 (age 32) 27 6 Maldives Club Valencia
11 3MF Afeel Mohamed (1996-11-28) 28 November 1996 (age 27) 5 0 Sri Lanka Colombo FC
13 4FW Ahmed Waseem Razeek (1994-09-13) 13 September 1994 (age 30) 15 9 Hong Kong Eastern District SA
19 3MF Mohamed Aakib (2000-05-10) 10 May 2000 (age 24) 1 0 Maldives Da Grande Sports Club
18 3MF Anujan Rajendram (2000-05-11) 11 May 2000 (age 24) 1 0 Norway Oppsal IF
14 4FW Aman Faizer (1998-04-16) 16 April 1998 (age 26) 14 1 Maldives Club Lagoons
22 4FW Adhavan Rajamohan (1993-02-21) 21 February 1993 (age 31) 4 0 Sweden Nordic United FC
19 3MF Shenal Sandesh (2002-07-25) 25 July 2002 (age 22) 0 0 Maldives United Victory
9 4FW Rahul Suresh (2004-06-04) 4 June 2004 (age 20) 2 0 Germany Niendorfer TSV II
09 4FW Dilip Peiris (1997-01-31) 31 January 1997 (age 27) 16 0 Sri Lanka Renown SC
09 4FW Leon Heimer Pereira (1994-01-31) 31 January 1994 (age 30) 2 0 Germany MTV Treubund Lüneburg von 1848 e.V.
09 4FW Oliver Kelaart (1998-03-16) 16 March 1998 (age 26) 2 1 Iceland Njarðvík FC
76 4FW Mario Jude Dominicus (1999-12-22) 22 December 1999 (age 24) 2 0 Malta Luqa St. Andrew's F.C.

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

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

Player records

Players in bold are still active with Sri Lanka.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup Qualification
Year Result Position Pld W D L F A Pld W D L F A
1930 to 1938 Part of  United Kingdom Part of  United Kingdom
Brazil 1950 Not a FIFA Member Not a FIFA Member
1954 to 1990 Did not enter Did not enter
United States 1994 Did not qualify 8 0 0 8 0 26
France 1998 3 1 1 1 4 4
South Korea Japan 2002 6 1 1 4 8 20
Germany 2006 8 1 3 4 7 11
South Africa 2010 2 0 0 2 0 6
Brazil 2014 2 0 1 1 1 5
Russia 2018 2 0 0 2 1 3
Qatar 2022 8 1 0 7 5 24
Canada Mexico United States 2026 2 0 1 1 1 4
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 To be determined To be determined
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/19 — 41 4 7 30 27 103

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
Hong Kong 1956 to Iran 1968 Withdrew Withdrew
Thailand 1972 Did not qualify 3 0 0 3 1 10
Iran 1976 Withdrew Withdrew
Kuwait 1980 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 5 12
Singapore 1984 4 1 1 2 6 11
Qatar 1988 to Japan 1992 Did not enter Did not enter
United Arab Emirates 1996 Did not qualify 6 2 0 4 5 25
Lebanon 2000 4 0 0 4 2 18
China 2004 8 2 0 6 6 26
Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Vietnam 2007 Did not enter Did not enter
Qatar 2011 Did not qualify AFC Challenge Cup
Australia 2015
United Arab Emirates 2019 2 0 0 2 1 3
Qatar 2023 11 1 0 10 5 30
Saudi Arabia 2027 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/19 — 42 7 1 34 31 136

SAFF Championship

Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA
Pakistan 1993 Runners-up 2nd 3 1 1 1 4 2
Sri Lanka 1995 Champions 1st 3 2 1 0 5 3
Nepal 1997 Semi-finals 4th 4 2 0 2 6 3
India 1999 Group stage 5th 2 0 1 1 2 3
Bangladesh 2003 Group stage 5th 3 1 1 1 3 3
Pakistan 2005 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 1 5
Maldives Sri Lanka 2008 Semi-finals 3rd 4 2 1 1 5 3
Bangladesh 2009 Semi-finals 4th 4 2 0 2 9 7
India 2011 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 4 6
Nepal 2013 Group Stage 7th 3 1 0 2 6 15
India 2015 Semi-finals 4th 3 1 0 2 1 7
Bangladesh 2018 Group stage 6th 2 0 1 1 0 2
Maldives 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
Bangladesh 2006 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 2 7 2 No qualifying round
India 2008 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 1 9 3 2 1 0 14 4
Sri Lanka 2010 Group stage 5th 3 1 0 2 4 7 3 2 1 0 9 4
Nepal 2012 did not qualify 3 0 1 2 0 5
Maldives 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
Malaysia 2016 Group stage 6th 3 0 1 2 2 5

Head-to-head record

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 20 5 2 13 15 30 −15 25.00
 Bhutan 8 6 0 2 20 5 +15 75.00
 Brunei 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5 100.00
 Cambodia 3 1 0 2 2 10 −8 33.33
 China 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 00.00
 East Germany 1 0 0 1 1 12 −11 00.00
 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
 Jordan 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 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 10 1 0 9 7 36 −29 10.00
 Maldives 20 2 9 9 16 38 −22 10.00
 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 25 19 +6 37.50
 Oman 3 0 1 2 1 14 −13 00.00
 Pakistan 19 8 4 7 31 25 +6 75.00
 [[Palestinian National Authority {{{altlink}}}|Palestinian National Authority]] 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 00.00
 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 3 0 0 3 0 19 −19 00.00
 Seychelles 4 1 1 2 5 8 −3 25.00
 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 7 0 0 7 2 22 −20 00.00
 East Timor 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 100.00
 Turkmenistan 6 0 1 5 2 12 −10 00.00
 United Arab Emirates 8 0 0 8 3 35 −32 00.00
 Uzbekistan 2 0 0 2 0 9 −9 00.00
 Vietnam 4 0 3 1 6 7 −1 00.00
 Yemen 2 0 1 1 1 4 −3 00.00
Total Played W D L GF GA GD
253 49 44 150 236 569 −333

Honours

AFC

  • AFC Challenge Cup
    • Med 2.png Runners-up (1): 2006

SAFF

  • SAFF Championship
    • Med 1.png Champions (1): 1995
    • Med 2.png Runners-up (1): 1993
  • South Asian Games
    • Med 3.png Bronze Medal (2): 1993, 1995

Invitational

  • Colombo Cup
    • Med 2.png Runners-up (1): 1952
    • Med 3.png Third place (1): 1954
  • ANFA Cup (Nepal)
    • Med 2.png Runners-up (1): 2009

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Sri Lanka para niños

  • 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
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