Solomon Islands national football team

Solomon Islands
Nickname(s)	Bonitos
Association	Solomon Islands Football Federation
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Felipe Vega-Arango
Captain	Micah Lea'alafa
Most caps	Henry Fa'arodo (64)
Top scorer	Commins Menapi (34)
Home stadium	National Stadium,; Lawson Tama Stadium
FIFA code	SOL
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	133 (21 September 2023)[1]
Highest	120 (October 2007, April 2008)
Lowest	200 (January–March 2016)
First international
	Solomon Islands 6–3 New Hebrides ; (Suva, Fiji; 30 August 1963)
Biggest win
	Solomon Islands 16–0 Cook Islands ; (Papeete, Tahiti; 21 August 1995)
Biggest defeat
	Tahiti 18–0 Solomon Islands ; (Suva, Fiji; 8 December 1963)
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances	7 (first in 1980)
Best result	Runners-up, 2004

The Solomon Islands men's national football team is the national football team of the Solomon Islands, administered by the Solomon Islands Football Federation. The Solomon Islands national football team was founded in 1978. They were officially recognised by FIFA a decade later, in 1988.[2]

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's fifth-place finisher for a berth in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 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 – 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 and then to Vanuatu 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 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.

After first taking charge of the team in 2017, Spaniard Felipe Vega-Arango was appointed for his second stint in June 2021.[3]

In 2019, they went on a three-week training tour in Netherlands.[4]

In June 2023, Solomon Islands played their friendly match against Southeast Asia countries, Singapore and Malaysia. Solomon Island won the 2023 MSG Prime Minister's Cup after winning against Papua New Guinea (3–1), Vanuatu (1–0) and New Caledonia (1–0) as Raphael Lea'i clinch the golden boots as the tournament top scorer with four goals.

Team image

Kit sponsorship

Kit lier	Period
Lotto	2004–2012
Pasifika	2013–2016
Veto	2016–2021
UCAN	2022–

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.

Win Draw Loss Fixture

2023

23 March Friendly	Solomon Islands	2–0	Vanuatu	Lautoka, Fiji
	Feni 68' Komasi 81'	Report		Stadium: Churchill Park

26 March Friendly	Fiji	0–2	Solomon Islands	Lautoka, Fiji
		Report	Feni 40' (pen.), 53'	Stadium: Churchill Park

14 June Friendly	Malaysia	4–1	Solomon Islands	Terengganu, Malaysia
21:00 UTC+8	Josué 40' Aiman 45+2' Rasid 76' Tuck 90'		Lea'i 11'	Stadium: Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium

18 June Friendly	Singapore	1–1	Solomon Islands	Kallang, Singapore
	Shawal Anuar 31'		Joses Nawo 84'	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Somsing Torphong (Thailand)

8 October 2023 MSG Prime Minister's Cup	Papua New Guinea	1–3	Solomon Islands	Nouméa, New Caledonia
14:00 UTC+11:00	Gunemba 51'	Report	Lea'i 80', 86', 90+3'	Stadium: Stade Numa-Daly Magenta Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

11 October 2023 MSG Prime Minister's Cup	Solomon Islands	1–0	Vanuatu	Koné, New Caledonia
13:00 UTC+11:00	Leslie 45'	Report		Stadium: Stade Yoshida

14 October 2023 MSG Prime Minister's Cup	Solomon Islands	1–0	New Caledonia	Nouméa, New Caledonia
17:00 UTC+11:00				Stadium: Stade Numa-Daly Magenta

Coaching staff

Position
Head coach	Felipe Vega-Arango
Assistant coach	Eddie Marahare
Goalkeeper coach	Zantas Kabini
Kit Manager	Augustine Hou
Team Manager	Patrick Miniti

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)[5]
Moses Toata (2015–2016)[6]
Felipe Vega-Arango (2017–2018)
Moses Toata (2018–2019)
Wim Rijsbergen (2019)
Stanley Waita (2020–2021)
Felipe Vega-Arango (2021–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches.[7]
Match dates: 14 and 18 June 2023
Opposition: Malaysia and Singapore
Caps and goals correct as of: 26 March 2023, after the match against Fiji

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Philip Mango	(1995-08-28) 28 August 1995	30	0	Central Coast
1GK	Junior Petua	(2003-12-30) 30 December 2003	0	0	Honiara City FC
1GK	James Do'oro	(1995-06-19) 19 June 1995	0	0	Sosa FC

2DF	Iani Lagwai Kalu	(1999-07-16) 16 July 1999	10	0	Napier City Rovers
2DF	Javin Alick	(2002-11-17) 17 November 2002	7	0	Central Coast
2DF	Leon Kofana	(2002-06-22) 22 June 2002	8	0	Henderson Eels
2DF	Junior Aengari	(2000-04-15) 15 April 2000	2	0	Solomon Warriors
2DF	Alick Stanton	(1998-05-25) 25 May 1998	2	0	Central Coast
2DF	Junior David	(2001-09-22) 22 September 2001	2	0	Central Coast
2DF	Calvin Ohasio	(2000-04-05) 5 April 2000	0	0	Central Coast

3MF	William Komasi	(2000-06-10) 10 June 2000	6	1	Central Coast
3MF	Molis Gagame	(1999-09-14) 14 September 1999	3	0	Solomon Warriors
3MF	Marlon Tahioa	(1998-11-28) 28 November 1998	2	0	Suva
3MF	Don Keana	(2000-09-09) 9 September 2000	2	0	Waneagu United
3MF	Patrick Taroga	(2000-05-25) 25 May 2000	1	1	Henderson Eels
3MF	Ben Fox	(2001-07-06) 6 July 2001	0	0	Marist F.C.

4FW	Joses Nawo	(1988-05-03) 3 May 1988	42	7	Kossa
4FW	Gagame Feni	(1992-08-21) 21 August 1992	29	16	Kossa
4FW	Raphael Lea'i	(2003-09-09) 9 September 2003	7	5	FK Velež Mostar
4FW	Alwin Hou	(1996-09-18) 18 September 1996	14	6	Solomon Warriors
4FW	Bobby Lesley	(2000-03-03) 3 March 2000	0	0	Waneagu United
4FW	Mohammad Mekawir	(2000-07-27) 27 July 2000	2	0	Waneagu United

Recent call-ups

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

Player records

As of 26 March 2023[8]

Players in bold are still active with Solomon Islands.

Most appearances

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Henry Fa'arodo	64	20	2002–2017
2	Benjamin Totori	52	29	2007–2019
3	Hadisi Aengari	43	0	2011–present
4	Joses Nawo	42	7	2011–present
5	Nelson Sale Kilifa	37	0	2004–2017
6	Commins Menapi	36	34	2000–2007
6	Batram Suri	36	14	1995–2005
8	Gideon Omokirio	32	4	1996–2007
9	Stanley Waita	31	5	2000–2007
10	Philip Mango	30	0	2016–present

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Commins Menapi	34	36	0.94	2000–2007
2	Benjamin Totori	29	52	0.56	2007–2019
3	Henry Fa'arodo	20	64	0.31	2002–2017
4	Gagame Feni	16	29	0.55	2012–present
5	Batram Suri	14	36	0.39	1995–2005
6	Noel Berry	10	14	0.71	1995–2000
7	Micah Lea'alafa	7	23	0.3	2016–present
7	Joses Nawo	7	42	0.17	2011–present
9	Raphael Lea'i	6	8	0.75	2022–present
	Alwin Hou	6	14	0.43	2018–present
	Robert Seni	6	14	0.43	1996–2003
	Alick Maemae	6	19	0.32	2004–2007
	Jack Samani	6	28	0.21	2000–2007

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Host	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1990	did not participate									did not participate
1994	United States	did not qualify								Group Stage	4	0	1	3	5	13
1998	France									Group Stage	8	3	3	2	22	23
2002	South Korea Japan									Group Stage	4	2	0	2	17	10
2006	Germany									2nd	11	6	2	3	24	16
2010	South Africa									Knockout Stage	6	4	0	2	23	6
2014	Brazil									4th	9	2	2	5	7	22
2018	Russia									2nd	9	4	1	4	10	16
2022	Qatar									2nd	3	2	0	1	6	8
2026	Canada Mexico United States	to be determined								to be determined
Total		0/22	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	57	23	9	25	118	121

OFC Nations Cup

Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Host	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	New Zealand	Did not enter								Did not enter
1980	New Caledonia	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	3	21	No qualification
1996	Oceania	Semi-finals	3rd	2	0	0	2	1	3	4	4	0	0	10	1
1998	Australia	Did not qualify								4	2	1	1	8	7
2000	Tahiti	Third place	3rd	4	2	0	2	7	10	4	2	1	1	10	9
2002	New Zealand	Group stage	6th	3	0	1	2	3	9	Qualified automatically
2004	Australia	Runners-up	2nd	7	3	1	3	10	17	4	3	1	0	14	1
2008	Oceania	Did not qualify								6	4	0	2	23	6
2012	Solomon Islands	Fourth place	4th	5	1	2	2	5	6	Qualified as host
2016	Papua New Guinea	Semi-finals	3rd	4	1	0	3	2	4	Qualified automatically
2024	To be determined									To be determined
Total		Runners-up	7/10	28	7	4	17	31	70	22	15	3	4	65	24

Pacific Games

Pacific Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1963	Fourth place	4th	3	1	0	2	6	26
1966	Group stage	6th	2	0	1	1	4	12
1969	Sixth place	6th	5	0	1	4	8	19
1971	did not enter
1975	Third place	3rd	4	2	1	1	9	8
1979	Third place	3rd	5	4	0	1	24	5
1983	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	0	11
1987	did not enter
1991	Runners-up	2nd	5	4	1	0	12	3
1995	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	0	2	34	10
2003	Group stage	5th	4	2	1	1	14	4
2007	Fourth place	4th	6	4	0	2	23	6
2011	Runners-up	2nd	7	5	0	2	21	6
2015	See Solomon Islands national under-23 football team
2019	Group stage	7th	5	2	1	2	30	9
Total	Runners-up	12/15	55	29	6	20	185	119

Wantok Cup

2008 (July, 1st edition) – First place

Head-to-head record

As of 16 June 2023

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
American Samoa	3	3	0	0	29	1	+28	100.00
Australia	10	0	1	9	8	55	−47	0.00
Chinese Taipei	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Cook Islands	5	5	0	0	37	2	+35	100.00
Fiji	38	6	16	16	42	71	−29	15.79
Guam	3	3	0	0	24	2	+22	100.00
Kiribati	1	1	0	0	7	0	+7	100.00
Macau	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Malaysia	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	0.00
New Caledonia	26	10	2	14	30	53	−23	38.46
New Zealand	13	0	2	11	11	49	−38	0.00
Papua New Guinea	22	13	4	5	37	28	+9	59.09
Samoa[lower-alpha 1]	3	3	0	0	20	0	+20	100.00
Singapore	1	0	0	1	3	4	−1	0.00
Tahiti	24	5	3	16	26	76	−50	20.83
Tonga	5	5	0	0	31	0	+31	100.00
Tuvalu	4	4	0	0	29	1	+28	100.00
Vanuatu[lower-alpha 2]	34	21	7	6	76	37	+39	61.76
Wallis and Futuna	3	3	0	0	23	1	+22	100.00
Total	198	84	35	79	439	385	+54	42.42

Source: 1963–99 results and 2000–present results
Notes:

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

Honours

OFC Nations Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2004
- Third place (2): 1996, 2000
South Pacific Games
- Runners-up (3): 1991, 1995, 2011
- Third place (1): 1975, 1979
Wantok Cup
- Winners (1): 2008

References

"The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
"Member Association – Solomon Islands". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
"Solomon Islands appoint new coach". 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
"Historic training camp in Netherlands wrap-up". siff.com.sb. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
"FIFA.com". 23 June 2007. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007.
"Solomons search for new coach". Oceania Football Confederation. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
"Solomon Islands national team 23-man squad for the June FIFA international friendlies in Asia". Solomon Islands Football Federation - Facebook. 5 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
"Solomon Islands". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[table_note_SAM0.06899167414242-9] Includes results as Western Samoa.

[table_note_VAN0.06899167414242-10] Includes results as New Hebrides.

[FIFA_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.

[2] "Member Association – Solomon Islands". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2018.

[3] "Solomon Islands appoint new coach". 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.

[4] "Historic training camp in Netherlands wrap-up". siff.com.sb. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.

[5] "FIFA.com". 23 June 2007. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007.

[6] "Solomons search for new coach". Oceania Football Confederation. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.

[7] "Solomon Islands national team 23-man squad for the June FIFA international friendlies in Asia". Solomon Islands Football Federation - Facebook. 5 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.

[8] "Solomon Islands". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

National football teams of Oceania (OFC)
OFC Nations Cup
Active	American Samoa Cook Islands FS Micronesia² Fiji Kiribati¹ New Caledonia New Zealand Niue² Palau² Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tahiti Tonga Tuvalu¹ Vanuatu
Former	Australia (moved to AFC in 2006) Northern Mariana Islands³ (moved to AFC in 2009) Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)⁴ (returned to AFC in 1989)
¹ Associate member of OFC - Not a member of FIFA ² Not a member of OFC and consequently not a member of FIFA ³ Northern Mariana Islands was only an associate member of OFC between 1998 and 2009 - Not a member of FIFA ⁴ Although not geographically in Oceania, Chinese Taipei was a member of the OFC between 1976–1978 and 1982–1989 Although not geographically in Oceania Israel entered OFC World Cup qualification in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.