Myanmar national football team

Burma participated in 1954 Asian Games and won a bronze medal, standing behind Taiwan (gold) and South Korea (silver); this was the beginning of the golden era. On the other hand, the nation was not expected to contend for a medal in the Olympic-type Asian Games. In the meantime, this delegation became the first male Burmese team to win a continental medal. Against all odds, the Burma team bettered their 1954 effort by winning the gold medal in the Asian Games, which was held at Bangkok in the mid-1960s. In that tournament, Burma beat Iran in the gold-medal game.[4]

The 1966 Asian Games gold medal-winning squad established itself as one of the two best teams in the region as it finished as runner-up to Iran at the 1968 Asian Cup. Having won a silver medal in 1968, the men's soccer team had a strong performance in the early 1970s as it qualified to compete in the 1972 Summer Olympics, which was held at Munich (West Germany), upon being one of the three finalists in the Asian tournament. Despite only winning against Sudan with 2–0, the Burmese players won the Fair Play Award. The following year, the nation earned its fifth consecutive Southeast Asian Games gold medal at Singapore City (Kuala Lumpur 1965, Bangkok 1967, Rangoon 1969, and Kuala Lumpur 1971).[5]

Three years before that, the national team wrote perhaps their most important chapter: they captured the continental title for the second time in a row, after the Burmese Olympic Committee sent footballers to Thailand for the 1970 Asian Games. Burma thus became the second football squad to win the Asian tournament twice. They were declared national heroes in Rangoon, the then capital of Burma, with their second consecutive gold medal in men's soccer.[4]

During this golden era, Burma produced many talented footballers. One among them is Suk Bahadur who is now considered as the greatest Burmese footballer of all time for his outstanding contribution to Burmese football.[4]

Over the following years, mainly due to political problems within the country, the national side's ability to defend its Asian title slowly faded away.

In the later years, Burma were unable to achieve similar results like in the golden era, due to many factors. The collapse of whole Burmese football system during the rule of Ne Win and later, the junta, had a negative impact on Burmese football team. Lack of funding and poor infrastructure prevented many Burmese players to play abroad, thus leading to retirement. At the same time, the rise of Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and especially Vietnam and the Thailand made Myanmar's golden era fade away.

Despite this, Myanmar managed to win silver medal in 1993 Southeast Asian Games, after losing to Thailand in the final, or the 2004 Tiger Cup when Myanmar won bronze.

Myanmar's 2011 reforms had been a major point of turning Myanmar's football, which had declined since 1970s. During this era, a new wave of Burmese football had arrived with the change of Myanmar's political climate, after many years under junta's rule.

The arrival of Gerd Zeise, a German manager, had been the crucial point. Under Gerd, Myanmar's football since reforms has witnessed a significant progress. The U-20 Myanmar team qualified to Myanmar's first ever FIFA tournament, the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup after going to the semi-finals in the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship as host. In 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup, Myanmar, as host, once again went to semi-finals, only losing to eventual champions, Thailand.

Between these successes, a lot of problems remain. Myanmar's football capability has been questioned after their disastrous 2018 World Cup qualification; while on the same time, a lot of teams in Asia have also risen up after many years under shadows. Once again, Myanmar failed to qualify for 2019 AFC Asian Cup, when they suffered a tremendous 1–5 defeat at the hand of Kyrgyzstan. Under Antoine Hey, Myanmar also had an unsuccessful 2018 AFF Championship, with the team was knocked out from the group stage, and Hey resigned after.

Myanmar began their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification grouping with old rival Kyrgyzstan, as well as Tajikistan, Mongolia and especially powerhouse Japan. Under the guidance of the new manager Miodrag Radulović, Myanmar had a disastrous beginning when the team fell 0–1 to Mongolia away, 0–2 to Japan at home and especially a 0–7 away defeat to the Kyrgyz, causing the Montenegrin to be fired. After the defeat to Kyrgyzstan, old coach Antoine Hey returned, where he helped Myanmar to gain a shock home win 4–3 over Tajikistan before beating Mongolia 1–0 also at home to boost morale.[6]

The COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar and subsequent Myanmar protests depleted greatly the national team when many key players refused to represent Myanmar in international football citing the junta's involvement.[7] As for the result, Myanmar brought to Japan with half of its squad members weren't regular starters, and suffered its worst defeat in modern era to the host 0–10, forcing Antoine Hey's men to win their 2 remaining matches against Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan while hoping for defeats from their 2 main opponents in the same time against Japan (and even a draw or a defeat against Mongolia for Kyrgyzstan) to be among the 4 best runners-up.[8] Having lost to Kyrgyzstan 1–8 the next match, Myanmar were officially eliminated from the World Cup and the top 2 spots in the group. Eventually, Myanmar confirmed its bottom place in the group, losing 0–4 to Tajikistan, and have to play the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

During the AFF Suzuki Cup, Singapore defeated Myanmar 3-0, with Ikhsan Fandi scoring a brace. Myanmar bounced back from that defeat with Than Paing and Maung Maung Lwin scored a goal each to give them hope of qualifying to the semi-finals. However, those hopes were made impossible after Thailand won 4-0 against Myanmar. Myanmar ended a disastrous tournament after failing to defeat the Philippines in the final matchday. The team were also drawn in the Group of Death in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, with World Cup Qualifying group members Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The team are also to play against AFF Suzuki Cup group members Singapore.

The team failed to make any progress with German coach Antoine Hey in the Asian Cup qualifiers after being humiliated by Singapore, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup took place with Myanmar having friendly matches in Thailand as preparation fixtures. They won two matches against club teams Chonburi and Samut Prakan. Despite this, they lost 6-0 to old rivals Thailand, although they fielded a weaker squad. The Asian Lions played their first match against Malaysia, but although counter-attacking play was good, they lost 1-0 due to Faisal Halim's goal and a late penalty from Win Naing Tun being saved. The team played Singapore, on artificial grass which cost them in addition to poor defending as the final result was 3-2 in Singapore's favour. However, Maung Maung Lwin did score two goals in this match: one being a composed right top corner finish while the other was a first-time volley. The team's chances of qualifying had been ruined, as they played Laos on home soil, going down 1-0 early on through Soukaphone Vongchiengkham but Kyaw Min Oo, who was having an excellent tournament scored a header, completely unmarked. Laos scored back through Ekkamai but in the dying minutes Maung Maung Lwin secured a point for the Asian Lions. However, this draw confirmed the team's elimination. They lost 3-0 against Vietnam in their final match and they failed to win in the AFF Championship for the first time since 2014. Despite poor results, the team can take positives away from this tournament as the playing style was praised by many fans.

With the domestic league being more active compared to last year's competition, Burmese fans had no reason not to be optimistic about the Hero Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament hosted by India. This tournament saw the big returns of Aung Thu and Nyein Chan Aung. Players from the former Team Phoenix such as Lwin Moe Aung, Hein Htet Aung and Win Naing Tun all featured. In the first match, the finishing cost Myanmar against a tough India side, losing 1-0 with a goal in first half stoppage time by Anirudh Thapa. In the second match against Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar midfielder Kyaw Min Oo blew a big leading chance with a penalty miss in the first half. Despite this miss, Myanmar continued to press and trouble the Kyrgyzstan defence and were eventually rewarded with a goal from Aung Thu in the 82nd minute. However, they gave away a goal in the 96th minute from a corner kick. Despite it being a draw, this result showed the return of the winning spirit that Myanmar desperately needed during the last year. The Myanmar team had shown a significant improvement throughout the last 6 months, and it showed in the match against Kyrgyzstan.

Name	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %	Honours
Marko Valok	1959–?
Mikhail Bozenenkov (ru)	1961–1963
Sein Hlaing	1964–1979						Asian Games Champions (1966, 1970) Southeast Asian Games Champions (1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973) Merdeka Cup Champions (1964, 1967, 1971)
Bert Trautmann	1972–1974						1972 President's Cup Football Tournament Champions
Ger Blok	1993–1996[11]
Ratomir Dujković	1996–1997
David Booth	2000–2003
Ivan Venkov Kolev	Nov 2004 – 2005						2004 Tiger Cup Semi-finalists
Sann Win	2006–2007						2006 Merdeka Tournament Champions 2007 Merdeka Tournament Runners-up
Marcos Falopa	Apr 2007 – Dec 2008[12]
Tim Myint Aung	Apr – Oct 2009
Drago Mamić	Oct 2009 – Feb 2010
Tin Myint Aung	Feb – Dec 2010	5	2	0	3	040.00
Milan Živadinović	Jan – Jul 2011	7	0	2	5	000.00
Sann Win*	Jul 2011	5	1	1	3	020.00
Park Sung-Hwa	Dec 2011 – Dec 2013	13	5	4	4	038.46
Sann Win*	Sep 2013	1	0	1	0	000.00
Radojko Avramovic	Feb 2014 – Oct 2015	22	7	4	11	031.82	2014 Philippine Peace Cup Champions
Tin Myint Aung*	Aug 2017	1	1	0	0	100.00
Gerd Zeise	Oct 2015 – March 2018	24	7	6	11	029.17	2016 AFF Championship Semi-final
Zaw Win Tun*	March 2018	1	1	0	0	100.00
Antoine Hey	16 May – 13 December 2018[13]	8	2	1	5	025.00
Myo Min Tun*	March 2019	2	0	1	1	000.00
Miodrag Radulović	20 April – 20 October 2019[14]	5	1	0	4	020.00
Antoine Hey	21 October 2019 – 31 January 2023 [15]	21	3	2	16	014.29
Michael Feichtenbeiner	1 March 2023 –	2	0	1	1	000.00

* As caretaker

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against India and Kyrgyzstan on 22 and 25 March 2023.[16]

Caps and goals updated as of 23 March 2023, after the match against India.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Pyae Phyo Thu	(2002-10-21) 21 October 2002	4	0	Yadanarbon
18	1GK	Kyaw Zin Phyo	(1993-02-01) 1 February 1993	33	0	Shan United
23	1GK	San Set Naing	(1998-09-04) 4 September 1998	5	0	Yangon United
2	2DF	Hein Phyo Win	(1998-09-19) 19 September 1998	19	0	Ratchaburi
3	2DF	Ye Min Thu	(1998-02-18) 18 February 1998	22	0	Shan United
4	2DF	Hein Thiha Zaw	(1995-08-01) 1 August 1995	6	0	Shan United
5	2DF	Nanda Kyaw	(1996-09-03) 3 September 1996	40	0	Shan United
15	2DF	Thet Hein Soe	(2001-09-29) 29 September 2001	2	0	Yadanarbon
17	2DF	Thiha Htet Aung	(1996-03-13) 13 March 1996	16	0	Rakhine United
24	2DF	Hein Zeyar Lin	(2000-12-08) 8 December 2000	5	0	Yangon United
25	2DF	Zwe Khant Min	(2000-06-20) 20 June 2000	0	0	Shan United
6	3MF	Kyaw Min Oo	(1996-05-16) 16 May 1996	22	1	PDRM
7	3MF	Lwin Moe Aung	(1999-12-10) 10 December 1999	36	0	Rayong
8	3MF	Myat Kaung Khant	(2000-07-15) 15 July 2000	26	1	Shan United
12	3MF	Hein Htet Aung	(2001-10-05) 5 October 2001	18	0	Selangor
13	3MF	Zaw Win Thein	(2003-03-01) 1 March 2003	6	0	Yangon United
14	3MF	Wai Lin Aung	(1999-07-30) 30 July 1999	10	0	Dagon
16	3MF	Lin Htet Soe	(1998-02-18) 18 February 1998	8	0	Shan United
19	3MF	Yan Naing Oo	(1996-03-31) 31 March 1996	45	1	Yangon United
21	3MF	Nyein Chan Aung	(1996-08-18) 18 August 1996	9	1	Muang Trang United
9	4FW	Win Naing Tun	(2000-05-03) 3 May 2000	25	1	Yangon United
10	4FW	Aung Thu	(1996-05-22) 22 May 1996	43	10	Lamphun Warriors
11	4FW	Maung Maung Lwin	(1995-06-18) 18 June 1995	57	9	Lamphun Warriors
20	4FW	Aung Kaung Mann	(1998-02-18) 18 February 1998	21	1	Customs United
22	4FW	Than Paing	(1996-12-06) 6 December 1996	41	2	Kanchanaburi City

The following players have also been called up to the Myanmar squad within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Myo Min Latt	(1995-02-20) 20 February 1995	14	0	Ratchaburi	v.  Singapore, 24 December 2022
GK	Tun Nanda Oo	(1999-08-14) 14 August 1999	3	0	Myawady	v.  Vietnam, 3 January 2023
DF	Soe Moe Kyaw	(1999-03-23) 23 March 1999	28	0	Free agent	v.  Singapore, 14 June 2022
DF	Nyein Chan	(1994-06-02) 2 June 1994	17	0	Ranong United	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
DF	Zaw Ye Tun	(1994-06-28) 28 June 1994	6	0	Yadanarbon	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
DF	Wai Yan Oo	(1996-10-16) 16 October 1996	6	0	Myawady	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
DF	Ye Lin Htet	(1999-07-18) 18 July 1999	6	0	Hantharwady United	v.  Hong Kong, 24 September 2022
DF	Kyaw Zin Lwin	(1993-01-04) 4 January 1993	35	0	Shan United	v.  Vietnam, 3 January 2023
DF	David Htan	(1990-05-13) 13 May 1990	73	4	Yangon United	v.  Laos, 30 December 2022
DF	Win Moe Kyaw	(1996-10-09) 9 October 1996	24	0	Hantharwady United	v.  Vietnam, 3 January 2023
MF	Suan Lam Mang	(1994-07-28) 28 July 1994	44	6	Krabi	v.  Singapore, 14 June 2022
MF	Htet Phyo Wai	(2000-01-21) 21 January 2000	22	3	Shan United	v.  Singapore, 14 June 2022
MF	Aung Naing Win	(1997-06-21) 21 June 1997	8	0	Ayeyawady United	v.  Vietnam, 3 January 2023
MF	Hlaing Bo Bo	(1996-07-08) 8 July 1996	41	6	Yangon United	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
MF	Thet Wai Moe		0	0	Myawady	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
FW	Aee Soe	(1996-11-15) 15 November 1996	4	0	Young Elephants	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
FW	Yan Kyaw Htwe	(1995-10-13) 13 October 1995	1	0	Yangon United	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
FW	Naing Zin Htet	(1993-01-30) 30 January 1993	2	0	Myawady United	v.  Thailand, 11 December 2022
FW	Ye Yint Aung	(2000-03-22) 22 March 2000	4	0	Shan United	v.  Vietnam, 3 January 2023
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1938	Part of  United Kingdom								Part of  United Kingdom
1950	Withdrew								Withdrew from qualification
1954 to 1990	did not enter								did not enter
1994	Withdrew								Withdrew from qualification
1998	did not enter								did not enter
2002	Withdrew								Withdrew from qualification
2006	Banned								Banned
2010	did not qualify								2	0	0	2	0	11
2014									4	1	0	3	2	6
2018									8	2	2	4	9	21
2022									8	2	0	6	6	35
2026	to be determined								to be determined
Total	0/22	–	–	–	–	–	–		22	5	2	15	17	73

• Banned in 2006 for withdrawing from qualification in 2002.
• Initially banned from 2018 for crowd trouble during a 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Oman but later overturned to matches to be played on neutral soil.[18][19]

• Olympic Football Tournament

• Fair Play Award: 1972

• AFC Asian Cup

• Runners-up (1): 1968

• Asian Games

• Gold medal (2): 1966, 1970*
• Bronze medal (1): 1954

• ASEAN Football Championship

Fourth place /Semifinalist(2) : 2004, 2016

• Southeast Asian Games

• Gold medal (5): 1965*, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973
• Silver medal (3): 1961, 1993, 2007, 2015
• Bronze medal (2): 1975, 1977, 2011

• Merdeka Tournament

• Winners (4): 1964, 1967*, 1971, 2006
• Runners-up (4): 1966, 1968, 1970, 2007

• Jakarta Anniversary Tournament

• Winners (4): 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975
• Runners-up (1) 1976

• Korea Cup (President's Cup)

• Winners (3): 1971*, 1972, 1973*
• Runners-up (1): 1975
• Third Place (1): 1974

• Myanmar Grand Royal Challenge Cup

• Winners (2): 2006, 2008

• Philippine Peace Cup

• Winners (1): 2014

• Colombo Cup

• Third Place (3): 1952*, 1953, 1955

• 4-nation Tiger Trophy

• Runners-up (1): 1995

• AYA Bank Cup

• Third Place (1): 2016

• Tri-Nation Series (India)

• Runners-up (1):2023

*trophy shared