Back منتخب سريلانكا لكرة القدم Arabic سری لانکا میلّی فوتبال تیمی AZB Зборная Шры-Ланкі па футболе Byelorussian শ্রীলঙ্কা জাতীয় ফুটবল দল Bengali/Bangla Srílanská fotbalová reprezentace Czech Sri-lankische Fußballnationalmannschaft German Εθνική Σρι Λάνκα (ποδόσφαιρο ανδρών) Greek Selección de fútbol de Sri Lanka Spanish تیم ملی فوتبال سریلانکا Persian Sri Lankan jalkapallomaajoukkue Finnish
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2019) |
 | ||||
| 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 | Abdullah Al Mutairi (interim) | |||
| Captain | Sujan Perera | |||
| Most caps | Channa Ediri Bandanage (64) | |||
| Top scorer | Kasun Jayasuriya (27)[1] | |||
| Home stadium | Sugathadasa Stadium Colombo Racecourse | |||
| FIFA code | SRI | |||
| ||||
| FIFA ranking | ||||
| Current | 203  3 (24 October 2024)[2] | |||
| Highest | 122 (August 1998) | |||
| Lowest | 207 (October 2022) | |||
| 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 Shri Lanka Papandu Kandayama, Tamil: இலங்கை தேசிய கால்பந்து அணி Ilaṅkai Tēciya Kālpantu Aṇi) 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.[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.
- ^ László Földesi. "Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya Weerarathne – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
- ^ "Head to head stats Sri Lanka – GDR". WildStat. Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ "Sri Lanka's first international win at football". sundaytimes.lk. The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ "Blatter inaugurates symbolic post-war project in Sri Lanka". fifa.com. FIFA. 2 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2017.