The Maldives national football team (

Dhivehi Dhivehi, also spelled Divehi, may refer to: *Dhivehi people, an ethnic group native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands. *Dhivehi language, an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Republic of Maldives ...

: ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭ ގައުމީ ފުޓްބޯލް ޓީމް) represents the Maldives in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Maldives. It is a member of the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly ...

(AFC). The Maldives' most significant success was winning the 2008 SAFF Championship where they beat the most successful team

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in the final 1–0. They won their second local title in

2018 SAFF Championship The 2018 SAFF Championship, also known as 2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organized by SAFF. It was initially sched ...

, once again by beating India in the final.

History

South Asian Football Championship

1997 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup

This was the third edition of SAFF Cup which was held in

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

, and it was Maldives' first campaign in this regional tournament. Maldives was placed in the group B with

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

, where they advanced into the semi final as the group's second team with two points in hand. They drew their first match against Bangladesh with the help of Lirugham Saeed's only goal. In the second match, they drew against the India 2–2, in which Ibrahim Rasheed and

Mohamed Nizam Mohamed Nizam (born 17 May 1974) is a Maldivian former footballer who played as a forward. He was the captain of the Maldives national football team The Maldives national football team ( Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭ ގައުމީ ފުޓ ...

came scoring when the Red Snappers were at a two-goal deposit. Maldives went on to win the semi final match 2–1 against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

with Shah Ismail and Mohamed Nizam on the scoreline, but lost the final match to India by 5–1, where Adam Abdul Latheef scored the only goal for Maldives.

1999 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup

In this edition of SAFF Cup, hosted in Fatorda Stadium, Goa,

, Maldives were grouped with

and

, where Maldives finished at the top of the group B. First match against Sri Lanka ended as a goalless draw while they managed to win 3–2 against the Nepal. Shah Ismail, Mohamed Wildhan and Mausoom Abdul Gafoor scored the goals for Maldives in this match. Maldives had to face the two times SAFF Cup champion India in the semi final and lost the game by 2–1, where Mohamed Wildhan scored against the Blue Tigers. Though they failed to qualify for the Final of the tournament, they claimed the bronze by defeating Nepal in the third place play-off match by 2–0. Mohamed Wildhan and Mohamed Ibrahim were the goal scorers. Mohamed Wildhan shared the top scorer award with Nepal's Naresh Joshi, India's Baichung Bhutia and Bangladesh's Mihazur Rehman scoring three goals each in this competition.

2003 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup

In the 2003 SAFF Gold Cup held in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

, Maldives were drawn in the group B along with

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. Maldives won their first match 6–0 a record win of the highest number of goals scored by a team in a single match in this tournament history against Bhutan, with Maldives' first hat-trick in the regional tournament, scored by

Ali Shiham Ali Shiham (born 26 June 1975) is a former Maldivian international footballer. International career Ali Shiham has appeared in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches for Maldives. He is well known as the first player to score a hat-trick for Maldiv ...

, Ashraf Luthfy and Ali Umar scored one goal each in this victory. Despite the 1–0 loss to Bangladesh in the second match, Maldives won their third match against Nepal and they were through into the semi final of the tournament as the group runners-up. Mohamed Nizam, Ashraf Luthfy and Ali Umar scored in their 3–2 win over Nepal.

Ibrahim Fazeel Ibrahim Fazeel (born 9 October 1980) is a Maldivian footballer nicknamed "Oppo", who can play both as a midfielder and as a forward currently who plays for Llangefni Town FC He started his career while he was a student in Majeedhiyaa School in ...

scored the only goal against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in the semi final, which helped them to reach the final for the second time. Ali Umar's only goal in the second half helped Maldives to survive until the penalty shootout in the final match against Bangladesh, but Maldives lost 5–3 at the

Bangabandhu National Stadium Bangabandhu National Stadium ( bn, বঙ্গবন্ধু জাতীয় স্টেডিয়াম, '' romanised: Bongobondhu jateeyo stediyaam''), also known as Dhaka Stadium, and formerly known as Dacca Stadium, is the national ...

where Ahmed Naaz, Ismail Naseem and Ibrahim Fazeel succeeded to convert it from the spot but Ashraf Luthfy failed.

2005 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup

In 2005, the tournament was held in

and Maldives were drawn with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

along with the host

in group A. Maldives started their campaign by breaking their own record created in the previous edition 2003, scoring a highest number of goals by a team in a single match. They won the first match 9–1 against Afghanistan.

and Ahmed Thoriq both scored a hat-trick while

Ali Ashfaq Ali Ashfaq (; born 6 September 1985) is a Maldivian professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Maldives national team. Nicknamed "Man of Steel" (), he is regarded as one of the best players in the South Asian region. A pr ...

scored a brace and Ali Umar scored their opener. They won their second match against Sri Lanka 2–0 with goals from Ali Ashfaq and Ali Umar, while they ended at the top of the group, leaving the host Pakistan in second even after the goalless draw against them in the final group stage match. Even though Maldives lost the semi final match against India by one goal to nil, the top scorer award was shared by three of the Maldivian players; Ibrahim hassan, Ali Ashfaq and Ahmed Thoriq scored three goals each.

2008 SAFF Championship winners

The 2008 SAFF Championship draw, which took place on 26 February 2007, placed Maldives in group A, alongside

, and

. Maldives started with a comfortable 3–0 win over Pakistan, with the goals from Mohamed Shifan, Ahmed Thoriq and an own goal from

Naveed Akram Naveed Akram ( ur, نوید اکرم; born May 16, 1984) is a Pakistani international footballer who plays as a right-back for Lyallpur. Akram won three national titles with WAPDA. He was part of the Lahore Lajpaal team that lost in the semi-final ...

. In their second match they defeated Nepal 4–1, with two goals apiece from Ismail Mohamed and

. They lost their last group stage match against

, 0–1. They advanced to the semi-finals and defeated

0–1, with a brilliant goal by

on a pass from

. They then advanced to the final for the third time in SAFF Championship history. In the final three minutes of full-time during the SAFF Championship final against the four time SAFF Championship Champions

, Mukhthar Naseer scored a single goal from a corner kick taken by

, winning the SAFF Championship for Maldives for the first time in their history. Maldives won the SAFF Championship by scoring nine goals and conceding two. In 2008 SAFF Championship,

won the Best Player award. Maldives was the team who scored the most goals in this year's competition along with their rivals India. They were also the team who conceded the fewest goals in the tournament. The SAFF Championship was Maldives first ever gold medal in Maldivian Football history, and to celebrate this memorable day the President declared that 15 June 2008 will be a public holiday. The only goal scored in the final match, by Mukhthar, was his first international goal for the Maldives national football team.

2009 SAFF Championship

Maldives were drawn with the rivals India in group A, along with

and Nepal. Maldives started their campaign as the defending champions, facing a 1–1 draw where The Gorkhalis did not allow the red snappers win the match with the only goal by Ahmed Thoriq. In their second match they defeated Afghanistan by 3–1 with two goals from

and one from Ahmed Thoriq. Their next match against rival India on 9 December was won by 2–0, Ahmed Thoriq and

scoring the goals which took them into the semi finals as group A winners, finishing the group stage ahead of India. In the semi final, they defeated Sri Lanka with a comfortable score line of 5–1 where Ibrahim Fazeel scored two goals and Ahmed Thoriq, Ali Ashfaq and Ashad Ali scored one goal each, but they lost 3–1 to eventual winners India from a penalty shootout in the final after playing 120 minutes without seeing a goal from either sides. Ibrahim Fazeel was the only player to score in the penalty shootout for Maldives while Ahmed Thoriq, Mukhthar Naseer and Ali Ashfaq failed to convert it from the spot. Ahmed Thoriq shared the top scorer award with Bangladesh's

Enamul Haque Inam-ul-Haq ( ar, إنعام الحـــق ), meaning ''Gift of the Truth'', is a masculine Islamic given name.). Notable bearers of the name include; Cricketers * Inam-ul-Haq (Lahore cricketer) (born 1943), Pakistani cricketer * Enamul Haque ...

and Sri Lanka's

Channa Ediri Bandanage Channa Ediri Bandanage (born 22 September 1978) is a Sri Lankan international footballer who played for Blue Star SC as a forward. Bandanage has won the most number of caps for Sri Lanka national football team with 64 and is the second leadin ...

scoring four goals each in this competition. This was the second time Maldives lost the SAFF Championship final in penalties, and

was the venue on both occasions.

2011 SAFF Championship

The 2011 SAFF Championship hosted in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi was the tournament with Maldives' worst result. Even though Maldives managed to qualify for the semi finals as the group winner, Maldives ended their campaign with only one win, two draws and losing one game, scoring and conceding 5 goals. Maldives were in the group B, drawn with

and

. They drew 1–1 against Nepal with

's only goal and their second game against Pakistan ended goalless. Maldives finished the group stage with a 3–1 win over Bangladesh, with Ahmed Thoriq's brace and Ali Ashfaq's goal. Maldives lost 3–1 to

in the semi final, Shamweel Qasim scoring Maldives' only goal.

2013 SAFF Championship

Maldives were drawn in the group B alongside

and

. They started the group stage by renewing their record of scoring the most goals by a team in a single game; winning 10–0 against Sri Lanka. In this match, skipper

scored a double hat-trick and broke the record of India's

IM Vijayan Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (born 25 April 1969), also known by the nickname Kalo Harin (Blackbuck), is a former professional football player who also captained the India national football team. He played as a striker, where he formed a successfu ...

who holds the record of all-time top scorer of the tournament with 12 goals. He also made a new record of scoring the highest number of goals by a single player in a match in the tournament. Remaining goals of this match came from Assadhulla Abdulla, Hassan Adhuham,

Ali Fasir Ali Fasir ( dv, ޢަލީ ފާސިރު; born 4 September 1988) nicknamed "Sentey", is a Maldivian football (soccer), footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger or Striker (association football), striker for Club Valencia (Maldives), Club ...

and Ali Umar. In their second match, Ali Ashfaq scored four goals and Ali Fasir scored a brace while Mohammad Umair and Ali Umar scored one goal each in the 8–2 win against Bhutan. Maldives' third match of the group stage against Afghanistan ended goalless. However, Maldives faced

for a record fourth time in a semi final match of this competition, and never won a semi final match against them as Maldives lost 1–0 in this semi final match at the

Dasarath Rangasala Stadium Dasharath Rangasala ( ne, दशरथ रंगशाला; ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu. It is named after Dasharath Chand, one of the four great martyrs of Nepal. The stadium is used mostly for Association footbal ...

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

. Ali Ashfaq won the Golden Boot Award, scoring 10 goals in the competition. He now holds the record of competition's all-time top scorer with 18 goals, and the player to score the highest number of goals in one SAFF Championship; 10. India's IM Vijayan was the previous player to hold this record, scoring 6 goals in the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

edition.

2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup winners

Maldives was drawn in a group with Sri Lanka and India. Maldives drew with Sri Lanka at 0–0 and lost to India 2–0. Due to Maldives and Sri Lanka having accumulated the same points a coin toss was held to decide which team will advance to the semi finals against Nepal. Luck was in favor of Maldives as it won the coin toss and the match against Nepal by 3–0. This meant that Maldives would once against compete with India in the finals. During the first half of the match Maldives player Ibrahim Mahudhee scored the opening goal and in the second half Hamza Mohamed makes an excellent threaded through pass that allowed

to score the second goal for Maldives. India,'s Sumeet Pass scored a consolation goal for India in extra time. The match ended with Maldives as the victor's of the 2018 Saff Suzuki championship making them the second team in the competition to have ever won the Cup more than once. Maldives goal keeper Mohamed Faisal won the MVP award of the competition for his work between the sticks.

Asian Cup and World Cup qualifications

Maldives has never qualified for such big tournaments and often classified as a weaker team in the continent. Nonetheless, Maldives achieved several impressive results. During 2006 World Cup qualification, Maldives stunned by drawing

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, an Asian powerhouse, 0–0 at home; and defeating

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

, a rising Asian team, in the same ground with an impressive 3–0. However, its worst defeat also occurred in the World Cup qualification as they were thrashed 0–17 by

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in Damascus during 1998 World Cup qualification.

Team image

Media coverage

All Maldives matches are broadcast with full commentary on

Television Maldives Television Maldives is the public service broadcasting TV channel of the Maldives. It was formed on March 29, 1978. In 2009, the management of Television Maldives (TVM) and national radio, Dhivehiraajjeyge Adu Voice_of_Maldives">nowiki/>Voice_o ...

and Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu Radio Live.

Home stadium

National Football Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadi ...

( dv, ގައުމީ ފުޓުބޯޅަ ދަނޑު) is a multi-purpose stadium in Malé,

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

. It is used mostly for football matches of the Dhivehi League, Maldives FA Cup, and International matches. The stadium holds around 11,850 spectators.

Supporters

About 11,500 Maldivian supporters, including the former president

Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (; dv, މައުމޫން ޢަބްދުލް ޤައްޔޫމް; born 29 December 1937) is a Maldivian politician and an Islamic scholar who served as the President of Maldives from 1978 to 2008. After serving as Minister of Tran ...

, attended to see the 2008 SAFF Championship final match in Sugathadasa Stadium,

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. After their win, many supporters, together with ministers, gave a warm welcome to the team on their return with their first gold medal. To celebrate this memorable day the President declared that 15 June 2008 will be a public holiday.

Kits

Maldives' home kit comprises a red jersey and red shorts – red is the national colour of the Maldives, and represents the boldness of the nation's heroes.

Recent results and fixtures

2022

Coaching staff

Coaching history

:Caretaker managers are listed in ''italics''. * Temesvári Miklós (1991–93) * Victor Stănculescu (1993–96) * Rómulo Cortez (1996–97) * Vyacheslav Solokho (1999-2001) * Jozef Jankech (2001–03) * Manuel Gomes (2004) * Yordan Stoykov (2005–07) * Jozef Jankech (2008) * István Urbányi (2009–10) * Andrés Cruciani (2010–11) * István Urbányi (2011–13) * '' Ali Nashid'' (2013–14) *

Drago Mamić Drago Mamić (born February 9, 1954) is a Serbian-born Croatian retired football player and manager. Managerial career He last managed Bangladesh Premier League side Saif Sporting Club. He is also the former manager of Maldives. He has a UEF ...

(2014) * Velizar Popov (2015) * ''

Ismail Mahfooz Ismail Mahfooz also known as Imma Mahfooz is a former Maldivian international footballer and is the current head coach of the Maldives national football team under a caretaker capacity. International career Mahfooz played for the Maldives nati ...

'' (2015) *

Ricki Herbert Ricki Lloyd Herbert (born 10 April 1961) is a New Zealand former footballer and manager. He is the current technical director at Cambridge FC. Herbert was formerly head coach of the New Zealand national team, stepping down after the side faile ...

(2015–16) * ''

'' (2016) * Darren Stewart (2016–18) * Petar Segrt (2018–19) *

Martin Koopman Martin Koopman (born 5 June 1956 in Wezep) is a Dutch former football defender, who played for Go Ahead Eagles, FC Twente and Cambuur Leeuwarden. He could also play as a midfielder. After 2 years as a youth coach then 8 as an assistant coach (19 ...

(2020–21) * Ali Suzain (2021) *

Francesco Moriero Francesco "Checco" Moriero (; born 31 March 1969) is an Italian football former player and current manager, who played as a midfielder, usually as a winger on the right flank. He is the current head coach of the Maldives national football team. ...

(2021–''present'')

Players

Current squad

* The following players were called up for the friendly matches. * Match dates: 14 and 17 December 2022 * Opposition: and * Caps and goals correct as of: 24 September 2022, after the match against .

Recent call-ups

The following players also received a call-up within the last twelve months.

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Maldives.''

Competitive record

World Cup record

Asian Cup record

AFC Challenge Cup

South Asian Football Federation Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on

penalty kicks A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

.'' :''**Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.'' :''***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.''

Asian Games

Head-to-head record against other countries

Notes

References

External links

Official WebsiteMaldives Soccer Fansite
{{National sports teams of the Maldives Asian national association football teams National sports teams established in 1979