The Solomon Islands men's national football team is the national football team of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, administered by the Solomon Islands Football Federation. The Solomon Islands national football team was founded in 1978. They were officially recognised by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

a decade later, in 1988.

History

During the 2004 Oceania World Cup qualification/Oceania Cup the team drew 2–2 with Australia and qualified for the second leg. In the second leg, the Solomon Islands national men's team were thrashed by Australia 5–1 and 6–0 in the two matches, with Australia qualifying for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. The Solomons got a second chance against the Socceroos in a two-legged series in September 2005, this time with the winner advancing to a two-legged series against

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

's fifth-place finisher for a berth in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, and the team was thrashed by Australia 7–0 on the first leg and 2–1 in the second played at home. The Solomons were knocked out of the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

– having got off to a good start winning every game in their qualifying group and comfortably progressing to the knockout rounds, defeats to

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and then to

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

saw them knocked out of the competition. In 2012, the Solomon Islands held the 2012 OFC Nations Cup which was also the second round of World Cup qualifying for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

where they finished in fourth place after qualifying through to the knockout stage by defeating Papua New Guinea and having draws against Fiji and New Zealand. They lost in the semi-final after they lost to the champions Tahiti after Jonathan Tehau scored the only goal. They later lost to New Zealand in the third-place playoff. The third round of World Cup qualifying saw the team finish bottom of the group after only taking one win against

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

. After first taking charge of the team in 2017, Spaniard Felipe Vega-Arango was appointed for his second stint in June 2021. In 2019, they went on a three-week training tour in

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In June 2023, Solomon Islands played their friendly match against Southeast Asia countries,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Solomon Island won the 2023 MSG Prime Minister's Cup after winning against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

(3–1),

(1–0) and

(1–0) as Raphael Lea'i clinch the golden boots as the tournament top scorer with four goals.

Team image

Kit sponsorship

Results and fixtures

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

2024

Coaching staff

Coaching history

:Caretaker managers are listed in ''italics''. * Edward Ngara (1995–1996) * Wilson Maelaua (1996) * George Cowie (2000–2003) * Alan Gillett (2004–2005) * Airton Andrioli (2006–2009) * Jacob Moli (2010–2014) * Moses Toata (2015–2016) * Felipe Vega-Arango (2017–2018) * Moses Toata (2018–2019) * Wim Rijsbergen (2019) * '' Stanley Waita'' (2020–2021) * Felipe Vega-Arango (2021–2024) * '' Eddie Marahare'' (2024) * '' Jacob Moli'' (2024) * '' Moses Toata'' (2024) * Josh Smith (2024–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

against on 10 October 2024. ''Caps and goals correct as of 10 October 2024, after the match against .''

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up within the last twelve months.

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Solomon Islands.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

OFC Nations Cup

Pacific Games

Wantok Cup

* 2008 (July, 1st edition) – First place

Head-to-head record

Honours

Major competitions

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

** Runners-up (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

** Third place (1):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Regional

* Pacific Games ** Silver medal (4):

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, 1995,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

** Bronze medal (2):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

* Melanesia Cup ** Champions (2):

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

** Runners-up (2): 1988,

** Third place (3):

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Awards

* OFC Nations Cup Fair Play Award: 2012

Summary

Historical kits

References

External links

Solomon Islands Football Federation official website

Solomon Islands
at OFC
Solomon Islands
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon Islands Men's National Football Team Oceanian national association football teams