Timor Leste national football team
| Nickname(s) |
O Sol Nascente (The Rising Sun), The Little Samba Nation |
|---|---|
| Association | Federação de Futebol de Timor-Leste |
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) |
| Sub-confederation | AFF (South-East Asia) |
| Head coach | Vacant |
| Captain | Anggisu Barbosa |
| Most caps | Anggisu Barbosa (27) |
| Top scorer | Murilo de Almeida (6) |
| Home stadium | National Stadium |
| FIFA code | TLS |
| FIFA ranking | |
| Current | 192  (16 October 2017)
|
| Highest | 146 (June 2015) |
| Lowest | 206 (October 2012) |
| Elo ranking | |
| Current | 224 (27 April 2017) |
| Highest | 215 (June 2015) |
| Lowest | 228 (24 October 2010) |
| First international | |
 Sri Lanka 3–2 Timor-Leste  (Colombo, Sri Lanka; 21 March 2003) |
|
| Biggest win | |
Timor-Leste 5–1 Cambodia  (Yangon, Myanmar; 5 October 2012) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
Timor-Leste 0–10 Saudi Arabia  (Dili, East Timor; 17 November 2015) |
|
The Timor-Leste national football team is the national team of East Timor (Timor-Leste) and is controlled by the Federação de Futebol de Timor-Leste. East Timor joined FIFA on 12 September 2005.
Timor-Leste's international debut was in the preliminary round of the AFC Asian Cup in March 2003, when they lost 3–2 to Sri Lanka and 3–0 to Chinese Taipei. They also participated in the 2004 Tiger Cup. Timor-Leste's participation in South East Asia's premier international football event in 2004 was announced after an Asian Football Confederation council meeting in Petaling Jaya. Although not yet a member of the AFC, the Timor-Leste Football Association was invited to sit in on the meeting, where they were represented by FA president Francia Kalbuadi. Timor-Leste won their first international match on 5 October 2012 against Cambodia with a score of 5–1.
Football was established in Timor-Leste during the Portuguese colonial era, when many of the locals and the Portuguese officials played amateur football. After Portugal ended its colonial rule, Indonesia invaded and occupied the island. East Timor eventually gained independence from Indonesia in 2000, which resulted in a long running battle against Jakarta-led forces.
The East Timor Football Association was accepted as an associate member of AFC at the 20th AFC Congress in 2002. Their international debut came in March 2003 when they participated in the qualifying campaign for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup in China. Given their history, it was no surprise that they crashed out with defeats against the likes of Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei. They entered the regional competition for the first time in 2004 as they played in the ASEAN Football Federation Championship (previously known as Tiger Cup) as an invited member. They finished in last place, showing that they had a long way to go before they could compete even on the regional stage.
They again had no success in the qualifying round of the 2007 ASEAN Football Federation Championship, with four heavy losses, including a 7–0 trouncing by the Philippines. In the third qualifying round for the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup, they surprisingly drew against Cambodia; this feat was reported in international news.
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