Sri Lanka national under-23 football team

Sri Lanka National U-23 Team is the national team that participates in international football tournaments, such as the Summer Olympics and the AFC U-23 Championship representing Sri Lanka. The team has won bronze medals at the South Asian Games in 2004 and at the 2014 Lusophony Games. The Sri Lanka National U-23 Team won the silver medal at the 2006 South Asian Games, the first silver medal won by Sri Lanka at an international tournament.

Sri Lanka U-23 Football Team

Nickname(s)	සිංහ සිංහයා siṁha siṁhayā (Simha Lions)
Association	Football Federation of Sri Lanka
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach	Mohamed Amanulla
Captain	Dananju Madushan
Top scorer	Zarwan Johar
FIFA code	SRI
First colours Second colours
First international
Sri Lanka 1–0 Nepal (Islamabad, Pakistan; March 29, 2004)
Biggest win
Sri Lanka 4–0 Bhutan (Colombo, Sri Lanka; August 21, 2006)
Biggest defeat
Palestine 9–0 Sri Lanka (Isa Town, Bahrain; March 22, 2019) Sri Lanka 0–9 Bahrain (Isa Town, Bahrain; March 24, 2019)
South Asian Games
Appearances	3
Best result	Silver Medal (2006)

Sri Lanka didn't have an official U-23 team. Before 2013, the Sri Lanka national football team participated in the Summer Olympic qualifications and other international events. Sri Lanka has yet to participate in a Summer Olympic football tournament.

History

Due to the popularity of cricket in Sri Lanka, football has not been popular. But it has gained popularity with Sri Lanka's youth in recent years, and Sri Lanka's National U-23 Football team was formed as a result. In the 2010s the Sri Lanka national football team competed in international football tournaments. The Sri Lanka U-23 team has won a silver medal and two bronze medals in competitions.

The 10th edition of the South Asian Games was held in Sri Lanka in 2006. In the football tournament, Sri Lanka competed in the group stage against the Pakistan, Bhutan and Maldives U-23 football teams. Sri Lanka beat Maldives and Bhutan to qualify for the semi-final stage and beat India in penalties to qualify for the final with Pakistan. Sri Lanka won the silver medal as a result. In the 2004 tournament Sri Lanka had won the bronze medal.

Sri Lanka participated in the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers competition as an inexperienced football team, and failed to win a single match. They achieved a draw against Palestine, scoring their first goal in a major U-23 football tournament. They also tied with Pakistan but lost 4–0 to the powerful and experienced Syria national under-23 football team. Their fifth game was against host Saudi Arabia, and they lost 7–0, their biggest defeat in tournament play. In the last match of the qualifiers, Sri Lanka played against the Kyrgyzstan team and lost 5–0, failing to qualify for the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship tournament.

The Palestine Championship tournament was organized by the Palestinian Football Association, which invited the national U-23 teams of Palestine, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Jordan to compete. Sri Lanka played all three teams and lost each match, failing to score a goal in the tournament.

The Sri Lanka national U-23 football team participated in the 2014 Lusophony Games. The Sri Lanka team advanced to the semi-final stage of the tournament by defeating Macau and drew against São Tomé and Príncipe. In the semi-finals Sri Lanka lost the match against Mozambique 1–0 and won the bronze medal match against Macau 3–0. This was the first time that Sri Lanka U-23 team had placed at a major international tournament.

Sri Lanka entered in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship Qualification stage with the national U-23 teams from United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen and Tajikistan. Sri Lanka lost both opening games against the host UAE and Yemen 4–0 and 5–0. They lost to Tajikistan 5–1 in the last group match. Sri Lanka scored only one goal in the tournament. After losing all three matches, Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Football Tournament.

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Olympic Games finals										Olympic Games qualifications
Hosts/year	Result	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD		GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2016	Did not Qualify									3	0	0	3	1	14
2020	TBD									TBD
Total	0/2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		3	0	0	3	1	14

• Prior to the 2016 Olympic Games campaign, the senior national team played in qualification.

AFC U-23 Championship

AFC U-22 finals										AFC U-22 Championship qualification
Hosts/Year	Result	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD		GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2013	Did not Qualify									5	0	2	3	1	17
2016										3	0	0	3	1	14
2018	Withdrew									Withdrew
2020	Did not qualify									3	0	0	3	0	20
2022										3	0	0	3	0	13
2024	Suspended									Suspended
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total	0/7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		8	0	2	6	2	31

South Asian Games

Year	Host	Pos.	P	W	D	L	GF	GA
2004	Pakistan	3/7	4	3	0	1	2	0
2006	Sri Lanka	2/8	5	4	0	1	6	3
2010	Bangladesh	5/8	3	1	1	1	1	2
2016	India	5/6	2	1	0	1	2	3
Total			14	9	1	4	11	8

• Prior to the 2004 South Asian Games campaign, the senior national team played in the tournament.

Fixtures and results

  Win   Draw   Lose

Main article: Sri Lanka national u-23 football team results and fixtures

2016

India v Sri Lanka

6 February 2016 SA Games	India	0–1	Sri Lanka	Guwahati, India
14:15		Report	Rifnas 14'	Stadium: Nehru Stadium, Guwahati Attendance: 8,000

Maldives v Sri Lanka

8 February 2016 SA Games	Maldives	3–1	Sri Lanka	Guwahati, India
17:00	Nashid 10' Ansar 28' , 58'	Report	Rifnas 61'	Stadium: Nehru Stadium, Guwahati

2017

Iran v Sri Lanka

19 July 2017 AFC U-23 Q.

Iran

Withdrew

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka v Oman

21 July 2017 AFC U-23 Q.

Sri Lanka

Withdrew

Oman

Kyrgyzstan v Sri Lanka

23 July 2017 AFC U-23 Q.

Kyrgyzstan

Withdrew

Sri Lanka

2019

Palestine v Sri Lanka

22 March 2019 (2019-03-22) 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification Group B	Palestine	9–0	Sri Lanka	Isa Town, Bahrain
19:30 UTC+5:30	Al-Iwisat 7' Emghamis 10', 30' Dabbagh 24' Iraqi 60' Salma 68' Farawi 70' (pen.) Dahla 72' (pen.) Abdelsalam 79'	Report		Stadium: Khalifa Sports City Stadium Attendance: 1,162 Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)

Sri Lanka v Bahrain

24 March 2019 (2019-03-24) 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification Group B	Sri Lanka	0–9	Bahrain	Riffa, Bahrain
22:30 UTC+5:30		Report	Marhoon 14', 45+1' Al-Shamsi 23' Isa 29' (pen.), 85' Khalid 31' (pen.) Al-Sherooqi 48' Bughammar 74' (pen.), 80'	Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium Attendance: 2,746 Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka

26 March 2019 (2019-03-26) 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification Group B	Bangladesh	2–0	Sri Lanka	Isa Town, Bahrain
19:30 UTC+5:30	B. Ahmed 5' Badsha 18'	Report		Stadium: Khalifa Sports City Stadium Attendance: 2,789 Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)

2021

Syria v Sri Lanka

27 October 2021 (2021-10-27) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification Group A	Syria	5–0	Sri Lanka	Doha, Qatar
20:00	Malta 1' Bashmani 25', 85' Al-Hallak 42' Basith 70' (.o.g)	Report		Stadium: TBC

Sri Lanka v Qatar

29 October 2021 (2021-10-29) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification Group A	Sri Lanka	0–5	Qatar	Doha, Qatar
				Stadium: TBC

Yemen v Sri Lanka

31 October 2021 (2021-10-31) 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification Group A	Yemen	3–0	Sri Lanka	Doha, Qatar
				Stadium: TBC

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Mohamed Amanulla
Assistant coach	Ratnam Weerasak Justmin
Goalkeeping coach	Saman Dayawansa
Trainer	Marcus Ferreira

Squad

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Prabath Arunasiri		2	0
12	1GK	Dhanushka Rajapaksha		2	0
22	1GK	Mohamed Uzman		0	0
3	2DF	Asikumar Rahuman	(1993-12-31) December 31, 1993	7	0	Pelicans SC
17	2DF	Sunil Roshan		2	0
21	2DF	Shanaka Wijesingha	(1992-12-26) December 26, 1992	1	0
2	2DF	Oshad Perera		0	0
6	2DF	Chameera De Silva		1	0
13	2DF	Mohamed Nifras		2	0
7	2DF	Chaturanga Madushan	(1993-11-16) November 16, 1993	8	0	Army
18	2DF	Tharindu Lakmal		2	0
20	2DF	Chameera Sajith		2	0
4	3MF	Sahayam Godwin	(1994-12-10) December 10, 1994	3	0
5	3MF	Mohamed Rizkhan		2	0
7	3MF	Mohamed Cassim		3	0
10	3MF	Dhananju Madushan (C)		3	0
14	3MF	Mohamed Rilwan		3	0
15	3MF	Mohamed Fazlan F		3	0
21	3MF	Shanaka Wijesena		1	0
9	3MF	Zarwan Johar	(1996-02-15) February 15, 1996	8	4	Renown
8	4FW	Udara Gamage		1	0
9	4FW	Pradeep Rodrigo		1	0
11	4FW	Iqbal Humaid		0	0
19	4FW	Janith Pumal		1	0

Honors

• Lusophony Games:
  • Bronze Medal : 2014
• South Asian Games:
  • Silver Medal : 2006
  • Bronze Medal : 2004

See also

• Sri Lanka national football team
• Sri Lanka women's national football team
• Sri Lanka national under-20 football team
• Sri Lanka national under-17 football team

External links

• Football Federation of Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka on FIFA