Papua New Guinea national under-23 soccer team

The Papua New Guinea national under-23 soccer team, also known as PNG U23, represents Papua New Guinea at U23 tournaments. The team is considered to be the feeder team for the Papua New Guinea national soccer team

Papua New Guinea U23
Nickname(s)Kapuls (Cuscus)
AssociationPapua New Guinea Football Association
ConfederationOFC (Oceania)
Head coachAustralia Warren Moon
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Australia 4–0 Papua New Guinea 
(Melbourne, Australia; May 19, 1991)
Biggest win
 Cook Islands 0–7 Papua New Guinea 
(Lautoka, Fiji; March 7, 2008)
Biggest defeat
 Australia 9–0 Papua New Guinea 
(Sydney, Australia; January 16, 2004)
OFC U23 Championship
Appearances5 (First in 1991)
Best resultFourth place (1991, 1999, 2004, 2008)

History edit

PNG U23 made five appearances so far at the OFC U23 Championship. Their best result was third place, achieved at the 2015 Pacific Games.

OFC edit

The OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament is a tournament held once every four years to decide the only qualification spot for Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and representatives at the Olympic Games.

OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Year Round Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  1991 Fourth place 6 0 1 5 4 19 -15 1
  1996 Did not enter
  1999 Fourth place 4 1 0 3 3 11 -8 3
  2004 Group Stage 4 0 1 3 7 21 -14 1
  2008 Fourth place 5 2 0 3 18 20 -2 6
  2012 Fourth place 4 1 0 3 3 5 -2 3
  2015 Semi-finals 4 1 0 3 3 6 -3 3
  2019 Group Stage 3 1 0 2 8 7 +1 3
  2023 Group Stage 2 0 0 2 0 5 -5 0
Total Semi-Finals 32 6 2 24 46 94 -48 20

Fixtures & results edit

2019 edit

22 September 2019 (2019-09-22) 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage Vanuatu   3-1   Papua New Guinea   Lautoka, Fiji
12:00
Report
Stadium: Churchill Park
Attendance: 150
Referee:   Matthew Conger
25 September 2019 (2019-09-25) 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage Fiji   3-1   Papua New Guinea   Lautoka, Fiji
15:00
Report
Stadium: Churchill Park
Attendance: 250
Referee:   Nick Waldron
28 September 2019 (2019-09-28) 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage Papua New Guinea   6-1   Tonga   Lautoka, Fiji
12:00
Report Stadium: Churchill Park
Referee:   Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh

Current technical staff edit

Position
Head coach   Warren Moon
Assistant coach   David Muta
Team manager   Gordon Manub

Current squad edit

The following players were called to the squad for the 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament from 21 September - 5 October 2019.
Caps and goals updated as of 28 September 2019 after the match against the   Tonga.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Jordan Tobem (1997-08-28) 28 August 1997 (age 26) 2 0   Morobe United
18 1GK Jonathan Pole (1999-01-19) 19 January 1999 (age 25) 1 0   Morobe United
20 1GK Jerry Seriba (1999-05-15) 15 May 1999 (age 24) 1 0   Kagua Erave

2 2DF Peter Dabinyaba Jr. (1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 27) 3 0   Vitiaz United
3 2DF Carlos Onne (1999-07-04) 4 July 1999 (age 24) 3 0   Hekari United
4 2DF Gimale Essacu (1997-07-04) 4 July 1997 (age 26) 4 0   Western Illinois University
5 2DF Rupa Amil (1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 26) 1 0   Gulf Komara
14 2DF Gabby Yanum (1997-02-05) 5 February 1997 (age 27) 3 0   Bougainville
17 2DF Edward Joshua (1999-01-04) 4 January 1999 (age 25) 1 0   Lae City
2DF Felix Komolong (1997-03-06) 6 March 1997 (age 27) 6 0   Lae City

6 3MF Timothy Mali (1998-06-19) 19 June 1998 (age 25) 0 0   FC Bougainville
7 3MF Gregory Togubai (1998-03-22) 22 March 1998 (age 26) 3 3   Hekari United
8 3MF Freddy Kepo (1998-04-19) 19 April 1998 (age 26) 3 2   Hekari United
11 3MF Bernard Purari (1997-05-10) 10 May 1997 (age 26) 3 1   Bougainville
12 3MF Emmanuel Simongi (2000-09-25) 25 September 2000 (age 23) 3 1   Kutubu
13 3MF Joseph Waiwai (2001-03-07) 7 March 2001 (age 23) 1 0   Star Mountain
15 3MF Yagi Yasasa (2000-08-17) 17 August 2000 (age 23) 3 0   Vitiaz United
19 3MF Ernest Gwaitep (1997-12-22) 22 December 1997 (age 26) 2 0   Lae City

9 4FW Pokana Mea (1997-05-14) 14 May 1997 (age 26) 2 0   Gulf Komara
10 4FW Franck Toboroyan (1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 (age 26) 0 0   Hekari United
16 4FW Tyran Vapara (1997-07-24) 24 July 1997 (age 26) 3 0   Southern Strikers

List of coaches edit