The Malaysia women's national football team represents Malaysia in international women's association football; it is controlled by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). Unlike the men's team, Malaysia women's football team is represented by amateur players and semi professional players.
History 1970s until 1990s In March 1975, Women's Football Association of Malaysia was established with Tun Sharifah Rodziah as its first President and Datin Teoh Chye Hin taking on the role of Secretary General. Among the earlier member states in this new association were Perak, Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka.Birth of our women's football team – New Straits Times, 30 September 2018.
Soon after its formation, the Malaysia women's national football team participated in their first competition, the first Asian Women's Football Championship which now known as AFC Women's Asian Cup organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Hong Kong. The Malaysian team managed to earn a respectable fourth placing after losing to Australia in the third place play-off.
Encouraged by the team's success in Hong Kong, Datin Teoh Chye Hin set in motion plans in 1976 to organise a special football competition for secondary schoolgirls in Perak. By the late 1970s, football associations in other states also started organising similar competitions to inject fresh blood into their respective state teams.
These efforts started bearing fruit in the early 1980s when the Malaysian women's football team coached by Shamdin Yusoff finished third in the 1983 AFC Women's Asian Cup tournament held in Bangkok, Thailand. One of Malaysia's key player in the 1983 tournament is Normala Rashid who is dubbed as the 'Lady Mokhtar Dahari' by the Malaysian media in the 1980s.Passing The Torch For The Love Of Malaysian Women’s Football – Leaderonomics, 18 August 2017.
Despite the success in 1983, not much has been heard about Malaysia women's football team until 1995 Southeast Asian Games. Assembles only 15 days before the tournament, Malaysia coached by Paramsivam Manickam manage to grab the silver medal, losing 1–0 to host Thailand in the final.Silver but girls walk tall – New Straits Times, 14 December 1995.
2000s
Entering 2000s, women's football in Malaysia is considerably underdeveloped with no women's football league. Despite that, Malaysia still manage to enter the semi final and finish fourth at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games under the guidance of Zhang Hong, a women's football coach from China which also the first female to coach Malaysia women's football team.Wanita negara tunai janji ke separuh akhir – Berita Harian, 7 December 2003.Gawang kita banjir lagi – Berita Harian, 12 December 2003.
In 2005, the team was one of eight that included the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Singapore, that were expected to field a women's football team to compete at the SEA Games in the Philippines. However, Olympic Council of Malaysia decided not to sent the team to the competition after they suffered their heaviest defeat in history, a 16–0 lost at home to Myanmar in a friendly.SASARAN 55 EMAS MAMPU DICAPAI, KATA KOK CHI – BERNAMA, 11 October 2005.
In 2006, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) appointed former player Normala Rashid as FAM's head of women's football. Among the achievements during her role is the first ever gold medal for the national women's team at the Arafura sports festival in Australia, a semi-final qualification at the 2007 AFF Women's Championship in Myanmar, and the first national women's futsal interstate championship.
However, Malaysia still performing badly in regional and continental competition, especially in the 2009 Southeast Asian Games, which saw Malaysia lose all matches by large margins, leading FAM to suspend the women's national team from international competition.FAM gantung sementara skuad wanita – Berita Harian, 8 December 2009.
2010s Malaysia return to international stages in 2011 AFF Women's Championship but still lost heavily to Thailand and Myanmar. In 2012 AFF Women's Championship, Malaysia have the chance to enter the semi final but eventually lost 3–2 to Laos. At the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, Malaysia coached by Jacob Joseph qualified to the semi final for the first time after 10 years and finish in fourth place.Bola sepak wanita kini digeruni – Berita Minggu, 22 December 2013.
In December 2015, FAM hired Asyraaf Fong Abdullah to coach the women's national team.Asyraaf Appointed as National Women Football Coach – Universiti Malaysia Sabah Media and Citra Division, 2 December 2015. However, Malaysia still failed to advance past the group stage of AFF Women's Championship in 2015 and 2016. In 2017 the team start the year on positive notes by defeating Bangladesh 2–1 and Singapore 4–0 to win the Women's Development Tournament hosted by Singapore.MALAYSIA JUARA KEJOHANAN PEMBANGUNAN BOLA SEPAK WANITA SINGAPURA 2017 – Football Association of Malaysia, 18 February 2017. At the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, Malaysia lost all their matches despite playing at home.
Jacob Joseph return as the head coach of Malaysia women's team in 2018 and led the team at the 2018 and 2019 AFF Women's Championship and 2019 Southeast Asian Games which Malaysia failed to advance past the group stage.
2020s After the pandemic in 2020, Malaysia played their first match after 2 years against Thailand and Palestine for the qualification to 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup. Malaysia lost 4–0 to Thailand and won 2–0 against Palestine. After the qualification match ended, the national players urged FAM to setup the first women football league in Malaysia.Pemain saran wujud liga bola sepak wanita di Malaysia – Berita Harian, 23 September 2021. Consequently, FAM finally establish Malaysia National Women's League in 2023.FAM to prioritise competitions for women's football – New Straits Times, 17 December 2022.
On 17 November 2022, FAM appointed Soleen Al-Zoubi from Jordan, the second female head coach in Malaysia women's team history. Under Al-Zoubi, Malaysia finisehd third in the 2023 Women's International Friendly Tournament defeating host Saudi Arabia 1–0.Captain Steffi sinks Saudi Arabia – New Straits Times, 1 October 2023.
On 14 May 2025, FAM appointed Joel Cornelli as the first Brazilian head coach of the national women's football team replacing Soleen Al-Zoubi, who had been reassigned as FAM women's football technical director.A Brazilian touch for Malayan Tigress – New Straits Times, 14 May 2025. Cornelli lost the first match 2–1 against Hong Kong at the 2025 Women's Tri-Nation Cup. Eventually, he become the first coach to won 5 straight games for Malaysia women's team starting in the match against Bhutan, 2 times friendly against United Arab Emirates, and Palestine and Tajikistan at the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification. The winning streak was ended by North Korea in the final match of the qualifiers.
Team image
Nicknames The Malaysia women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Harimau Malaya (Malayan Tigress)" or Skuad Kebangsaan (National Team)".
Kits and crest The logo symbolises the unity and forward progress of Malaysian football. Composed of four main elements, the logo stands for the development and awareness of the international image and patriotism of the sport in Malaysia. The Malayan tiger leaping over a football is the main element of the logo, and symbolises the courage and dignity portrayed while playing the game. The paddy stalks represent the prosperity and wealth of Malaysia, and the development of football in the country from the grassroots level. The Malay kris that rests at the top represents nationalism, and awareness that represents Malaysia at every level of football. The entire emblem is enclosed within a circle that represents the unity and timelessness of the sport.
Kit suppliers Similar to the men's team, the national team kit was manufactured by Adidas from the 1970s, who also sponsored the national team kit. Since 2007, the official Malaysia team kit has been manufactured by Nike. The home kit's design of black and yellow stripes is a throwback to the kit used by the Malaysian national team of the 1920s. The great national team of the 1970s also sported similar stripes, which are supposed to be reminiscent of the stripes of a tiger, the symbol of Malaysia's national football team. Since November 2010, Nike Malaysia has replaced Adidas as the team kit sponsor.
Adidas (1970–2006)
Nike (2007–2024)
Home stadium Unlike the men's team, Malaysia women's team play in various venue at home. They played at the UiTM Stadium, Selayang Stadium and Likas Stadium.
Supporters Ultras Malaya is the name of the major supporter of the national team. They are known for their high fanaticism and support towards the national team. In every international match the national team played, a group standing in the supporter's area can be found. The main colours of the supporters are usually black with a yellow scarf and banners just like the national team kit colours. These supporters always bring flares, drums and large national flags to the stadiums.
Sponsors According to the website of Football Association of Malaysia, Malaysia main sponsors include Bank Islam, Malaysia Airlines, Nike, Telekom Malaysia, 100plus, Extra Joss, KN, Wonda Coffee, Origina, Sanctband Active, Milo and Kronos with the association also establish social responsibilities partners with One Goal and Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT).
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.
Legend
2026
Team officials RolesNamesAppointment dateTeam Management Deputy CEO Stanley Bernard 15 April 2025Coaching Staff Head coach Joel Cornelli 14 May 2025 Assistant coach Leila Chua Pak Ling Goalkeeping coach Kris Yong Wai Hwang Fitness coach Azizan Ghazali 21 May 2025Doctor Zaidi Salleh Physiotherapist Shohaili Mansor Performance analyst Ahmad Sallehin Khalid Technical director Soleen Al-Zoubi 16 December 2022
Players Current squad The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Saudi Arabia in Doha, Qatar in October 2026.
Recent call ups The following players have been called up in the past 12 months.
Records
*Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
Most capped players # Player Year(s) Caps Goals1Jaciah Jumilis2009–7252Malini Nordin2007–20216723Nurul Azurin Mazlan2016–5004Eslilah Esar2007–20234505Dadree Rofinus2009–202144106Shereilynn Elly Pius2009–20244287Haindee Mosroh2012–406Masturah Majid2008–201719Angela Kais2007–201737810Steffi Sarge Kaur2007–354
Top goalscorers # Player Year(s) Goals Caps1Dadree Rofinus2009–202110442Angela Kais2007–2017837Shereilynn Elly Pius2009–2024424Norhanisa Yahya2009-20197295Nur Haniza Saarani2016–2019612Norlelawati Ngah1999–200317Normala Rashid1980–198518Sihaya Ajad2011–201923Haindee Mosroh2012–4010Norsuriani Mazli2011–2019524Jaciah Jumilis2009–72
Competitive record
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
FIFA Women's World Cup FIFA Women's World Cup recordYearResultPositionGPWD*LGFGAGD 1991Did not qualify 1995Did not enter 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023Did not qualify 2027 2031To be determined 2035To be determinedTotal0/12-------- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalties.
Olympic Games
Olympic Games recordYearRoundPositionGPWDLGSGA 1996 to 2024 Did not enter 2028 Did not qualify 2032 To be determined Total 0/0 — – – – – – –
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalties.
AFC Women's Asian Cup