Papua New Guinea national football team

The Papuan national team played its first match at the 1963 South Pacific Games, where it fell to Fiji 3-1 and was eliminated. At the 1966 South Pacific Games they reached the third place match but lost to the New Hebrides. Three years later they reached the same stage, and defeated the Fijian team 2-1 to win the bronze medal.

At 1971 South Pacific Games, after losing in the semi-finals to New Caledonia, they were beaten 8-1 by Tahiti in the third place game. Four years later, at the 1975 Games, they were beaten in the group stage by Tahiti and New Caledonia and thus eliminated in the first round.

At the 1979 South Pacific Games they lost in the quarter-finals 3–2 against the Solomon Islands, and in the first phase of the consolation tournament they were beaten 2–0 at the hands of the New Hebrides. The following year they played in the 1980 Oceania Cup, the precursor to the OFC Nations Cup, where despite beating the New Hebrides team, their losses to Australia and New Caledonia left them out at the first phase.

At 1983 South Pacific Games they lost the match for third place against the New Caledonian team. In the 1987 edition they won the bronze medal again by beating Vanuatu 3-1. Even so, in the two subsequent editions, 1991 and 1995, they were eliminated in the first phase.

After an absence in three editions of the OFC Nations Cup, due to the poor results obtained in the Melanesia Cup, they qualified for the 2002 tournament. They were only able to salvage a point in a 0-0 draw against the Solomon Islands and bowed out in the first round. In 2003 South Pacific Games they had a poor performance and in five games only obtaining four points.

After not participating in 2007, which served as qualification for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup, they were eliminated in the first phase at 2011 Pacific Games by having worse goal difference than Tahiti, with whom they tied on points. In the 2012 OFC Nations Cup they drew with Fiji and lost to the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, again being eliminated in the group stage.

In 2015 Papua New Guinea was designated to host the 2016 OFC Nations Cup. In the group stage, the Papuan team drew 1–1 with New Caledonia, 2–2 against Tahiti and beat Samoa 8–0. After achieving victory in the semi-finals, 2–1 against the Solomon Islands, they lost on penalties to New Zealand in the final after drawing 0–0 in regulation time. On 20 June 2023, Papua New Guinea suffered their worst defeat in their history losing to Malaysia 10–0 at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium.

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 enter									did not enter
1998	did not qualify									3rd	6	2	1	3	5	13
2002	did not enter									did not enter
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										3rd	4	2	0	2	5	5
2026	to be determined									to be determined
Total		0/22									26	9	6	11	48	41

* 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 Cup / OFC Nations Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Did not enter									Did not enter
1980	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	6	22		No qualification
1996	Did not qualify									4	1	1	2	2	4
1998										4	1	1	2	3	6
2000										4	0	0	4	4	19
2002	Group stage	7th	3	0	1	2	2	12		4	4	0	0	20	2
2004	Did not qualify									4	2	1	1	17	6
2008	Disqualified									Disqualified
2012	Group stage	7th	3	0	1	2	2	4		Qualified automatically
2016	Runners-up	2nd	5	2	3	0	13	4		Qualified as host
2024	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Runners-up	4/10	14	3	5	6	23	42		20	8	3	9	46	37

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.