Papua New Guinea national football team

The Papua New Guinea national football team is the national team of Papua New Guinea and is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association. Its nickname is the Kapuls,[4][5] which is Tok Pisin for Cuscus.

Papua New Guinea

Nickname(s)	Kapuls (Cuscus)
Association	Papua New Guinea Football Association
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Bob Morris[1]
Captain	Michael Foster
Most caps	Michael Foster (27)
Top scorer	Reggie Davani (15)
Home stadium	Hubert Murray Stadium
FIFA code	PNG
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	166 (10 December 2020)[2]
Highest	153 (June 2017)
Lowest	206 (October–November 2015)
First international
Fiji 3–1 Papua New Guinea (Suva, Fiji; 29 August 1963)[3]
Biggest win
Papua New Guinea 20–0 American Samoa  (Nouméa, New Caledonia; 15 December 1987)
Biggest defeat
Australia 11–2 Papua New Guinea  (Nouméa, New Caledonia; 26 February 1980)
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1980)
Best result	Runners-up, 2016

Papua New Guinea national football team

Medal record
Pacific Games
	1969 Port Moresby	Team
	1987 Nouméa	Team
	2015 Port Moresby	Team

Papua New Guinea's highest ever FIFA ranking was 153, in June 2017. As of June 2019, the country was ranked 171 out of 211 countries. This was a drop of 2 places from May 2019.[6] Papua New Guinea had previously left the FIFA rankings, having not competed in a match between July 2007 and August 2011. Their matches at the 2015 Pacific Games saw them return to the rankings, and they competed in the 2016 OFC Nations Cup in June 2016; they reached the final, but lost to New Zealand 4–2 on penalties after the score was tied at 0-0 after extra time.

Competitive record

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1994	Did not participate									Did not participate
1998	Did not qualify									3rd	6	2	1	3	5	13
2002	Did not participate									Did not participate
2006	Did not qualify									3rd	4	2	1	1	17	6
2010	Disqualified									Disqualified
2014	Did not qualify									4th	3	0	1	2	2	4
2018										3rd	9	3	3	3	19	13
2022	To be determined									To be determined
2026
Total		0/21									22	7	6	9	43	36

* Although initially listed by FIFA as having entered the 2010 World Cup, PNG did not enter the football tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games, which was used as the preliminary round of the Oceanian zone qualification tournament.

Oceania Nations Cup record

OFC Nations Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Did not enter
1980	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	6	22
1996	Did not qualify
1998
2000
2002	Group stage	7th	3	0	1	2	2	12
2004	Did not qualify
2008	Did not enter
2012	Group stage	7th	3	0	1	2	2	4
2016	Runners-up	2nd	5	2	3*	0	13	4
2020	Cancelled
Total	Runners-up	4/10	14	3	5*	6	23	42

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Pacific Games record

Pacific Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1963	1st round	5th	1	0	0	1	1	3
1966	Fourth place	4th	4	1	0	3	14	14
1969	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2	11	10
1971	Fourth place	4th	3	1	1	1	19	11
1975	Group stage	6th	2	0	0	2	3	9
1979	Quarter-finals	5th	3	1	1	1	15	3
1983	Fourth place	4th	4	1	0	3	22	10
1987	Third place	3rd	6	3	2	1	26	4
1991	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	3	2
1995	Group stage	6th	3	1	1	1	11	5
2003	Group stage	6th	4	1	1	2	12	7
2007	Disqualified
2011	Group stage	6th	4	2	1	1	22	4
2015	See Papua New Guinea national under-23 football team
2019	Fourth place	4th	5	3	1	1	17	3
Total	Third place	13/15	48	18	10	29	176	85

Kit sponsorship

Kit supplier	Period
Joma	1998–2000[7]
Puma	2007–2010
Nike	2011–2012
Lotto	2013–2015
Adidas	2017–

Results and fixtures

For all past match results of the national team, see the team's 1963–89 results page and 1990–2019 results page.

2021

Record by opponent

Up to matches played on 20 July 2019.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
American Samoa	3	3	0	0	37	0	+37	100.00
Australia	1	0	0	1	2	11	−9	0.00
China PR	2	0	1	1	2	5	−3	0.00
Chinese Taipei	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	0.00
Cook Islands	2	2	0	0	20	1	+19	100.00
F.S. Micronesia	1	1	0	0	10	0	+10	100.00
Fiji	18	2	5	11	15	34	−19	11.11
Guam	1	1	0	0	9	0	+9	100.00
Indonesia	2	1	0	1	3	8	−5	50.00
Iran	1	0	0	1	1	8	−7	0.00
Kiribati	2	2	0	0	30	1	+29	100.00
Liberia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Malaysia	4	1	0	3	5	17	−12	25.00
New Caledonia	16	3	2	11	14	47	−33	18.75
New Zealand	5	1	1	3	3	18	−15	20.00
New Zealand U23	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0.00
Niue	1	1	0	0	19	0	+19	100.00
North Korea	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	0.00
Philippines	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00
Samoa[lower-alpha 1]	5	5	0	0	26	3	+23	100.00
Singapore	2	0	0	2	5	9	−4	0.00
Solomon Islands	21	5	4	12	26	34	−8	23.81
Tahiti	15	1	4	10	17	47	−30	6.67
Thailand	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Tonga	4	3	1	0	20	2	+18	75.00
Vanuatu[lower-alpha 2]	20	8	4	8	27	32	−5	40.00
Wallis and Futuna	3	3	0	0	16	1	+15	100.00
Total	136	46	24	66	321	289	+32	33.82

Source: 1963–89 results and 1990–2019 results
Notes:

1. Includes results as Western Samoa.
2. Includes results as New Hebrides.

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2019 Pacific Games from 7–20 July in Apia, Samoa.

Caps and goals correct after the match against Fiji on 20 July 2019.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Ishmael Pole	25 January 1993	1	0	Hekari United
20	GK	Ronald Warisan	20 September 1989	18	0	Lae City
2	DF	Daniel Joe	29 May 1990	17	0	Hekari United
3	DF	Joshua Talau	19 April 1996	3	0	Vitiaz United
4	DF	Alwin Komolong	2 November 1994	16	0	Lae City
5	DF	Felix Komolong	6 March 1997	19	0	Lae City
12	DF	Shane Sakael	31 December 1992	1	0	Hekari United
15	DF	Dinniget Luaine	16 May 2000	0	0	Kutubu
19	DF	Koriak Upaiga	13 June 1987	19	2	Hekari United
23	DF	Langarap Samol	21 July 1989	1	0	Hekari United
6	MF	Patrick Aisa	6 July 1994	12	3	Hekari United
8	MF	Michael Foster (captain)	5 September 1985	27	7	Hekari United
14	MF	Emmanuel Simon	25 December 1992	19	4	Lae City
17	MF	Jacob Sabua	25 August 1994	15	0	Lae City
18	MF	Gregory Togubai	22 March 1998	2	0	Hekari United
22	MF	Kolu Kepo	15 July 1993	6	4	Hekari United
7	FW	Raymond Gunemba	4 June 1986	21	11	Hekari United
9	FW	Nigel Dabinyaba	26 October 1992	19	8	Hekari United
10	FW	David Browne	27 December 1995	3	0	HJK Helsinki
11	FW	Atti Kepo	15 January 1996	4	1	Hekari United
13	FW	Tommy Semmy	30 September 1994	10	3	Hamilton Wanderers
16	FW	Jonathan Allen	3 January 2000	1	0	Vitiaz United
21	FW	Alex Kamen	26 August 1993	1	2	Morobe United

Managers

• Richard Tamari Nagai 1996–1998
• John Davani 2002
• Steve Cain 2002
• Ludwig Peka 2003–2004
• Marcos Gusmão 2004–2011
• Frank Farina 2011–2013
• Mike Keeney 2013
• Wynton Rufer 2014–2015
• Flemming Serritslev 2015–2018
• Bob Morris 2019–

See also

• Papua New Guinea women's national football team

References

1. "Soccer Unveils Plans for Pacific Games". PNG Courier. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
3. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesp/png-intres.html
4. "Strikers To Play Papua New Guinea". Steve Pitman, Brisbane Strikers. 30 May 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
5. "Farina's PNG aiming to defy odds". Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
6. "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
7. https://www.oldfootballshirts.com/pt/teams/p/papua-new-guinea/old-papua-new-guinea-football-shirt-s70265.html

External links

• Papua New Guinea Football Association
• "Latest Papua New Guinea Football News", Oceania Football Federation
• National Football Teams
• Pictorial History of PNG Football Kits
• National football team of Papua New Guinea picture