Laos national football team

Laos established their national football association in 1951. The South East Asian nation is still waiting to make its entrance into a major international competition. Laos have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup or Asian Games and as an international side, their appearances have been restricted to regional tournaments such as the Southeast Asian Games and the AFF Championship. After years of internal strife, Laos focused on economic and political recovery. With the country achieving political stability, football has made an impact on Laotians.[4][5]

Since making their appearance at the 1995 Southeast Asian Games, Laos has competed in the inaugural 1996 AFF Championship drawing against Vietnam 1–1 and winning Cambodia 1–0. Although they are new to the regional tournaments, Laos has displayed a fiery passion and talent. In 1995, they beat Brunei and Philippines and two years later in the 1997 Southeast Asian Games held in Jakarta, they also beat Malaysia 1–0 and Philippines 4–1. Domestic competitions are also active with over 60 clubs competing at various levels. Domestic football is amateur although most of the top teams are drawn from government ministries and public services. In the qualifying preliminary rounds for the 2004 Asian Cup, they beat Bangladesh 2–1. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, Laos qualified for the second round as a lucky loser after Guam and Nepal both withdrew from the competition, but proceeded to lose all its games (with Qatar, Iran and Jordan).[6] They also advanced to the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, after defeating Cambodia 8–6 on aggregate. In the second round, they lost to China 13–3 on aggregate. Laos has defeated their much more established counterparts such as Brunei, Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. Laos' first appearance in a continental tournament was in 2014, when they played at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup.[7][8] In 2016, Laos were invited to the inaugural 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup held in Kuching being grouped with Macau, Sri Lanka and Mongolia. In the first match, Laos won Sri Lanka 2–0 before losing to Macau 1–4 but bounced back with another win against Mongolia 3–0 sending the team to the knockout stage. They would go on to face Nepal in the semi-finals level at 2–2 in extra time but lost on penalties shootout thus bowing out from the cup.

In 2023, Laos particapted in the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification facing against Nepal. On 12 October 2023, Laos contested in a 1–1 draw at the Dasharath Rangasala in Kathmandu.

In 2017, the AFC announced it had been investigating the Laos national team, as well as football club Lao Toyota FC, since 2014 on suspicions of match fixing. As a result, many players and officials were banned for life, 15 of which were banned all at once. The players receiving the bans included star players Khampheng Sayavutthi and Maitee Hatsady, goalkeeper Vathana Keodouangdeth and former captain Saynakhonevieng Phommapanya.[9][10]

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

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

Nepal    v  Laos

22 March 2023 (2023-03-22) 2023 Prime Minister's Three Nations Cup	Nepal	2–0	Laos	Kathmandu, Nepal
18:00 UTC+5:45	Tamang 29' Nawayug 54'	Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Stadium Attendance: 5,170 Referee: Sinan Hussain (Maldives)

Laos  v  Bhutan

25 March 2023 (2023-03-25) 2023 Prime Minister's Three Nations Cup	Laos	2–1	Bhutan	Kathmandu, Nepal
18:00 UTC+5:45	Bounkong 3', 72'	Report	Gyeltshen 34'	Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Stadium Attendance: 500 Referee: Javiz Mohamed (Maldives)

Nepal    v  Laos

31 March 2023 (2023-03-31) 2023 Prime Minister's Three Nations Cup Final	Nepal	2–1	Laos	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45	Ayush 24' Dangi 88'	Report	Sangvilay 17'	Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Stadium Referee: Sinan Hussain (Maldives)

Thailand U20  v  Laos

30 September 2022 (2022-09-30) Unofficial friendly	Thailand U20	1–1	Laos	Buriram, Thailand
17:30 UTC+7	Thanakrit 38'		Kydavone 37'	Stadium: Chang Arena Referee: Jirayu Lohapom Thailand

Nepal    v  Laos

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12) 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round	Nepal	1–1	Laos	Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu
17:00 UTC+5:45	Bista 48'	Report	Bounkong 33'	Attendance: 11,235 Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

Laos  v    Nepal

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17) 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round	Laos	0–1	Nepal	New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane
19:00 UTC+7		Report	Dangi 53'	Attendance: 9,772 Referee: Ali Reda (Lebanon)

As of 25 March 2023[11]

Players in bold are still active with Laos.

Most appearances

Soukaphone Vongchiengkham is Laos' most capped player with 57 appearances.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Period
1	Soukaphone Vongchiengkham	57	15	2010–present
2	Saynakhonevieng Phommapanya	54	2	2006–2016
3	Visay Phaphouvanin	51	18	2002–2013
4	Khampheng Sayavutthi	50	15	2010–2017
5	Phoutthasay Khochalern	43	1	2013–present
6	Ketsada Souksavanh	36	3	2008–2014
7	Keoviengphet Liththideth	35	4	2010–2018
	Khamphoumy Hanvilay	35	0	2011–2016
9	Khonesavanh Sihavong	34	6	2012–2017
10	Chalana Luang-Amath	32	5	1996–2004

Last match updated was against    Nepal on 31 March 2023[14]

Opponents	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Confederation
Afghanistan	3	0	2	1	1	3	-2	AFC
Bangladesh	5	1	2	2	4	5	-1	AFC
Bhutan	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	AFC
Brunei	11	10	0	1	30	15	+15	AFC
Cambodia	17	6	3	8	24	30	-6	AFC
China	2	0	0	2	3	13	−10	AFC
Chinese Taipei	4	0	1	3	4	10	−6	AFC
Egypt	1	0	0	1	0	15	-15	CAF
Guam	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	AFC
Hong Kong	3	0	0	3	3	13	−10	AFC
India	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	AFC
Indonesia	10	0	1	9	9	45	−36	AFC
Iran	3	0	0	3	1	20	−19	AFC
Jordan	2	0	0	2	2	8	−6	AFC
Kazakhstan	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	UEFA
Kuwait	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	AFC
Lebanon	2	0	0	2	0	9	−9	AFC
Lesotho	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	CAF
Macau	2	0	0	2	2	7	-5	AFC
Malaysia	19	1	5	13	10	59	−49	AFC
Maldives	4	0	1	3	3	15	−12	AFC
Mongolia	5	3	1	1	8	5	+3	AFC
Myanmar	18	0	4	14	11	55	−44	AFC
Nepal	4	0	2	2	4	7	−3	AFC
Oman	0	0	0	2	0	19	−19	AFC
Philippines	13	7	2	4	22	21	+1	AFC
Qatar	0	0	0	2	1	11	−10	AFC
Saudi Arabia	0	0	0	1	0	4	−4	AFC
Singapore	13	1	1	11	12	42	−30	AFC
South Korea	7	0	0	5	0	28	−28	AFC
Sri Lanka	7	3	2	2	11	12	-1	AFC
Syria	2	0	0	2	0	20	−20	AFC
Thailand	12	1	1	10	14	45	−31	AFC
Timor-Leste	8	7	0	1	22	9	+13	AFC
Turkmenistan	2	0	0	2	3	9	−6	AFC
United Arab Emirates	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	AFC
Vietnam ^	22	0	2	20	5	86	−81	AFC
Total (37)	210	42	29	139	216	665	−449

^{^} Includes the result of  North Vietnam and  South Vietnam

• AFC Solidarity Cup
  • Third place (1): 2016

• 2023 Prime Minister's Three Nations Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2023

• Laos national football team
• Laos national football team results
• List of Laos international footballers
• Laos national under-23 football team
• Laos national under-21 football team
• Laos national under-20 football team
• Laos national under-17 football team
• Laos national futsal team
• Laos national under-20 futsal team
• Laos national beach soccer team
• Laos women's national football team
• Laos women's national football team results
• List of Laos women's international footballers
• Laos women's national under-20 football team
• Laos women's national under-17 football team

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laos national football team.

• Laos at FIFA.com
• Laos Football Fanclub (archived 26 October 2009)
• Lao Football's Forum
• Laos 2012/13 at FIFA.com