Bhutan national football team

Beginnings

In the same way that there is uncertainty around the manner in which football as a sport in general came to be, so there is equal uncertainty around how the game was ultimately brought to Bhutan.^[8] During the colonial period in Bhutan, although it had signed treaties with the government of India which ceded control of its defence and foreign relations to the British, continued to function as an independent state and was never under the direct rule of the British government in India.^[9] Whereas Indians were introduced to football by the British government, the lack of a permanent British presence in Bhutan meant that foreign sports were not played there.^[9] The arrival of football in Bhutan was very closely linked with the opening of schools in Haa and Paro in the 1950s, as foreign teachers, mainly from India but some from Europe, were recruited.^[10] The Bhutan Football Federation note that in the beginning there was little in the way of formal facilities or equipment and the game was played on stone-covered pitches with a ball made from a bundle of clothes.^[8] The game continued to grow as more Bhutanese went abroad, mainly to India, to study and helped increase the popularity of the sport upon their return, though the game was still considered to be just that and was not really developed during this period.^[8]

The main centres for football during the 1960s were Phuentsholing and Samtse, close to the border with India, where hastily arranged teams would travel back and forth over the border to play neighbouring tea gardens. In 1968, a team nominally representing Bhutan, but essentially consisting of foreign players travelled to Calcutta to compete in the Indian Independence Cup.^[10] Over time football gradually increased in popularity until it was seen as an essential part of the school curriculum, with numerous school tournaments established within Thimphu.^[8] Teams used to travel from all over the country to take part, some coming from as far away as Khaling.^[8] However, regardless of the popularity of the game amongst the Bhutanese, the notion of a Bhutan "national team" consisting almost entirely of foreigners persisted for some time, and this team would regularly travel abroad to take part in international competitions such as the ANFA Cup, with a team consisting of around 60% Indian players.^[8] These Indian players were brought to Bhutan and given jobs within the Civil Service, although essentially their role was to play football.^[8]

In the late 1970s and early 1980, as well as playing several matches in Bhutan, the representative team, known as Druk 11, also played a number of games outside the country in Nepal and India, against representative teams such as the Food Corporation of India.^[11] At that time, eight out of the eleven members of the team were from India.^[11] Such a situation could not last however, and in time these players either retired or returned to their home country creating a vacuum of talent which would seriously affect the national team in the years to come.^[8]

1980s

Given that international competition had been taking place since 1872,^[12] Bhutan's official entry into the international arena was comparatively late, playing their first match only in 1982, a 3–1 loss to Nepal in the 1982 ANFA Cup.^[13] However, it should be noted that other sources also indicate that a team representing Bhutan travelled to Nepal eight years earlier and won a tournament known as the Shripanch Mahendra Gold Cup, though it is not clear the extent to which this was a true international tournament or whether they were competing against club teams.^[14] They also played a representative team from China's Kunming Army Unit in the competition, also losing 3–1.^[15] Unfortunately, the scorers for Bhutan are not recorded, so it is unknown who scored Bhutan's first international goal.^[15] Bhutan's involvement in the ANFA Cup came some seven years before the inauguration of their own league competition. Again however, sources are contradictory with some indicating that a tournament that at least shared the name "A-League" was established in Thimphu sometime around the beginning of the 1980s.^[11]

Despite the at best fledgling nature of their domestic competition at that time, Bhutan continued to put out a side, this time in the South Asian Games. They entered the first games in 1984, but lost all three of their games, 2–0 to Bangladesh, 5–0 to hosts and eventual winners Nepal and 1–0 to the Maldives to finish last out of the four competing teams.^[16] It is unclear whether a play-off for third place was held between Bhutan and the Maldives. If it was, then the result is not known. Either way, the bronze medal was awarded to the Maldives.^[16]

Undeterred, Bhutan sent a team to the following year's competition in Bangladesh. Results went the same way as the prior year's tournament. Bhutan were drawn in group B of the competition along with India and Nepal.^[17] They lost their first match narrowly, 1–0 to Nepal and were beaten 3–0 by eventual champions India to ensure that they finished bottom of the group and did not progress.^[17]

The national team did not play any fixtures for the next two years as the South Asian Games moved to become a biennial competition,^[13] though they again sent a team to the third edition of the games in Kolkata, India.^[18] Drawn in group B again, this time with Nepal and Bangladesh, history repeated itself, as Bhutan lost first to Bangladesh 3–0, with Badal Das, Kaiser Hamid and Ahmed Ali scoring for Bangladesh,^[18] and then 6–2 to Nepal.^[18] Whilst their two goals ended a five-year, six-game scoring drought,^[13] they were thoroughly outclassed as Ganesh Thapa scored five times for Nepal.^[18]

1990s

Despite establishing the first recorded football league in Bhutan in 1986,^[19] and while the Bhutan Football Federation was admitted as member of the AFC in 1994,^[20] the national team did not compete in any matches following their defeat to Nepal in the South Asian Games until 1999, missing four editions of the Games, returning only in 1999.^[21]

Their absence from the international arena had not seen an improvement in the standard of their football, even though there had been a national championship established in the country for the previous four seasons.^[19] Their first game against hosts Nepal ended in a resounding 7–0 defeat.^[21] The team found themselves 3–0 down within the first twenty minutes as Hari Khadka scored in the first and fifth minutes, with Naresh Joshi extending the lead after eighteen.^[21] Bhutan were able to keep Nepal at bay for the rest of the half, but conceded two more either side of the hour mark courtesy of Deepak Amatya and Rajan Rayamajhi before a brace from Basanta Thapa sealed an emphatic victory for Nepal.^[21] They performed better defensively in their next match, but still lost 3–0 to India, Vijayam Imivalappil scoring all three goals for India.^[21] Out of the competition, Bhutan faced a dead-rubber against Pakistan, who were also eliminate prior to the fixture following losses to India and Nepal.^[21] With nothing to play for, they produced their best performance of the tournament. Dinesh Chhetri opened the scoring for Bhutan in the twenty-first minute, the first time they had led a game in their history, only to see a potential victory disappear following two second-half goals for Pakistan from Haroon Yousaf.^[21]

2000–2001

A bar chart contextualising Bhutan's defeat against Kuwait amidst the largest margins of victory in international football since 1997.^[22]

At the turn of the century, having spent the best part of the last two decades competing only against teams within South Asia, Bhutan made their first foray into international football at a continental level, competing in the qualification rounds for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. This tournament was to be one of the lowest points in the history of the admittedly hastily assembled national team.^[23] An opening 3–0 loss to Nepal was perhaps not surprising, with Bhutan never having gained any form of positive result against their himalayan neighbours, and at this point in time having scored against them only once in the ANFA Cup back in 1982.^[24] Four days later they faced Kuwait and were beaten 20–0.^[24] Seven of the ten Kuwaiti outfield players got their names on the scoresheet that day, including Bashar Abdullah who scored eight and Jassem Al-Houwaidi who scored five. Bhutan were seriously hampered in this game by their years in the footballing wilderness, but did not help themselves in the match conceding four penalties in total for what were described as "rugby-like challenges" and having two players sent off.^[25] This defeat was a world record international defeat, though this most undesirable of records was only held for fourteen months when Australia beat Tonga 22–0.^[26] As of 2016 this remains their worst ever result. Further heavy defeats were to follow, an 8–0 loss to Turkmenistan was followed by an 11–2 defeat to Yemen. Following this qualifying tournament, having been established in 1983, the Bhutan Football Federation was admitted as the 204th^[20] member of FIFA.^[27]

2002: The Other Final

Their defeats in 2000 in AFC Cup qualifying had left Bhutan ranked as the world's second worst national team with thirteen points in the official FIFA rankings, sandwiched between American Samoa above and Montserrat below.^[28] At this time, following the Netherlands failure to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, two Dutch ad-agency partners, Johan Kramer and Matthijs de Jongh, not having their home team to cheer on pondered who the worst team in the world might be. With Bhutan and Montserrat so close to each other at the bottom of the FIFA rankings, they set out to arrange a match between the two nations.^[29] Montserrat, their only pitch having been destroyed by one of the island nation's seven active volcanoes,^[29] agreed to the match and travelled to Bhutan for the game, held at Changlimithang a few hours before the actual World Cup Final,^[30] a match authorised by FIFA.^[31] The game started strongly for Montserrat and Bhutan struggled to contain them during early exchanges.^[1] However, initial nerves were settled after five minutes when Wangay Dorji headed a goal to give Bhutan the lead.^[1] This gave them the momentum to press on, but their finishing was lax and they were unable to convert the chances they created.^[1] Montserrat were able to keep Bhutan at bay for the rest of the half and the game remained at 1–0 until well past the hour mark when English referee Steve Bennett awarded Bhutan a freekick. Dorji stepped up and scored his second of the game.^[1] The momentum remained with Bhutan and veteran striker Dinesh Chhetri scored a third before Dorji took full advantage of a tiring Montserratian team to complete his hat trick and seal a 4–0 victory,^[1] Bhutan's first victory on the international stage against any opposition, indeed their first ever result of any kind and the first time they had ever kept a clean sheet.^[13]

2003–2005

However, despite this memorable victory, Bhutan were unable to carry this form forward into competitive matches. Although the Bhutan Football Federation now received substantial payments as a member of FIFA, there was still very little money in the game for players, even those who played for the national team.^[32] Players who were unemployed outside football had to exist on a stipend from the federation of only Nu 3–5,500 per month and there were no internationally certified coaches in the country at all, only amateurs and school teachers.^[32] It is no surprise then that Bhutan were defeated in all three games in the 2003 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup, losing 6–0 to the Maldives, 2–0 to Nepal and 3–0 to hosts Bangladesh, returning home bottom of their group without scoring a single goal.^[33] They took advantage though in their next set of matches as they hosted Group F of the preliminary qualifying round for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup.^[34] Drawn with Guam and Mongolia, two teams ranked much closer to them than the majority of their previous opposition, they began their campaign with a 6–0 victory over Guam (a result that as of 2016 is still their record victory) and followed it up with a 0–0 draw against Mongolia to top their group and progress to the qualifying round proper.^[34] The victory over Guam was their biggest ever margin of victory to date and the two games undefeated in this group represents Bhutan's best run of form to date as of 2014.^[13] In the next stage though they were drawn against much stronger opposition in the shape of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Yemen.^[34] Faced with this increase in quality, Bhutan were outclassed in all six of their qualifying games, losing all of them and again failing to score a single goal in the process.^[34]

Their losing run continued into the 2005 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup, where yet again they were to return home winless, losing 3–0 to Bangladesh and India respectively and 3–1 to Nepal, Bikash Pradhan scoring their only goal of the tournament, a consolation goal with Nepal already 3–0 up in what was a dead rubber for both sides.^[35]

2006–2010

The next three years saw something of an improvement in results for Bhutan. Entering the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup, they suffered narrow defeats to Nepal, 2–0 and Sri Lanka 1–0, before holding Brunei to a 0–0 draw.^[36] Although they failed to score and did not progress to the main competition, the draw against Brunei was their first positive result of any kind for nearly three years following a similar 0–0 draw with Mongolia and ended an eleven match losing streak.^[13] They did not play any international matches for the next two years, appearing again on the continental stage in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup.^[37] Their performance was similar to the previous Challenge Cup, opening with a 3–1 loss to Tajikistan, Passang Tshering scoring for Bhutan after sixty-nine minutes, only for the Tajiks to seal the victory from the penalty spot in the dying minutes through Numonjon Hakimov.^[37] Bhutan achieved a better result in the next game, drawing 1–1 with Brunei. Nawang Dendhup gave Bhutan the initial advantage, a lead which they held until the seventy sixth minute when Khayrun Bin Salleh equalised.^[37] Although a 3–0 loss to the Philippines in their final group game confirmed that again Bhutan would not be progressing to the competition proper. However, the two goals they scored and the draw achieved, meant that they finished in third place in the group above Brunei.^[37]

Bhutan built on the positive results they had gained from the previous two tournaments when they took part in the 2008 SAFF Championship. A late Nima Sangay goal was sufficient to give them a share of the points in their opening game against Bangladesh.^[38] They could not repeat the performance against the hosts Sri Lanka in their next game, losing 2–0, but recovered in their final game to record a 3–1 victory over Afghanistan, Yeshey Gyeltshen scoring twice and his namesake Yeshey Dorji getting the third before H.A. Habib scored a consolation for the Afghans.^[38] Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in the other final group game to ensure that Bhutan finished as runners-up in the group and qualified for the knock-out rounds of a tournament for the first time in their history. They met India in the semi-finals and took the lead through Kinley Dorji after eighteen minutes. It was a lead they would hold for less than fifteen minutes though as Sunil Chhetri equalised before halftime.^[38] With no further goals in the second half, the game went to extra time only for Bhutan to see the possibility of victory snatched from them at the very last moment as Gouramangi Singh scored in added time at the end of extra time to claim the narrowest of victories for India.^[38] Nonetheless, the semi-final appearance is Bhutan's best performance in any tournament as of 2016.

Unfortunately, they were again not been able to build on these positive performances. Their loss to India was the start of the longest losing streak in their history, which was ultimately to last for nineteen games.^[13] The 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualifying competition began with a narrow 1–0 loss to the Philippines,^[39] but quickly worsened as Bhutan lost 7–0 to Turkmenistan and 5–0 to the Maldives to return home yet again without a point or scoring.^[39]

A Passang Tshering goal was of little consolation as a 2–1 friendly loss to Nepal failed to end the streak,^[13] before a similarly poor 2009 SAFF Championship saw them lose 4–1 to Bangladesh, 6–0 to Sri Lanka and 7–0 to Pakistan, a Nawang Dendhup penalty against Bangladesh being their only reward in all three games.^[40]

2011 to present day

Bhutan lining up vs. Maldives at the 2013 SAFF Championship

Bhutan withdrew from the international stage for the next two years, re-emerging to play two back to back friendly matches against Nepal in preparation for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. Both of these games resulted in narrow losses, 1–0 and 2–1.^[13] Their 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification was essentially over before it started. Rather than being drawn in a group for initial qualification, the process was changed so that the lowest-ranked eight teams entering the competition played-off over two legs on a home-and-away basis.^[41] Bhutan perhaps suffered from the fact that neither leg was played in Bhutan, with both matches taking place at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Gurgaon, India,^[42][43] but nonetheless, a hat-trick from Sidiq Walizada in the first leg to give Afghanistan a 3–0 lead,^[44] made the second leg, which Afghanistan won 2–0, essentially irrelevant.^[44] A disappointing year was compounded with three successive defeats in the 2011 SAFF Championship, Bhutan losing 3–0 to Sri Lanka, 5–0 to India and finally 8–1 to Afghanistan, Chencho Gyeltshen's consolation being the only positive from the year's competition.^[45]

The team played only one match in 2012, a 5–0 loss friendly to Thailand,^[46] prior to the 2013 SAFF Championship. This tournament, produced an almost identical result to the previous SAFF championship, Bhutan opened the competition losing 3–0 to Afghanistan,^[47] then 8–2 to the Maldives despite being 2–1 up at one point and level going into halftime,^[47] before rounding off another miserable year with a 5–2 loss to Sri Lanka.^[47] One of the main reasons suggested for Bhutan's significant drop in form was the amount of money available to players, even those who played for the national team. Yeshey Dorji, one of the country's leading players, announced his retirement following the 2013 SAFF Championships, citing an inability to generate a sufficient living from football as the main reason.^[48] In 2014, the Bhutan Football Federation withdrew the Nu 4,000 monthly payment to players in the national team,^[48] and whilst money is spent at grass roots, more needs to be spent on the national team as former national head coach Kazunori Ohara noted, once players get to the end of school age they often drop out of football completely.^[48]

2018 World Cup Qualification

In 2015, Bhutan made their first ever attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup entering the qualifiers for the 2018 edition. In preparation for their qualifying campaign, and in an attempt to improve the overall standard of football in the country and attract more players, the Bhutan Football Federation offered a monthly salary of Ng 10,000 to all players in the main national squad who are not currently on federation scholarships.^[49]

Tshering Dorji scored the game-winner against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

In their first ever qualifying match, they faced Sri Lanka in the two-legged Preliminary Round.^[50] In the first leg in Colombo, Bhutan produced a shock result, beating their hosts 1–0, with Tshering Dorji scoring the winner in the eighty-fourth minute.^[51] This result even drew praise from now-disgraced FIFA president Sepp Blatter who described the result as "a wonderful, historic moment" on Twitter, though Sri Lanka coach Nikola Kavazovic, whilst conceding Bhutan were the better team remained confident that his team would ultimately be victorious.^[51] The result was met very positively in Bhutan, with the team featuring heavily in the news.^[52] Anticipation ahead of the second leg at Changlimithang ran high, a half-day holiday was declared by the government for students and public sector employees and the gates to the ground were opened four hours prior to kick off.^[53] The game started positively for Bhutan as Chencho Gyeltshen, the country's only professional footballer,^[53] scored in the sixth minute.^[54] However, Sri Lanka equalised before half time through Subash Madushan.^[54] A disallowed goal for each side increased the tension as the game progressed^[53] but in injury time at the end of the second half Gyeltshen scored his second goal of the match to seal a 3–1 aggregate victory,^[54] ensuring they advanced to Round 2 in the AFC qualifying section whilst Sri Lanka were eliminated. In qualifying for the second phase of the competition, Bhutan were guaranteed at least a place in the play-off round for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.^[55]

For the next stage, Bhutan were drawn in Group C, along with China, Qatar, Hong Kong, and the Maldives, all sides ranked higher than Sri Lanka in the FIFA rankings. Against these much stronger teams, their results were not as successful. In their first game, they lost 7–0 against Hong Kong in the Mong Kok Stadium,^[56] and then 6–0 less than a week later against China at Changlimithang, the first time despite their lowly ranking that Bhutan had been beaten at home in an official international match.^[57] Results got worse still in the following match as they lost 15–0 to Qatar, their heaviest defeat since their then world record 20–0 loss to Kuwait in 2000.^[58] The next two matches saw an improvement in their fortunes. Though both were lost, the scorelines were much more narrow. Firstly a 4–3 home defeat to the Maldives, in which Bhutan showed a spirited display to come back from 4–0 down in the final five minutes.^[59] At half time in the match, following a disagreement with team manager Hishey Tshering, coach Norio Tsukitate was sacked, his rigid methodology having created significant friction between himself and the overall team management.^[60] Secondly a 1–0 home loss to Hong Kong, the winning goal coming in the penultimate minute of the match for the visitors.^[61] This was a result that pleased the Bhutan Football Federation so much that they awarded all of the players involved in the match a Nu 25,000 bonus to reflect their "brilliant performance".^[62] However the improvement in their performances was not to last and a visit to China resulted in a 12–0 loss,^[63] and a home match against Qatar another loss, this time 3–0.^[64]

Following their World Cup qualifying attempt, Bhutan entered the eleventh SAFF Championship, held in India between 23 December 2015 and 3 January 2016.^[65] Originally scheduled to take place in July 2015, the monsoon season and schedule congestion led to the tournament being postponed to late December.^[65] Their performance was identical to their efforts in the last four tournaments as the team lost all three group games beginning with a 3–1 defeat to the Maldives, Tshering Dorji scoring for Bhutan after 20 minutes,^[66] and followed by two 3–0 losses to Afghanistan^[67] and Bangladesh^[68] to be eliminated from the competition.

Prior to their last qualifying match, the national team visited Thailand where they played two back to back charity friendly matches against reigning Thai League T1 champions Buriram United. Although they were playing against a club side rather than a fellow national team, Bhutan were soundly beaten in both matches; firstly 6–0^[69] and then 9–0 in a rematch the following day,^[70] with Buriram's new signing Weslley scoring five times across the two matches.

A final 4–2 defeat against the Maldives in Malé confirmed Bhutan's last place finish in their group with a −47 goal difference and extending their losing run in official competition to twelve games.^[71]

Colours

The flag of Bhutan which is closely echoed in the national team's colours

Bhutan's current home colours are orange shirts with yellow trim and a yellow dragon motif, orange shorts and orange socks. Their away colours is predominantly white with orange trim on the shirt and shorts and an orange dragon motif. Both their home and away colours are so closely aligned to the national colours and pattern of the Flag of Bhutan that they essentially mirror it. The current manufacturer of the national colours is EGO Sport.^[81]

There are three main themes contained within Bhutan's home colours, all of which have wider symbolism within the nation as outlined in the Constitution of Bhutan. Firstly, the use of orange signifies Buddhist spiritual tradition, particularly the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma schools.^[82] Secondly, the use of yellow in the trim and also as the colour of the dragon motif signifies civil tradition and temporal authority as embodied in the Druk Gyalpo, the Dragon King of Bhutan, whose royal garb traditionally includes a yellow kabney (scarf).^[82] Finally, the dragon motif employed is the Druk (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་) the "Thunder Dragon" of Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol,^[83] though the dragon depicted in the team's colours does not hold the jewels representing wealth that are found on the national flag, though the similar snarling mouth of the dragon symbolizes the Bhutanese deities' commitment to the defense of Bhutan.^[84]

The orange theme and that of the dragon motif noted above are carried over into the away colours. Additionally, the predominant white theme mirrors the colour of the dragon on the national flag which signifies the purity of inner thoughts and deeds that unite all the ethnically and linguistically diverse peoples of Bhutan.^[82][85]

Kit history

Home

2014

2015–

Away

2014

2015–

Logo

The logo of the national team is identical to that used for its governing body, the Bhutan Football Federation. It consists of a football surrounded by two concentric circles, one yellow, one orange, representing the Dragon King of Bhutan and the Buddhist tradition in the country, overlaid on a Himalayan blue poppy (Meconopsis horridula), the national flower of Bhutan.^[86] Below this is a wish-fulfilling jewel, similar to that located at the top of the official Emblem of Bhutan.^[82]

Current squad

The following players have been called up to the squad for 2018 SAFF Championship. Caps and goals updated as of 4 September 2018 after the match against Bangladesh.

Caps and goals updated as of 04 September 2018, after the match against Bangladesh.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Ngawang Jamphel	(1992-09-27)27 September 1992 (aged 25)	1	0	Thimphu City
19	1GK	Kinzang Gyeltshen	(1993-04-16)16 April 1993 (aged 25)	1	0	Thimphu FC
21	1GK	Tshering Dendup	(1994-04-04)4 April 1994 (aged 24)	4	0	Paro United
2	2DF	Tshering Samdup	(1998-02-05)5 February 1998 (aged 20)	0	0	Transport United
3	2DF	Choki Wangchuk	(1998-02-02)2 February 1998 (aged 20)	5	0	Transport United
4	2DF	Mipham Jigme	(1998-11-20)20 November 1998 (aged 19)	0	0	Thimphu City
9	2DF	Tenzin Dorji	(1997-08-18)18 August 1997 (aged 21)	6	0	Transport United
12	2DF	Phuntsho Jigme	(1997-09-11)11 September 1997 (aged 20)	0	0	Thimphu FC
22	2DF	Rinchen Dorji	(1994-04-24)24 April 1994 (aged 24)	0	0	Transport United
6	3MF	Galey Zangpo	(1994-04-02)2 April 1994 (aged 24)	0	0	Druk Star
8	3MF	Karma Shedrup Tshering (captain)	(1990-04-09)9 April 1990 (aged 28)	28	1	Thimphu City
13	3MF	Kencho Tobgay	(1991-10-11)11 October 1991 (aged 26)	3	0	Transport United
15	3MF	Nima Wangdi	(1998-12-06)6 December 1998 (aged 19)	10	0	Thimphu City
16	3MF	Tshering Dorji	(1995-09-11)11 September 1995 (aged 22)	25	4	Thimphu City
18	3MF	Chimi Dorji	(1993-12-22)22 December 1993 (aged 24)	12	0	Thimphu City
7	4FW	Chencho Gyeltshen	(1996-05-10)10 May 1996 (aged 22)	30	10	Bengaluru FC
10	4FW	Kabi Raj Rai	(1997-03-17)17 March 1997 (aged 21)	0	0	Paro United
17	4FW	Tsenda Dorji	(1995-02-12)12 February 1995 (aged 23)	0	0	Thimphu FC
20	4FW	Phurba Wangchuk	(1996-02-18)18 February 1996 (aged 22)	0	0	Tensung
23	4FW	Kuenga Rabgay	(1998-01-01)1 January 1998 (aged 20)	0	0	Druk Star

Recent call-ups

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Chimi Dorji	(1993-12-22) 22 December 1993	23	0	Druk Star	v.  Palestine, 5 September 2017
DF	Man Bahadur Gurung		4	0	Druk Star	v.  Palestine, 10 October 2017
DF	Tashi Phuntsho		0	0		v.  Oman, 28 March 2017
MF	Karun Gurung	(1986-06-09) 9 June 1986	23	0	Terton	v.  Maldives, 13 June 2017
MF	Jigme Tsheltrim	(1988-10-30) 30 October 1988	0	0	Tertons[92]	v.  Oman, 28 March 2017
FW	Lungtok Dawa	(1998-12-18) 18 December 1998	9	1	Quartz Calicut	v.  Maldives, 13 June 2017
FW	Sampa Tshering	(1995-05-26) 26 May 1995[93]	1	0	Druk United	v.  Palestine, 10 October 2017

Note: RET – Retired from the national team

2017

Oman  v  Bhutan

28 March 2017 Asian Cup qualifier	Oman	14–0	Bhutan	Muscat, Oman
19:00 UTC+4	Al-Muqbali  2', 35', 40', 43', 68', 85' Al-Mahaijri  25' Al-Khaldi  30' Mabrook  44' Basnet  54' (o.g.) Al-Hajri  70', 74', 90+1' (pen.), 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)

Bhutan  v  Maldives

13 June 2017 Asian Cup qualifier	Bhutan	0–2	Maldives	Thimphu, Bhutan
18:00 UTC+6		Report	Fasir  42' (pen.) Ah. Abdulla  75'	Stadium: Changlimithang Stadium Attendance: 7,600 Referee: Khurram Shahzad (Pakistan)

Bhutan  v  Palestine

5 September 2017 Asian Cup qualifier	Bhutan	0–2	Palestine	Thimphu, Bhutan
18:00 UTC+6		Report	Pinto  51' Bahdari  90+5'	Stadium: Changlimithang Stadium Attendance: 7,800 Referee: Ho Wai Sing (Hong Kong)

Palestine  v  Bhutan

10 October 2017 Asian Cup qualifier	Palestine	10–0	Bhutan	Hebron, State of Palestine
17:00 UTC+3	Bahdari  4', 39', 44' Jaber  6' Seyam  22' Maraaba  30' Salem  48' (pen.) Natour  60' Cantillana  63', 70'	Report		Stadium: Dora International Stadium Attendance: 7,250 Referee: Rowan Arumughan (India)

Bhutan  v  Oman

14 November 2017 Asian Cup qualifier	Bhutan	2–4	Oman	Thimphu, Bhutan
18:00 UTC+6	Tshering  59' Gyeltshen  90+3'	Report	Al-Hasani  48' Ibrahim  76' Al-Hajri  86' Al-Ruzaiqi  89'	Stadium: Changlimithang Stadium Attendance: 3,100 Referee: Nagor Amir Noor Mohamed (Malaysia)

2018

Maldives  v  Bhutan

27 March 2018 Asian Cup qualifier	Maldives	7–0	Bhutan	Malé, Maldives
21:00 UTC+5	H. Mohamed  35' N. Hassan  66', 77', 80', 82' I. Hassan  69' Yoosuf  90+3'	Report		Stadium: National Football Stadium Referee: Hasan Akrami (Iran)

Malaysia  v  Bhutan

1 April 2018 Friendly	Malaysia	7–0	Bhutan	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
21:00 UTC+8	Wan  10' Zaquan  19', 36' (pen.), 39', 54' Irfan  28' Syafiq  74'	Report		Stadium: Bukit Jalil National Stadium Referee: Nagor Amir Noor Mohamed (Malaysia)

Bangladesh  v  Bhutan

4 September 2018 (2018-09-04) 2018 SAFF Championship	Bangladesh	2–0	Bhutan	Dhaka, Bangladesh
19:00 UTC+6	Barman  3' (pen.) Sufil  47'	Report		Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Sivakorn Pu-udom (Thailand)

Nepal    v  Bhutan

6 September 2018 (2018-09-06) 2018 SAFF Championship	Nepal	4–0	Bhutan	Dhaka, Bangladesh
16:00 UTC+6	A. Tamang  21' Bal  71' Khawas  79' Khadka  88'	Report		Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Arumughan Rowan (India)

Pakistan  v  Bhutan

8 September 2018 (2018-09-08) 2018 SAFF Championship	Pakistan	3-0	Bhutan	Dhaka, Bangladesh
	Riaz  20' Bashir  29' F.Ahmed  90+1'	Report		Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Hasan Akrami (Iran)

Bhutan  v  Brunei

13 October 2018 Friendly	Bhutan	v	Brunei	Thimphu, Bhutan
21:00 UTC+8				Stadium: Changlimithang Stadium

Bhutan  v  Pakistan

16 October 2018 Friendly	Bhutan	v	Pakistan	Thimphu, Bhutan
21:00 UTC+8				Stadium: Changlimithang Stadium

Bhutan  v  Timor-Leste

3 November 2018 Friendly	Bhutan	v	Timor-Leste	Thimphu, Bhutan
21:00 UTC+8				Stadium: Changlimithang Stadium

Bhutan  v  Macau

20 November 2018 Friendly	Bhutan	v	Macau	Thimphu, Bhutan
21:00 UTC+8				Stadium: Changlimithang Stadium

FIFA

Bhutan Average Yearly FIFA Rankings 2000–2016.

Prior to the victories over Sri Lanka, their highest FIFA ranking achieved was 187th, which they last reached in December 2008 following their semi-final performance in the 2008 SAFF Championship.^[94] From that high point, they slipped down the rankings to last place in December 2012 to join San Marino and the Turks and Caicos Islands in 207th.^[94] They fell to 208th place following the admission to FIFA of South Sudan in July 2014,^[94] and dropped to 209th as the only team without ranking points following San Marino's draw with Estonia.^[95] However, Bhutan rose to 163rd on the FIFA rankings after two victories over Sri Lanka in World Cup qualifying, achieving their highest ranking ever in April 2015.^[96] They then rose to 156th in June 2015.^[97] However, following their performance in the second round of world cup qualifying in which they have failed to win a game, they slipped back to 193rd as of February,^[98] but have since risen to 185th as of November 2017.^[99]

Elo Ratings

Bhutan Year End Elo Ratings 1984–2016.

The team is also ranked extremely low on the all time Elo ratings at 227th out of 234 as of December 2017.^[100] There is one FIFA affiliated team ranked below them, American Samoa.^[100] Their initial comparatively high position in the 1980s was more to do with the number of nations competing globally at the time than their specific performances. Since they have started competing with a degree of regularity on the continental scene, Bhutan have always hovered at or near the bottom of the ratings. Their high point in the 21st century was 218th as a result of their performance at the 2008 SAFF Championship.

FIFA World Cup

Bhutan attempted to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2015. Drawn against Sri Lanka, they produced a shock result over the two legs of the first round to progress to the next round. They were drawn in group C of the second round, but were unable to progress to the next stage.

FIFA World Cup							FIFA World Cup qualification
Hosts / Year	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930 to 2014	Did not enter						Did not enter
2018	Did not qualify						10	2	0	8	8	53
2022	To be determined						To be determined
2026	To be determined						To be determined
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	2	0	8	8	53

AFC Asian Cup

Prior to 2015, Bhutan had only attempted to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup on two occasions, both of which ended unsuccessfully. In their first attempt, they lost all of their matches, including a then world record 20–0 defeat to Kuwait. They were marginally more successful in the next iteration. Qualifying was divided into two stages. Bhutan hosted their group in the Preliminary stage, finishing in first place after a 0–0 draw with Mongolia and a 6–0 victory over Guam, a result that is still a record win for the nation. However, progressing to the second stage, they lost all six of their games and failed to progress to the competition proper. for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the qualifying rounds for the 2018 FIFA World Cup were used as the first two stages of qualifying for this competition. Bhutan were eliminated in the second round of World Cup qualifying and entered the play-off round where they were drawn against Bangladesh. Bhutan beat them 3–1 over two legs to progress to the third round of qualifying for the first time. They were unsuccessful in the third round.

AFC Asian Cup							AFC Asian Cup qualification
Hosts / Year	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1956 to 1996	Did not enter						Did not enter
2000	Did not qualify						4	0	0	4	2	42
2004	Did not qualify						8	1	1	6	6	26
2007 to 2015	Did not enter						Did not enter
2019*	Did not qualify						18	3	1	14	13	93
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	4	2	24	21	161

*: 2019 qualification campaign also included qualifying matches from the Asian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. In 2014, a proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds of the FIFA World Cup with those of the AFC Asian Cup was ratified by the AFC Competitions Committee. The new qualification structure took place in three stages, with the first two merging with the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.^[101]

AFC Challenge Cup

Bhutan had a dismal record in the AFC Challenge Cup, not only have they never qualified for the competition, but they have only managed a single draw, 1–1 against Brunei during the 2008 qualifying campaign. In addition, this is the only match in which they have ever managed to score. The Challenge Cup was discontinued by the AFC, with all nations now entering qualifying for the Asian Cup due to the expansion of the Asian Cup to the 24-nation format from the 16-nation one after the 2015 edition.^[102][103]

AFC Challenge Cup								AFC Challenge Cup qualification record
Hosts / Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2006	Group	3	0	1	2	0	3	No qualification stage
2008	Did not qualify							3	0	1	2	1	6
2010	Did not qualify							3	0	0	3	0	13
2012	Did not qualify							2	0	0	2	0	5
2014	Did not enter							Did not enter
Total		3	0	1	2	0	3	8	0	1	7	1	24

South Asian Football Federation Cup

Bhutan have an almost equally poor record in the South Asian Football Federation Cup. Only once have they managed to make it out of the group stage of the competition, with this being the only time they have managed to achieve any form of positive result.

South Asian Football Federation Cup
Hosts / Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1993 to 1999	Did not enter
2003	Group stage	3	0	0	3	0	11
2005	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	9
2008	Semi-finals	4	1	1	2	5	6
2009	Group stage	3	0	0	3	0	17
2011	Group stage	3	0	0	3	0	16
2013	Group stage	3	0	0	3	4	16
2015	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	9
2018	Group stage	3	0	0	3	0	9
2020	TBC
Total		25	1	1	23	11	93

*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicates 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.