Hong Kong national football team

The Hong Kong national football team (recognised as Hong Kong, China by FIFA) represents Hong Kong in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, the governing body for football in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong hosted the first AFC Asian Cup in 1956 and won third place, also reaching the semifinals in 1964. Hong Kong did not qualify for another AFC tournament until 2023. They had never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and their biggest celebrated victory was the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) where Hong Kong produced a 2–1 upset win against China which resulted in Hong Kong qualifying for the second rounds of qualification. Hong Kong has qualified for the EAFF E-1 Football Championship six times, in 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010, 2019 and 2022.

Establishment and pre-WWII era
Before Hong Kong became a member of FIFA in 1954, Hong Kong began playing in the Hong Kong–Macau Interport tournament in 1937, which was one of the oldest competitions co-held by Hong Kong as well as continuously played. There were other interport tournaments in the past, such as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Interport which was first held in 1908. At that time the team was composed of ethnic Chinese as well as western expatriates, as in the 1935 and 1937 edition of Shanghai-Hong Kong Interport. There was another Interport tournament against Saigon. The aforementioned Macau, Shanghai and Saigon were not a member of FIFA nor a sovereign nation at that time, with Hong Kong and Macau only having joined FIFA in 1954 and 1978 respectively. The China national team that participated in 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics, were mainly composed of ethnic Chinese players from Hong Kong, most famously Lee Wai Tong.

After WWII, a number of Shanghai-based players began representing Hong Kong, such as Chang King Hai and Hsu King Shing. 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.

FIFA member (1954–present)
The Hong Kong FA became a member of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation in 1954. Since then Hong Kong played their first FIFA-recognised international match against other countries. HKFA also sent a scratch team for 1957 Merdeka Tournament, which was composed of players from Eastern due to their proximity, plus few players from other clubs. The club was having a pre-season tour in South Asia, thus the HKFA invited the club to represent Hong Kong. However, some of the players were in fact ineligible to play for Hong Kong, as they were ROC (Taiwan) international players.

Hong Kong qualified for three of the first four editions of the Asian Cup, including a third-place finish in the 1956 edition as host. At that time, most Hong Kong players represented Republic of China (Taiwan); they finished third in the Asian Cup in the 1960 edition, leaving more inferior players to the proper Hong Kong team.

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.

The 1998 World Cup Asian qualifiers was considered one of Hong Kong's darkest moments as it was hit by a match-fixing scandal that involved former Sing Tao striker Chan Tsz-Kong who was found guilty and jailed for a year after he bribed players to throw and lose a match against Thailand. Others who were involved include goalkeeper Kevin Lok Kar-Win, defenders Chan Chi-Keung and Lau Chi Yuen and striker Wai Kwan-Lung.

Football Fever in 2015
A short football fever appeared during 2018 World Cup qualifying in Hong Kong under the guidance of Kim Pan Gon, as Hong Kong had drawn into the same group with their fierce rival, China. Due to the tensions built up from Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict, many local citizens became interested in this year's campaign; all four home matches were recorded as a sellout. Hong Kong ended the campaign with 4 victories against Bhutan and Maldives, 2 scoreless draws against China, and 2 losses against Qatar.

In late 2018, after the sudden departure of Kim Pan Gon, English-born coach Gary White was hired as the new head coach in which under his guidance, he helped Hong Kong secure qualification for their third appearance at the EAFF E-1 Football Championship finals after a narrow win against Chinese Taipei, a draw against North Korea and a heavy win against Mongolia. Shortly afterwards, White departed from the role.

In April 2019, Hong Kong FA appointed Finnish-born Mixu Paatelainen as the new head coach of the national football team in time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship tournament. His first game in charge ended in a disappointing and surprising loss at home during friendly international against Chinese Taipei. However, after a run of poor performances throughout the World Cup qualifiers and the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, Mixu Paatelainen's contract was not renewed.

Return to AFC Asian Cup finals
On 13 December 2021, Norwegian Jørn Andersen who formerly guided North Korea was named as the new head coach succeeding Mixu Paatelainen in preparation for the third round of qualification of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. He guided Hong Kong to qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup by beating Afghanistan 2–1 and Cambodia 3–0, reaching the final tournament after a 55-year absence. In preparation for the tournament itself, on 2 January 2024, Hong Kong pulled a shocking 2–1 victory over arch-enemy China beating them for the first time in 29 years during the friendly match held in Abu Dhabi.

On 15 January 2024, Hong Kong then kicked off their 2023 Asian Cup campaign against UAE in which they lost 3–1 in the opening match where Chan Siu Kwan scored the 1,000th goal in the AFC Asian Cup history.

On 29 May 2024, Jorn Andersen announced his resignation as head coach of the Hong Kong national football team after almost over 2 years in charge.

Kits and crest
The national team's home kit has always been a red shirt, red shorts, and red or white socks. The away colours are white shirts, white shorts and red or white socks.

Crest
The crest of the Hong Kong national football team has a Chinese dragon from the crest of the HKFA, which were logo has been always used as the team emblem.

Nevertheless, the HKFA emblem was not used on jerseys until 31 May 2011, HKFA debuted current emblem for the national team.

Home Stadium
The team's primary stadium is Hong Kong Stadium. For some friendly matches and minor qualification matches, the Hong Kong team plays most often at the Mong Kok Stadium in Kowloon, which was re-opened in 2011 after a renovation. Moreover, the 2018 edition of the Lunar New Year Cup was held in Mong Kok. The cup was a local tradition to celebrate Chinese New Year, which was held in Government Stadium in the past.

The Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre is currently the main training ground for the Hong Kong national and youth teams.

China
Hong Kong maintains a specific rivalry with China. The rivalry began in 1978 and for the first decades before the return of Hong Kong to China, Hong Kong produced a shock 2–1 upset in Beijing, and this led to unrest by Chinese supporters. Since then, China never lost to Hong Kong, and has achieved more successes, but the rivalry continues to have some influence on Hong Kong society.

On 1 January 2024, Hong Kong defeated China in a closed door international friendly, marking their first victory in 29 years.

Macau
The Hong Kong–Macau rivalry has been contested by Hong Kong Football Association and Macau Football Association since 1937.

Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Coaching history
Last updated: Turkmenistan 0–0 Hong Kong, 11 June 2024. Statistics include international "A" matches only.

Current squad
The following 22 players have been called up for the final squad for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match against 🇹🇲 turkmenistan on 11 June 2024.

Caps and goals as of 11 June 2024 after the match against 🇹🇲 turkmenistan.

Recent call–ups
The following players have been called up for the team within the previous 12 months.

PRE PRE PRE

INJ

PRE PRE PRE PRE

PRE PRE RET

PRE RET RET

PRE PRE

INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury PRE Preliminary squad WD Player withdrawn from the squad. RET Player retired from international football

History of naturalised players
During the 1950s, Arthur Santos who is of British-Portuguese nationality (whose son Leslie was a former Hong Kong international footballer) became the first naturalised player to represent the Hong Kong national football team who was then followed by another fellow Portuguese-born player named JH Toleido.

In the 1960's, there were a couple more foreign players who had represented the Hong Kong national football team whilst some were working within the national service at the time. These include British players from T. Watson, Evans, Ken Wallis who went on to represent Hong Kong during the lawn bowls event during the 1990 and 1994 Commonwealth Games as well as Australian-born Pete McClaren and Scottish-born Charlie Wright.

In the late 1970's, Scottish-born players Derek Currie, Dave Anderson and Hugh McCrory all became eligible to represent the Hong Kong national football team in which Currie and Anderson took part during the 1979 Asian Cup qualifiers whilst McCrory took part during the 1982 World Cup qualifiers.

There were at least a couple more naturalised players who went on to represent Hong Kong throughout the 90's which include Bosnian-born Anto Grabo along with fellow English-born players Mark Grainger, John Moore and most notably Dale Tempest. Sung Lin Yung became the first mainland born player to represent Hong Kong during the 1998 World Cup Asian qualifiers having resided for more than two years under FIFA eligibility rules unlike foreign born players that would usually require at least seven years.

In the 2000's, a couple of African and Brazilian-born players were introduced went through the naturalisation process having met the residential criteria. Nigerian-born Lawrence Akandu obtained his Hong Kong citizenship in which he played for the national team during the 2003 East Asia Cup finals where he scored a goal in a loss against South Korea. He was soon followed by Cameroon-born Guy Gerard Ambassa who obtained his permanent residential status in 2005 along with another fellow Nigerian-born player named Colly Ezeh and Brazilian-born Cristiano Cordeiro in which both of whom earned international caps during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Cordeiro was also the first non-Chinese captain in the history of the Hong Kong team during the 2008 East Asia Cup preliminary stages. Despite having played for the national team during the 2009 edition of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup, Cameroonian-born Julius Akosah attempted to apply for a HKSAR passport, however his application was unsuccessful.

During the mid 2010s, there had been an increase of naturalised players being used to represent the national team in which former head coach Kim Pan-gon stated that he needed to pick his best players regardless of their origin in preparation during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

These include the likes of European-born players Dani Cancela, Jaimes McKee, Fernando Recio, Andy Russell, Jack Sealy, Jordi Tarrés and Sean Tse, Brazilian-born Everton Camargo, Paulo César, Clayton, Diego Eli, Fernando, Giovane, Helio, Itaparica, Juninho, Roberto Júnior, Tomas Maronesi, Paulinho, Stefan Pereira, and Sandro, Asian-born players Jahangir Khan and Yuto Nakamura, and African born players from Wisdom Fofo Agbo, Alex Akande, Christian Annan, Mahama Awal, Festus Baise, Godfred Karikari, Jean-Jacques Kilama, and Paul Ngue.

In addition to Sung Lin Yung, several other mainland born players went on to represent Hong Kong from past to present which include Bai He, Chao Pengfei, Deng Jinghuang, Feng Jizhi, Gao Wen, Li Haiqiang, Liu Quankun, Huang Yang, Ju Yingzhi, Wang Zhenpeng, Wei Zhao, Xiao Guoji, Xu Deshuai, Ye Jia, and Zhang Chunhui.

Records

 * Players in bold are still active with Hong Kong.

Captains
This list only records the players who were named as Hong Kong captain in official international competitions. First-choice captains always go first.

Competitive record

 * See comprehensive article: Hong Kong national football team – record in qualifying and major tournaments
 * Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Asian Games
† Excluding 1998 onwards

Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup
The competition is played every year. It is a two-leg competition where each team plays a home match once. The champion is decided by combining the results of both games. Hong Kong team won the competition 17 times.

Continental

 * AFC Asian Cup
 * [[File:Med 3.png]] Third place (1): 1956

Regional

 * Dynasty Cup
 * [[File:Med 3.png]] Third place (1): 1995

Exhibition Game

 * Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup
 * [[File:Med 1.png]] Champions: 17 times


 * Lunar New Year Cup
 * [[File:Med 1.png]] Champions: 8 times


 * Merdeka Tournament
 * [[File:Med 3.png]] Third place (1): 1974


 * Beijing invited Tournament
 * [[File:Med 2.png]] Runner-up: (1) 1977


 * Long Teng Cup
 * [[File:Med 1.png]] Champions (1): 2011