The Papua New Guinea national soccer team is the men's national soccer team of Papua New Guinea and is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association. Its nickname is the Kapuls, which is Tok Pisin for Cuscus.

Papua New Guinea's highest ever FIFA ranking was 153, in June 2017. As of April 2024, the country was ranked 166 out of 211 countries. This was a drop of 1 place from February 2024. Papua New Guinea had previously left the FIFA rankings, having not competed in a match between July 2007 and August 2011. Their matches at the 2015 Pacific Games saw them return to the rankings, and they competed in the 2016 OFC Nations Cup in June 2016; they reached the final, but lost to New Zealand 4–2 on penalties after the score was tied at 0–0 after extra time.

History

1963–1978

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.

1979–1995 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.

1996–2012 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 obtained 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.

2013–present

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 Series tournament In 2024, Papua New Guinea played their first ever tournament outside Oceania where FIFA invited them to the 2024 FIFA Series matches on from 22 to 25 March 2024 held in Colombo where they would face Sri Lanka and Central African Republic.

Kit sponsorship Kit supplier Period Joma 1998–2000 Puma 2007–2010 Lotto 2011 Nike 2012–2014 OFC 2014 Kukuri 2015None 2016 Adidas 2017–2023 Veto 2024–

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.

2025

2026

Coaching history

Richard Tamari Nagai (1996–1998) John Davani (2002) Steve Cain (2002) Ludwig Peka (2003–2004) Marcos Gusmão (2004–2011) Frank Farina (2011–2013) Mike Keeney (2013) Wynton Rufer (2014–2015) Flemming Serritslev (2015–2018) Bob Morris (2019–2021) Marcos Gusmão (2021–2022) Warren Moon (2023–2024) Felipe Vega-Arango (2024–2025) David Muta (2025–)

Players Current squad The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Fiji on 14 November 2024 and against Solomon Islands on 17 November 2024.

Caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2024, after the match against Solomon Islands.

Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up to the Papua New Guinea squad within the last twelve months.

Player records

Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only. Players in bold are still active with Papua New Guinea.

Most appearances

RankNameCapsGoalsCareer1Emmanuel Simon4142014–present2Daniel Joe3912012–present3Raymond Gunemba37182012–present4Ronald Warisan3602014–present5Michael Foster3172003–20226Alwin Komolong3032016–present7Tommy Semmy27102014–present8Kolu Kepo2642016–present9Ati Kepo2592019–present10Felix Komolong2302016–present

Top goalscorers

RankNameGoalsCapsRatioCareer1Raymond Gunemba18372012–present2Reggie Davani13172002–20123Tommy Semmy10272014–present4Nigel Dabinyaba9222014–presentAti Kepo9252019–present6Michael Foster7312003–20227Nathaniel Lepani682004–20118Neil Hans582007–2014Andrew Lepani5122003–2011Mauri Wasi5142002–2014

Notes

Competitive record FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup recordFIFA World Cup qualification recordYearResultPosition1930 to 1966Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member1970 to 1994Did not enterDid not enter 1998Did not qualify3rd6213513 2002Did not enterDid not enter 2006Did not qualify3rd4211176 2010DisqualifiedDisqualified 2014Did not qualify4th301224 20183rd 93331913 20223rd 420255 20267th301258 2030To be determined To be determined 2034Total2997135349

* 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.

OFC Nations Cup Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPositionSquad 1973Did not enterNo qualification 1980Group stage6th3102622 1996Did not qualify411224 1998411236 20004004419 2002Group stage7th3012212Squad4400202 2004Did not qualify4211176 2008DisqualifiedDisqualified 2012Group stage7th301224SquadQualified automatically 2016Runners-up2nd5230134Squad 2024Group stage5th311147SquadTotalRunners-up5/11174672749—208394637 *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Pacific Games Pacific Games recordYearRoundPosition 19631st round5th100113 1966Fourth place4th41031414 1969Third place3rd63121110 1971Fourth place4th31111911 1975Group stage6th200239 1979Quarter-finals5th3111153 1983Fourth place4th41032210 1987Third place3rd6321264 1991Group stage5th311132 1995Group stage6th3111115 2003Group stage6th4112127 2007Disqualified 2011Group stage6th4211224 2015See Papua New Guinea national under-23 team 2019Fourth place4th5311173 2023Group stage6th421173TotalThird place14/165220113018388

MSG Prime Minister's Cup MSG Prime Minister's Cup recordYearRoundPosition 1988Did not enter 1989Fourth place4th411254 1990Fifth place5th400415 1992Did not enter 1994Third place3rd411224 1998Fourth place4th411236 2000Fifth place5th4004419 2022Champions1st431074 2023Fourth place4th300327 2024Champions1st431074 2025Second place2nd321052TotalParticipations9/1134116173655

Honours Continental OFC Nations Cup Runners-up (1): 2016

Regional Pacific Games Bronze medal (2): 1969, 1987 Melanesia Cup / MSG Prime Minister's Cup Champions (2): 2022, 2024 Runners-up (1): 2025 Third place (1): 1994

Summary Competition TotalOFC Nations Cup0101Total0101

Head-to-head record

Historical kits

Sources:

See also Papua New Guinea women's national soccer team

References

External links Papua New Guinea Football Association Papua New Guinea at OFC Papua New Guinea at FIFA National football team of Papua New Guinea picture