Tonga national football team

Tonga
Nickname(s)	Tu’Ulalupe
Association	Tonga Football Association
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Timote Moleni
Captain	Sione Uhatahi
Most caps	Kilifi Uele (26)
Top scorer	Unaloto Feao (7)
Home stadium	Teufaiva Sport Stadium; Tonga Football Association Stadium
FIFA code	TGA
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	196 (21 December 2023)
Highest	163 (October 1998)
Lowest	207 (April 2018, July 2019)
First international
	Tahiti 8–0 Tonga ; (Suva, Fiji; 29 August 1979)
Biggest win
	Tonga 7–0 Micronesia ; (Nausori, Fiji; 5 July 2003)
Biggest defeat
	Tonga 0–22 Australia ; (Coffs Harbour, Australia; 9 April 2001)

The Tonga men's national football team (Tongan: timi soka fakafonua ʻa Tonga) represents Tonga in men's international football and is controlled by the Tonga Football Association, which is a part of the Oceania Football Confederation.

History

Information

Football in Tonga

Tonga's greatest football triumph to date was their triumph in the first ever Polynesian Cup held in 1993 over Samoa and the Cook Islands. Although local players have not yet made their mark on big leagues abroad, the Chief Executive of the Tonga Football Association, Joe Topou, was appointed to the FIFA Executive Committee in 2002.

In July 2023, Tonga became unranked within the FIFA rankings due to not having played any matches since they lost 8-0 to Papua New Guinea on 18 July 2019.

The second Goal project

Tonga's second Goal project will develop and improve the national football academy and the association's headquarters in Atele, Tongatapu, which was built in the country's first Goal project. This development work has the aim that all of the Tonga Football Association's needs are fully satisfied. Local matches will be held at the football academy, while the administration's requirements, including the needs of players, officials and spectators, will also be covered. The football school will be transformed into a House of Football.

Team image

Kit sponsorship

Kit supplier^[2]	Period
Lotto	2007–2013
	2013–2017
Lotto	2018–

Fixtures and results

2023

18 November 2023 2023 Pacific Games	New Caledonia	7–0	Tonga	Honiara, Solomon Islands
16:00	Waya 2', 56', 62' Vakié 5' Zeoula 16' Wélépane 24' Katrawa 26'	Report		Stadium: SIFF Academy Field Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

21 November 2023 2023 Pacific Games	Tonga	1–2	Cook Islands	Honiara, Solomon Islands
16:00				Stadium: SIFF Academy Field

27 November 2023 2023 Pacific Games	Tonga	0–4	Tuvalu	Honiara, Solomon Islands
13:00				Stadium: SIFF Academy Field

30 November 2023 2023 Pacific Games	American Samoa	2–6	Tonga	Honiara, Solomon Islands
10:00				Stadium: SIFF Academy Field

2024

March 2024 OFC Nations Cup qualification	TBA	v	Tonga	Nuku'alofa , Tonga
				Stadium: To be determined

March 2024 OFC Nations Cup qualification	TBA	v	Tonga	Nuku'alofa , Tonga
				Stadium: To be determined

March 2024 OFC Nations Cup qualification	TBA	v	Tonga	Nuku'alofa , Tonga
				Stadium: To be determined

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2023 Pacific Games.^[3]

Caps and goals updated as of 30 November 2023, after the game against American Samoa.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Semisi ‘Otukolo	(1999-06-23) 23 June 1999	9	0	Veitongo
19	1GK	David-John Tuamoheloa		2	0	Manukau United
20	1GK	Justin Toetu’u		1	0	Longolongo

2	2DF	Petelo Naniseni	(2003-12-20) 20 December 2003	4	0	Navutoka
3	2DF	Kulisitofa Kite	(2003-01-17) 17 January 2003	3	0	Lavengatonga
4	2DF	Nicolas Vea	(2003-10-31) 31 October 2003	4	0	Navutoka
5	2DF	Sione Tu’ifangaloka	(1999-04-24) 24 April 1999	6	0	Veitongo
17	2DF	Ta’u Tupou		1	0	Vava'u
18	2DF	Fakaofo Tonga	(2004-10-29) 29 October 2004	3	0	Navutoka

6	3MF	Petueli Tokotaha	(2004-03-25) 25 March 2004	3	2	Longolongo
7	3MF	Tau’aika Sonasi		4	0	Marist
8	3MF	Christopher Kefu	(2003-02-11) 11 February 2003	4	0	Veitongo
9	3MF	Taniela Vaka’uta		2	0	Folaha
15	3MF	Petueli Tokotaha	(2000-09-10) 10 September 2000	6	2	Navutoka
16	3MF	Mohammed Rajani	(1999-04-19) 19 April 1999	4	1	Rockdale Ilinden

10	4FW	Amoni Fifita	(2004-06-26) 26 June 2004	4	3	Makave
11	4FW	Elias Kendler		3	1	Haʻamoko United Youth
12	4FW	Hemaloto Polovili	(1997-07-27) 27 July 1997	14	3	Veitongo
13	4FW	Nuku ‘Esau		3	0	Navutoka
14	4FW	Feki Tufi	(2000-04-11) 11 April 2000	2	0	Veitongo

Player records

As of 18 July 2019^[4]

Players in bold are still active with Tonga.

Most appearances

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Kilifi Uele	26	3	1996–2017
2	Unaloto Feao	17	7	2001–2017
3	Lafaele Moala	16	1	2003–2015
4	Folio Moeaki	15	0	2004–2015
4	Sione Uhatahi	15	1	2007–2019
6	Siu'a Ma'amaloa	14	1	2001–2004
6	Hemaloto Polovili	14	3	2015–present
8	Kamaliele Papani	11	0	2003–2019
8	Mark Uhatahi	11	3	2003–2015
10	Kava Huihahau	10	0	2003–2007
10	Viliami Taufahema	10	0	1996–2003

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Unaloto Feao	7	17	0.41	2001–2017
2	Lokoua Taufahema	5	7	0.71	2001–2011
3	Amone Suli	3	1	3	2002
	Amoni Fifita	3	4	0.75	2023–present
	Mark Uhatahi	3	11	0.27	2003–2015
	Hemaloto Polovili	3	14	0.27	2015–present
	Kilifi Uele	3	26	0.12	1996–2017
8	Ma'ake Uhatahi	2	2	1	2009
	Petueli Tokotaha	2	3	0.67	2017–2019
	Pio Palu	2	7	0.29	2007–2011
	Timote Moleni	2	8	0.25	1996–2001
	Filisione Taufahema	2	8	0.25	2001–2002

Coaching staff

Coaching history

Tongia Nāpa'a (1979)
Rudi Gutendorf (1981)
Umberto Mottini (1997–1998)
Gary Phillips (2001)
Heinave Kaifa (2002–2003)
Milan Janković (2003–2005)
Ben Perry (2005–2006)
Reece McLaughlin (2006–2007)
Chris Williams (2011)
Timote Moleni (2015–present)

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Not member of FIFA								Not member of FIFA
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994	Did not enter								Did not enter
1998	Did not qualify								4	2	0	2	3	13
2002									4	2	0	2	7	30
2006									4	1	0	3	2	17
2010									4	1	0	3	6	10
2014									3	1	1	1	4	4
2018									3	0	0	3	1	8
2022	Withdrew								Withdrew
2026	To be determined								To be determined
2030
2034
Total	—	0/26	–	–	–	–	–	–	22	7	1	14	23	82

OFC Nations Cup

Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Did not enter								Did not enter
1980	Did not enter								Did not enter
1996	Did not qualify								3	1	1	1	4	4
1998									4	1	1	2	5	9
2000									4	1	0	3	4	15
2002									4	1	0	3	7	18
2004									4	1	0	3	2	17
2008									4	1	0	3	6	10
2012									3	1	1	1	4	4
2016									3	0	0	3	1	8
2024	To be determined								To be determined
Total	—	0/10	–	–	–	–	–	–	29	7	3	19	33	85

Pacific Games

Pacific Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1963	Did not enter
1966
1969
1971
1975
1979	Group stage	7th	4	1	0	3	5	20
1983	Group stage	7th	3	1	1	1	6	8
1987	Did not enter
1991
1995
2003	Group stage	7th	4	1	1	2	9	10
2007	Group stage	7th	4	1	0	3	6	10
2011	Did not enter
2015	N/A – tournament was U23
2019	Group stage	11th	4	0	0	4	0	37
2023	Group stage	11th	4	1	0	3	7	13
Total	Group stage	6/16	23	5	2	17	31	98

Pacific Mini Games

Pacific Mini Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1981	Did not enter
1993	Group stage	7th	3	0	0	3	0	19
2017	Sixth place	6th	5	0	0	5	5	25
Total	Sixth place	2/3	8	0	0	8	5	44

Polynesia Cup

Polynesia Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1994	Runners-up	2nd	3	1	1	1	4	4
1998	Fourth place	4th	4	1	1	2	5	9
2000	Fourth place	4th	4	1	0	3	4	15
Total	Runners-up	3/3	11	3	2	6	13	28

Head-to-head record

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
American Samoa	10	8	0	2	34	12	+22	80.00
Australia	1	0	0	1	0	22	−22	0.00
Cook Islands	9	3	2	4	12	14	−2	33.33
Micronesia	1	1	0	0	7	0	+7	100.00
Fiji	3	0	0	3	1	17	−16	0.00
New Caledonia	6	0	0	6	2	43	−41	0.00
Papua New Guinea	4	0	1	3	2	20	−18	0.00
Samoa^{[lower-alpha 1]}	11	2	3	6	9	21	−12	18.18
Solomon Islands	5	0	0	5	0	31	−31	0.00
Tahiti	6	0	0	6	1	28	−27	0.00
Tuvalu	3	0	0	3	6	13	−7	0.00
Vanuatu^{[lower-alpha 2]}	5	0	0	5	2	33	−31	0.00
Wallis and Futuna	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2	50.00
Total	66	15	6	45	77	257	−180	22.73

Source: Results
Notes:

↑ Includes results as Western Samoa.
↑ Includes results as New Hebrides.

Honours

Polynesia Cup
- Runner-up (1): 1994

References

↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
↑ "Antigo(a) Tonga camisas de futebol". Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
↑ "Tuʻulalupe Squad". Face. Tonga Football.
↑ "Tonga". National Football Teams.

External links

Tonga at OFC
Tonga at FIFA

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[table_note_SAM0.26676369517425-5] Includes results as Western Samoa.

[table_note_VAN0.26676369517425-6] Includes results as New Hebrides.

[FIFA_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[2] "Antigo(a) Tonga camisas de futebol". Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2020.

[3] "Tuʻulalupe Squad". Face. Tonga Football.

[4] "Tonga". National Football Teams.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

Tonga national football team
General	Tonga Football Association History Managers
Venues	Tonga Football Association Stadium Loto-Tonga Soka Centre
Statistics	Records
Results	1979–present
Players	List of players
Notable matches	Tonga 0–22 Australia
Other TFA teams	U-23 U-20 U-17 Futsal Women's

National football teams of Oceania (OFC)
OFC Nations Cup
Active	American Samoa Cook Islands FS Micronesia² Fiji Kiribati¹ New Caledonia New Zealand Niue² Palau² Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tahiti Tonga Tuvalu¹ Vanuatu
Former	Australia (moved to AFC in 2006) Northern Mariana Islands³ (moved to AFC in 2009) Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)⁴ (returned to AFC in 1989)
¹ Associate member of OFC - Not a member of FIFA ² Not a member of OFC and consequently not a member of FIFA ³ Northern Mariana Islands was only an associate member of OFC between 1998 and 2009 - Not a member of FIFA ⁴ Although not geographically in Oceania, Chinese Taipei was a member of the OFC between 1976–1978 and 1982–1989 Although not geographically in Oceania Israel entered OFC World Cup qualification in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.