Sub-confederation EAFF (East Asia) Current 142 (9 March 2017) | FIFA code HKG Founded 1914 Head coach Kim Pan-gon | |
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Arenas/Stadiums | ||
The Hong Kong national football team (Chinese: 香港足球代表隊), represents Hong Kong in international association football competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup and East Asian Football Championship. The team is represented and supervised by the Hong Kong Football Association, the governing body for football in Hong Kong. Although usually known as simply Hong Kong, the EAFF refer to the team as Hong Kong, China.
Contents
- History
- Stadium
- Records
- Most Capped
- Top Goalscorers
- Recent results and fixtures
- 2018
- Current squad
- Recent call ups
- Coaches records
- Competition history
- Minor tournaments
- References
The team had been representing Hong Kong in international football events before 1997 when Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom. It continues to represent Hong Kong even after Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China by the United Kingdom and became a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China in 1997. This team is a separate team from the national team of the People's Republic of China, as the Basic Law and the principle of "One country, two systems" allows Hong Kong to maintain its own representative teams in international sports competitions. In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong football team is colloquially referred as the "Hong Kong team" (Chinese: 香港隊), while the Chinese national team is referred as the "national team" (Chinese: 國家隊).
History
Hong Kong played its first international match after World War II in 1949, against South Korea. Its first victory came in 1953, a 4–0 win against South Korea.
Hong Kong qualified for three of the first four editions of the Asian Cup, including a third-place finish in 1956 as hosts.Hong Kong players represented Republic of China, they finished third in the Asian Cup in 1960. However, the players in the team originally came from Hong Kong since the reputation of the Hong Kong national football team was not as good as the Republic of China. Also winning the Football at the 1954 Asian Games and Football at the 1958 Asian Games.
Hong Kong has never qualified for the World Cup. However, its most celebrated victory happened during 1986 World Cup qualifying. On 19 May 1985, in Beijing, Hong Kong faced China in the final match of the first qualifying round, where Hong Kong needed a win to advance while China needed only a draw. Hong Kong, led by coach Kwok Ka Ming, produced a 2–1 upset win, with goals from Cheung Chi Tak and Ku Kam Fai, thereby winning the group and advancing to the knockout stage, where it subsequently lost to Japan.
On 9 February 2005, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of both the Association and the Brazilian Football Confederation, Hong Kong hosted 2002 FIFA World Cup champions Brazil in a friendly match, with Lee Sze Ming scoring the only goal for Hong Kong, although Brazil won 7–1.
The year 2009 could be a turning point in the diminishing football standards of Hong Kong. On 12 December, Hong Kong defeated Japan and took their first East Asian Games football gold medal in the first major competition Hong Kong football team have won. This unexpected and surprising result, raised the belief that the Hong Kong football team could perform for football lovers in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong football team also won the 2010 Long Teng Cup and 2011 Long Teng Cup
Stadium
For a long time, Hong Kong played their home major matches at the Hong Kong Stadium, as well as its predecessor Government Stadium, where they are also hosting an annual international tournament known as the Carlsberg Cup as part of the festivities to usher in the Chinese New Year.
For some of the friendly matches and the minor qualification matches, the Hong Kong team most often play at Mong Kok Stadium in Mong Kok and occasionally play at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground in Siu Sai Wan.
In recent years, Hong Kong plays most of home matches at Mong Kok Stadium, including FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup qualification matches.
Records
Players in bold are still active at international level.
Most Capped
Players with an equal number of caps are ranked in chronological order of reaching the milestone.
Top Goalscorers
Goalscorers with an equal number of goals are ranked with the highest to lowest goals per game ratio.
^ = Minimum 10 Goals
Recent results and fixtures
2018
Win Draw Loss
Current squad
The following 20 players have been selected to the training squad for the 2017 Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup on 1 and 4 January 2017 respectively.
Caps and goals as of 12 November 2016, after the match against North Korea.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team within the last twelve months.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury
PRE Preliminary squad
Coaches records
Last updated: Hong Kong 0-1 North Korea, 12 November 2016. Statistics include international matches only.