The Maldives national football team

The Maldives national football team represents the Maldives in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Maldives. It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The Maldives' most significant success was winning the 2008 SAFF Championship where they beat the most successful team India in the final 1–0. They won their second local title in 2018 SAFF Championship, once again by beating India in the final.

History

South Asian Football Championship

1997 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup

This was the third edition of SAFF Cup which was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, and it was Maldives' first campaign in this regional tournament.

Maldives was placed in the group B with India and Bangladesh, where they advanced into the semi final as the group's second team with two points in hand. They drew their first match against Bangladesh with the help of Lirugham Saeed's only goal. In the second match, they drew against the India 2–2, in which Ibrahim Rasheed and Mohamed Nizam came scoring when the Red Snappers were at a two-goal deposit.

Maldives went on to win the semi final match 2–1 against Sri Lanka with Shah Ismail and Mohamed Nizam on the scoreline, but lost the final match to India by 5–1, where Adam Abdul Latheef scored the only goal for Maldives.

1999 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup

In this edition of SAFF Cup, hosted in Fatorda Stadium, Goa, India, Maldives were grouped with Nepal and Sri Lanka, where Maldives finished at the top of the group B.

First match against Sri Lanka ended as a goalless draw while they managed to win 3–2 against the Nepal. Shah Ismail, Mohamed Wildhan and Mausoom Abdul Gafoor scored the goals for Maldives in this match.

Maldives had to face the two times SAFF Cup champion India in the semi final and lost the game by 2–1, where Mohamed Wildhan scored against the Blue Tigers. Though they failed to qualify for the

This page also has a version in other languages :  Сборная Мальдив по футболу (russian)