Sri Lanka national football team

The Sri Lanka national football team (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාපන්දු කණ්ඩායම, Tamil: இலங்கை தேசிய கால்பந்து அணி) represents Sri Lanka in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka, the governing body of football in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's home grounds are Colombo Racecourse Sugathadasa Stadium and Kalutara Stadium. The Sri Lankan team was known as the Ceylon national football team until 1972 when Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka.[4]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Sri Lanka women's national football team.

Sri Lanka
Nickname(s)රන් සිංහයා
Golden Lion
(Golden Lion)
AssociationFootball Federation of Sri Lanka
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationSAFF (South Asia)
Head coachAmir Alagić
Most capsEdiri Bandanage Channa (62)
Top scorerKasun Jayasuriya (27)[1]
Home stadiumSugathadasa Stadium Colombo Racecourse
FIFA codeSRI
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 206 (16 July 2020)[2]
Highest122 (August 1998)
Lowest206 (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
Appearances12 (first in 1993)
Best resultChampions (1995)
AFC Challenge Cup
Appearances3 (first in 2006)
Best resultRunners-up (2006)

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 test 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.[5]

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 Square 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 1910–1920, and British servicemen from the Navy wireless station in Matara also helped popularise it.[6]

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 present

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.[7]

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.[8] 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,[9] 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.[10]

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.

In February 2020, the Football Federation of Sri lanka announced the appointment of Bosnian specialist Amir Alagic as head coach of the national team.[11]

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[12] 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.[13]

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
Sugathadasa Stadium

Sugathadasa Stadium is the former athletic stadium in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1972 and has a capacity of 28,000.[14] 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.

Players

Squad

The following players were selected for the 2018 SAFF Championship

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Sujan Perera (1982-07-18)18 July 1982 (aged 36) 19 0 Club Eagles
22 1GK Danushka Rajapaksha (1993-05-17)17 May 1993 (aged 25) 0 0 New Young's
30 1GK Kavish Fernando (1995-05-25)25 May 1995 (aged 23) 0 0 Colombo FC
2 2DF Subash Madushan (1990-05-31)31 May 1990 (aged 28) 13 1 Navy SC
3 2DF Bandara Warakagoda (1986-10-13)13 October 1986 (aged 31) 20 0 Army SC
4 2DF Yogendran Puslas (1990-04-04)4 April 1990 (aged 28) New Young's
12 2DF Jude Supan (1998-07-30)30 July 1998 (aged 20) 1 0 Renown
24 2DF Charitha Mudiyanselage (1992-12-26)26 December 1992 (aged 25) 1 0 Colombo FC
28 2DF Harsha Fernando (1992-11-21)21 November 1992 (aged 25) 1 0 Air Force SC
7 3MF Mohamed Rifnas (1995-01-09)9 January 1995 (aged 23) 13 3 Colombo FC
8 3MF Asikur Rahuman (1993-12-31)31 December 1993 (aged 24) 13 1 Army SC
9 3MF Kavindu Ishan (1992-10-17)17 October 1992 (aged 25) 19 1 Air Force SC
11 3MF Dilan De Silva (1988-09-13)13 September 1988 (aged 29) 1 0 Colombo FC
13 3MF Mariyathas Nitharshan (1994-05-14)14 May 1994 (aged 24) 1 0 Renown
17 3MF Sasanga Dilhara (1999-06-10)10 June 1999 (aged 19) Ratnam
19 3MF Afeel Mohamed (1996-07-09)9 July 1996 (aged 22) 2 0 Colombo FC
20 3MF Chameera Sajith (1993-01-29)29 January 1993 (aged 25) 17 0 Army SC
10 4FW Zohar Mohamed Zarwan (1996-04-23)23 April 1996 (aged 22) 14 1 Colombo FC
14 4FW Mohamed Fazal (1990-04-30)30 April 1990 (aged 28) 3 1 Colombo FC
21 4FW Asela Madushan (1999-12-09)9 December 1999 (aged 18) 1 0 Renown

Coaching staff
Position Name
Head Coach Amir Alagić
Technical Director Damadaran Chandrasiri
Technical Director Amir Alagic
Assistant Coach
Assistant Coach
Goal Keeping Coach CHANDRASIRI DAMODATAN
Manager
Physiotherapist

Results and fixtures
Main article: Sri Lanka national football team results and fixtures

2019
28 May FriendlyLaos 2–1 Sri LankaVientiane, Laos
18:30 UTC+7
Douangmaity  87'  11'		 Stadium: New Laos National Stadium
31 May FriendlyLaos 2–2 Sri LankaVientiane, Laos
18:30 UTC+7 Stadium: New Laos National Stadium
6 June FIFA World Cup qualificationMacau 1–0 Sri LankaZhuhai, China
19:30 UTC+8 Duarte  52' Report Stadium: Zhuhai Sports Center Stadium
Attendance: 901
Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)
11 June FIFA World Cup qualificationSri Lanka 3–0[note 1] MacauColombo, Sri Lanka
15:30 UTC+5:30 Stadium: Sugathadasa Stadium
31 August FriendlyUnited Arab Emirates 5–1 Sri LankaRiffa, Bahrain
20:00 UTC+3 Report Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium
5 September FIFA World Cup qualificationSri Lanka 0–2 TurkmenistanColombo, Sri Lanka
19:30 UTC+5:30 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)		 Orazsähedow  8'
Amanow  53'		 Stadium: Colombo Racecourse
Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)
10 September FIFA World Cup qualificationSri Lanka 0–1 North KoreaColombo, Sri Lanka
19:30 UTC+5:30 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)		 Jang Kuk-chol  67' Stadium: Colombo Racecourse
Referee: Timur Faizullin (Kyrgyzstan)
5 October FriendlyMalaysia 6–0 Sri LankaKuala Lumpur, Malaysia
20:45 UTC+8 Syafiq  9', 76', 89'
Shahrul  14'
Norshahrul  17'
Akhyar  51'		 Report Stadium: Bukit Jalil National Stadium
10 October FIFA World Cup qualificationSouth Korea 8–0 Sri LankaHwaseong, South Korea
20:00 UTC+9 Son Heung-min  10', 45+5' (pen.)
Kim Shin-wook  17', 30', 54', 64'
Hwang Hee-chan  20'
Kwon Chang-hoon  76'		 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)		 Stadium: Hwaseong Stadium
Referee: Hasan Akrami (Iran)
15 October FIFA World Cup qualificationSri Lanka 0–3 LebanonColombo, Sri Lanka
19:30 UTC+5:30 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)		 Maatouk  15' (pen.)
El-Helwe  38' (pen.), 81'		 Stadium: Colombo Racecourse
Attendance: 1,052
Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)
19 November FIFA World Cup qualificationTurkmenistan 2–0 Sri LankaAshgabat, Turkmenistan
16:00 UTC+5 Bäşimow  44'
Annadurdyýew  59'		 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)		 Stadium: Köpetdag Stadium
Attendance: 26,300
Referee: Saoud Al-Adba (Qatar)

2020
17 January 2020 2020 Bangabandhu Cup Group stage Sri Lanka0–2 PalestineDhaka, Bangladesh
17:30 SLST Report
Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium
Referee: Yaasin Hanafiah (Malaysia)
19 January 2020 2020 Bangabandhu Cup Group stage Sri Lanka0–3 BangladeshDhaka, Bangladesh
17:30 SLST Report
Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium
Referee: Virendha Rai (Bhutan)
8 October 2020 (2020-10-08) FIFA World Cup qualificationNorth Korea v Sri LankaPyongyang, North Korea
Stadium: Kim Il-sung Stadium
13 October 2020 (2020-10-13) FIFA World Cup qualificationSri Lanka v South KoreaColombo, Sri Lanka
Stadium: Colombo Racecourse
12 November 2020 (2020-11-12) FIFA World Cup qualificationLebanon v Sri LankaBeirut, Lebanon
Stadium: Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium

Records

All-time records
Country Matches Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Win/Draw %
 Afghanistan8116617−1125.00
 Bahrain200204−400.00
 Bangladesh1742111325−1223.53
 Bhutan7502185+1371.43
 Brunei220061+5100.00
 Cambodia3102210−833.33
 China PR200224−200.00
 Chinese Taipei431094+5100.00
 Guam110051+4100.00
 Hong Kong100105−500.00
 India1824121332−1911.11
 Indonesia3012211−933.33
 Iran2002011−1100.00
 Japan3003016−1600.00
 Kyrgyzstan100114−300.00
 Laos72231110+128.57
 Lebanon4103415−1125.00
 Lithuania201102−200.00
 Macau311142+266.66
 Malaysia10109736−2910.00
 Maldives172871232−2011.76
 Mongolia210132+150.00
 Myanmar72051018−828.57
 North Korea300308−800.00
   Nepal166732316+737.50
 Oman3012114−1300.00
 Pakistan198473621+1575.00
 Philippines411259−450.00
 Qatar300309−900.00
 Saudi Arabia300309−900.00
 Singapore5104615−920.00
 South Korea2002014−1400.00
 Seychelles210124−250.00
 Sudan100101−100.00
 Syria3003017−1700.00
 Tajikistan4013311−800.00
 Thailand6006220−1800.00
 Timor-Leste110032+1100.00
 Turkmenistan5014210−800.00
 United Arab Emirates8008335−3200.00
 Uzbekistan100106−600.00
 Vietnam403167−100.00
  • Last Updated on 31 October 2019.[18]

Coaches
Name Nat Period Matches Won Draw Lost Win/Draw %
Neville Dias Abeygunawardene 1990
Burkhard Pape 199?–199?
Jorge Ferreira 1993–95
M. Karathu 1999–2000
Marcos Ferreira 2000–04 One of the skilled full coach
Jang Jung 2007–08
2010–12
Mohamed Amanulla 2009–10
Claudio Roberto 2013–14
Nikola Kavazović 2014–15 7 1 1 5 28.57%
Sampath Perera 2004–06
2009
2012–13
2015–16		 5 1 0 4 20.00%
Dudley Steinwall 2016–18 4 1 1 2 25.00%
Nizam Pakeer Ali 2018–2020 10 1 1 8 10.00%
Amir Alagić 2020–

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup qualification
Hosts/Year Result Position GP W D L GS GA GP W D* L GS GA
1930 to 1950Not a FIFA MemberNot a FIFA Member
1950 to 1990Did not enterDid not enter
1994Did not qualify8 008026
19983 11144
20026 114820
20068 134711
20102 00206
20142 01115
20182 00213
2022TBD
2026TBD
Total0/21—3136222175

AFC Asian Cup

1972 to 1984 was competef in Qualification

AFC Asian Cup AFC Asian Cup qualification
Hosts/Year Result Position GP W D L GS GA GP W D* L GS GA
1956 to 1992Did not enter and qualifyDid not enter and qualify
1996Did not qualify6 204525
20004 004218
20048 206626
2007Did not enterDid not enter
2011Did not QualifyAFC Challenge Cup
2015
20192 00213
2023TBD
Total0/17—31712325102

SAFF Championship
Year & Host Result Pos. P W D L GF GA
1993Runners-up2nd311142
1995Champions1st321053
1997Semi-Finals4th420263
1999Group Stage5th201123
2003Group Stage5th311133
2005Group Stage7th300315
2008Semi-Finals3rd421153
2009Semi-Finals4th420297
2011Group Stage6th310246
2013Group Stage7th3102615
2015Semi-Finals4th310217
2018Group Stage6th201102
Total11/111st37136184659

AFC Challenge Cup
AFC Challenge Cup finals AFC Challenge Cup qualifications
Hosts/Year Result Position GP W D L GS GA GP W D* L GS GA
2006Runners-up2nd641272No Qualify Round
2008Group Stage7th3003193 210144
2010Group Stage5th3102473 21094
2012Did not Qualify3 01205
20143 10255
Total3/5Runners-up125171218125342818
  • In 2011 and 2015 The AFC Challenge Cup acted as the qualification for the Asian Cup.
  • AFC Challenge Cup has been cancelled by AFC.

AFC Solidarity Cup
Year & Host Result Pos. P W D L GF GA
2016Group Stage6/7301225

Honors
Runners Up (1): 2006
Champions (1): 1995
Runners Up (1): 1993
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See also

Notes
  1. Macau did not send their team for the second leg due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[15] The AFC referred the matter to FIFA,[16] and FIFA announced on 27 June 2019 that the match was declared a 3–0 forfeit victory to Sri Lanka, and consequently qualifying Sri Lanka to the second round.[17]

References
  1. László Földesi. "Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya Weerarathne - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  3. "Head to head stats Sri Lanka – GDR". WildStat. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  4. "Sri Lanka's first international win at football". sundaytimes.lk. The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  5. "Blatter inaugurates symbolic post-war project in Sri Lanka". fifa.com. FIFA. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. "Sri Lanka Sports News - Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers". dailynews.lk. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  7. AFC (6 November 2016). "Mongolian penalties down Sri Lanka". thepapare.com. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  8. http://www.thepapare.com/match-report-sri-lanka-b-lithuania-football-friendly-11th-july-2018/
  9. https://www.thetelegram.com/sports/world-cup-qualifier-in-sri-lanka-canceled-after-macau-refuse-to-travel-320518/
  10. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2019/06/29/sri-lanka-welcomes-fifa-ruling-macau-out-of-wcup-qualifying/39638659/
  11. Сборная Шри-Ланки по футболу назначила нового главного тренера
  12. "ThePapare.com".
  13. "Sri Lanka Football". thepapare.com. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  14. "Stadions - Champions League - Sri Lanka - Resultaten, programma's, standen en nieuws - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  15. "Football - Macau not sending team to Sri Lanka due to security concerns". Reuters. 8 June 2019.
  16. "AFC Statement". AFC. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  17. "FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions Macau Football Association". FIFA.com. 27 June 2019.
  18. "Sri Lanka matches, ratings and points exchanged". eloratings.net. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
Preceded by
1993 India 		 South Asian Champions
1995 (First title)		 Succeeded by
1997 India 
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