Syria national football team

Syria
Nickname(s)	Nosour Qasioun ; (Arabic: نسور قاسيون‎, lit. 'Qasioun Eagles')
Association	Syrian Arab Federation for Football
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia); UAFA (Arab world)
Head coach	Nabil Maâloul
Captain	Omar Al Soma
Most caps	Maher Al-Sayed (109)
Top scorer	Firas Al Khatib (36)
Home stadium	Abbasiyyin Stadium; Aleppo International Stadium
FIFA code	SYR
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	76 (10 December 2020)
Highest	73 (June–August 2018)
Lowest	152 (September 2014, March 2015)
First international
	Turkey 7–0 Syria ; (Ankara, Turkey; 20 November 1949)
Biggest win
	Official; Syria 12–0 Maldives ; (Damascus, Syria; 4 June 1997) ; Maldives 0–12 Syria ; (Tehran, Iran; 9 June 1997) ; Syria 12–0 Philippines ; (Aleppo, Syria; 30 April 2001); Unofficial; Syria 13–0 Muscat and Oman ; (Cairo, Egypt; 6 September 1965)
Biggest defeat
	Greece 8–0 Syria ; (Athens, Greece; 25 November 1949) ; Egypt 8–0 Syria ; (Alexandria, Egypt; 16 October 1951)
Asian Cup
Appearances	6 (first in 1980)
Best result	Group stage, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011 and 2019
WAFF Championship
Appearances	8 (first in 2000)
Best result	Champions, (2012)

The Syria national football team (Arabic: منتخب سوريا لكرة القدم‎) represents Syria in association football and is controlled by the Syrian Arab Federation for Football, the governing body for football in Syria. Syria has never qualified for the World Cup finals but did reach the fourth qualification round in 2018.

History

Syria participated in the 1950 and 1958 World Cup qualifiers, one of the first teams in the region to do so. Between 1958 and 1961, the team combined with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic national football team, although the team's records are attributed only to Egypt by FIFA. In the 1966 World Cup qualifiers they were one of two teams from the Asian zone (the other being Israel) to be allocated to the European qualifying zone and were originally placed with Spain and the Republic of Ireland. However, they joined the Asian and African boycott of the 1966 qualifiers, due to the decision of FIFA to allocate just one place between Asia and Africa.

Syria has never qualified for the World Cup. The farthest they've gone in qualification was in the 1986 qualifiers when they reached the final qualifying round only to lose to Iraq. They were disqualified from the 2014 World Cup due to the use of an ineligible player.^[5]

In December 2012, Syria beat Iraq in the final of West Asia Cup to collect its first major trophy. Syria has, however, competed in six Asian Cups, the last being 2019, but on each occasion were eliminated at the group stage.

Ever since civil war broke out in the country, Syria have been banned from playing home games in their own country and in fact were one day away from being thrown out of the 2018 World Cup only for Malaysia to swoop in at the last minute and offer to host all of Syria's home games. Syria had a large upturn in fortune as they made it to 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round but were eliminated by Australia 3-2 on aggregate.^[6]

Competition history

Syria national football team in Tehran – 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup qualification
Year	Round	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter								Did not enter
1934
1938
1950	Withdrew								1	0	0	1	0	7
1954	Did not enter								Did not enter
1958	Did not qualify								2	0	1	1	1	2
1962	Withdrew								Withdrew
1966	Withdrew								Withdrew
1970	Did not enter								Did not enter
1974	Did not qualify								6	3	1	2	6	6
1978	Withdrew								4	1	0	3	2	6
1982	Did not qualify								4	0	0	4	2	7
1986									8	4	3	1	8	4
1990									4	2	1	1	7	5
1994									6	3	3	0	14	4
1998									5	2	1	2	27	5
2002									6	4	1	1	40	6
2006									6	2	2	2	7	7
2010									10	6	2	2	23	10
2014	Disqualified								2	0	0	2	0	6
2018	Did not qualify								20	9	5	6	36	22
2022	To be determined								5	5	0	0	14	4
2026	To be determined
Total	0/21	–	–	–	–	–	–	89	41	20	28	188	101

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

AFC Asian Cup Record

Olympic Games record

Olympic Games record								Olympic Games qualifications record
Hosts/Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1900 to 1968	Did not enter
1972	Did not qualify							2	0	1	1	0	1
1976	Did not enter
1980	Round 1	3	0	1	2	0	8	4	2	0	2	3	1
1984	Did not qualify							6	2	1	3	6	10
1988	Did not qualify							2	0	0	2	0	5
1992 – present	See Syria national under-23 team
Total	0 Titles	3	0	1	2	0	8	14	4	2	8	9	17

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

WAFF Championship Record

Balhous (C)

Al Salih

Al Masri

Jwayed

Ajan

Mobayed

Midani

Al Mawas

Jafal

Al Douni

Al Soma

2012 WAFF Championship Final starting lineup on 20 December 2012, in Kuwait City (Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium).

WAFF Championship Record
Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
2000	Runners-up	5	2	1	2	5	2
2002	Fourth place	4	1	1	2	5	6
2004	Runners-up	4	1	1	2	6	13
2007	Semi-Finals	3	2	0	1	2	3
2008	Semi-Finals	3	1	1	1	2	3
2010	Group Stage	2	0	1	1	2	3
2012	Champions	4	2	2	0	5	3
2014	Withdrew
2019	Group Stage	4	0	2	2	5	7
2021	To be determined
Total	1 Title	29	9	9	11	32	40

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Arab Nations Cup record

Arab Nations Cup
Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1963	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	9	4
1964	Did not enter
1966	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	9	4
1985	Did not enter
1988	Runners-up	6	2	2	2	5	5
1992	Fourth Place	4	0	3	1	2	3
1998	Group Stage	2	0	0	2	1	6
2002	Group Stage	4	2	0	2	8	6
2012	Did not enter
2021	To be determined
Total	0 Title	25	10	6	9	34	28

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Pan Arab Games record

Pan Arab Games
Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1953	Runners-up	3	1	1	1	3	5
1957	Champions	5	2	2	1	12	6
1961	Did not enter
1965	Group Stage	4	2	0	2	20	8
1976	Third Place	6	3	1	2	6	4
1985	Group Stage	2	0	0	2	0	4
1992	Fourth Place	4	0	3	1	2	3
1997	Runners-up	5	4	0	1	9	5
1999	Group Stage	4	0	4	0	5	5
2007	Did not enter
2011	Withdrew
2022	To be determined
2026	To be determined
Total	1 Title	33	12	11	10	57	40

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Mediterranean Games record

Mediterranean Games
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1951	Third Place	2	0	0	2	0	12
1955	Fourth Place	3	0	0	3	0	10
1959	Did not enter
1963	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	1	10
1967	Did not enter
1971	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	1	4
1975	Did not enter
1979	Did not enter
1983	Group Stage	2	0	0	2	0	2
1987	Champions	5	4	1	0	13	3
1991–present	See Syria national under-20 team
Total	1 Title	18	4	1	13	15	41

Asian Games record

Asian Games
Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1951	Did not enter
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982	Group Stage	3	0	2	1	3	5
1986	Did not enter
1990
1994
1998
2002–present	See Syria national under-23 team
Total	0 Title	3	0	1	2	3	5

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

West Asian Games record

West Asian Games
Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1997	Runners-up
2002	Third Place^[7]	4	1	3	0	5	4
2005	Runners-up	4	1	3	0	7	5
Total	0 Titles

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Honours

Mosab Balhous is Syria's most-capped player with 88 caps.

Firas Al-Khatib is Syria's all-time record goalscorers with 36 goals.

West Asian Football Federation Championship

Winners (1): 2012

Runners-up (2): 2000, 2004

Fourth place (1): 2002

Semi-finals (2): 2007, 2008

Arab Nations Cup

Runners-up (3): 1963, 1966, 1988

Fourth place (3): 1992

Pan Arab Games

Winners (1): 1957

Runners-up (2): 1953, 1997

Third place (1): 1976

Fourth place (1): 1992

Mediterranean Games

Winners (1): 1987

Third place (1): 1951

Fourth place (1): 1955

West Asian Games

Runners-up (2): 1997, 2005

Third place (1): 2002

Kit suppliers

Kit supplier	Period	Notes
Diadora	2007–2011
Adidas	2012–2013
Lotto	2014–2016
Jako	2017–2020
Uhlsport	2020–

Schedule and recent results

Win Draw Loss

2020

12 November 2020 Friendly	Syria	1–0	Uzbekistan	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
	Al Mawas 48'			Stadium: Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium

16 November 2020 Friendly	Syria	0–1	Jordan	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
			Faisal 13'	Stadium: Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium

2021

30 March 2021 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Maldives	v	Syria	Malé, Maldives
				Stadium: National Football Stadium

7 June 2021 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Guam	v	Syria	Dededo, Guam
				Stadium: GFA National Training Center

15 June 2021 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	China PR	v	Syria	Beijing, China
				Stadium: Beijing National Stadium

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly match against Jordan on 16 November 2020.
Caps and goals updated as of 16 November 2020, after the match against Jordan.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
GK	Ibrahim Alma	18 October 1991	61	0	Al-Horjelah
GK	Ahmad Madania	1 January 1990	10	0	Tishreen
GK	Taha Mosa	24 May 1987	3	0	Al-Wahda
GK	Shaher Al Shaker	1 April 1993	0	0	Hutteen

DF	Moayad Ajan	16 February 1993	56	1	Al-Wahda
DF	Omar Midani	26 January 1994	43	1	Al-Ittihad Alexandria
DF	Hussein Jwayed	1 January 1993	29	0	Hutteen
DF	Khaled Kurdaghli	31 January 1997	7	0	Tishreen
DF	Fares Arnaout	31 January 1997	5	0	Hutteen
DF	Abdulrazzak Al Mohammad	16 January 1995	3	0	Tishreen
DF	Youssef Mohammad	1 July 1999	2	0	Al-Wahda

MF	Mahmoud Al-Mawas	1 January 1993	68	11	Botoșani
MF	Mohammad Marmour	17 September 1995	20	3	Tishreen
MF	Ward Al Salama	15 July 1994	14	1	Al-Bukayriyah
MF	Mohammed Osman	1 January 1994	12	0	Al-Kharaitiyat
MF	Mohammad Anz	14 May 1995	8	0	Al-Ittihad Aleppo
MF	Aias Aosman	21 October 1994	8	0	Hermannstadt
MF	Kamel Hmeisheh	23 July 1998	6	0	Tishreen
MF	Thaer Krouma	2 February 1990	6	0	Tishreen
MF	Maher Daaboul	4 December 1993	3	0	Tishreen
MF	Mohammad Rayhania	26 December 2001	1	0	Al-Ittihad Aleppo
MF	Simon Amin	13 November 1997	0	0	Trelleborgs

FW	Mardik Mardikian	14 March 1992	34	4	Hutteen
FW	Alaa Al Dali	3 January 1997	2	0	Al-Arabi
FW	Mohammad Malta	14 September 2000	0	0	Tishreen

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Syria squad within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

DF	Amro Jenyat	15 January 1993	28	1	Al-Karamah	v. Uzbekistan, 12 November 2020 ^INJ
DF	Youssef Al Hamwi	1 February 1997	5	0	Al-Jaish	v. Uzbekistan, 12 November 2020 ^SUS


FW	Omar Kharbin	15 January 1994	44	18	Al Wahda	v. Uzbekistan, 12 November 2020
FW	Omar Al Somah	28 March 1989	26	15	Al-Ahli	v. Uzbekistan, 12 November 2020 ^INJ
^SUS Player suspended. ^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. ^RET Retired from the national team. ^WD Player withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons.

Previous squads

Asian Cup

1984 Asian Cup squad
1988 Asian Cup squad
1996 Asian Cup squad
2011 Asian Cup squad
2019 Asian Cup squad

Records

As of 11 November 2019^[8]

Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

Coaches

Name	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Honours
Vinzenz Dittrich	1950s
Francisc Mészáros	1954
József Albert	1956–1959					1957 Pan Arab Games winners
Miklós Vadas	1960–1965
Cornel Drăgușin	1965–1966
Ezzat Abdel-Wahab	1969
Moussa Shammas	1980
Avedis Kavlakian	1983–1985
Valeriy Yaremchenko	1985–1987					1987 Mediterranean Games winners
Anatoliy Azarenkov	1987–1989
Anatoliy Azarenkov	1992
Virgil Dridea	1992–1993
Yuri Kurnenin	1996
Kevork Mardikian	1997
Mircea Rădulescu	1997–1998
Moussa Shammas	March 1999 – September 1999
Dragoslav Popović	September 1999 – February 2000
Dragoslav Sridović	March 2000 – April 2000
Božidar Vukotić	March 2001 – October 2001
Nizar Mahrous	October 2011 – December 2011
Jalal Talebi	November 2001 – September 2002	10	9	0	1
Janusz Wójcik	March 2003 – August 2003
Božidar Vukotić	September 2003 – November 2003
Ahmed Rifaat	December 2003 – November 2004
Miloslav Radenović	2005 – August 2006
Fajr Ibrahim	5 August 2006 – February 2008	24	13	5	6
Mohammad Kwid	10 May 2008 – 20 August 2008	8	4	0	4
Fajr Ibrahim	13 November 2008 – 13 September 2010	28	13	9	6
Ayman Hakeem (Interim)	14 September 2010 – 20 December 2010	5	2	1	2
Ratomir Dujković	28 October 2010 – 8 December 2010	1	1	0	0
Valeriu Tiţa	21 December 2010 – 9 February 2011	6	1	0	5
Claude Le Roy	16 April 2011 – 4 May 2011	0	0	0	0
Nizar Mahrous	22 May 2011 – 18 August 2011	7	5	2	0
Marwan Khoury	7 July 2012 – 30 August 2012	4	1	1	2
Hussam Al Sayed	21 October 2012 – 10 April 2013	8	2	3	3	2012 WAFF Championship winners
Anas Makhlouf	13 April 2013 – 23 October 2013	3	0	1	2
Hussam Al Sayed (Interim)	9 November 2013 – 20 November 2013	3	1	0	2
Ahmad Al Shaar	13 February 2014 – 5 March 2014	1	0	0	1
Muhannad Al Fakeer	18 September 2014 – 5 January 2015	2	2	0	0
Fajr Ibrahim	6 January 2015 – 29 March 2016	14	10	1	3
Ayman Hakeem	9 May 2016 – 20 November 2017	21	6	11	4
Bernd Stange	31 January 2018 – 10 January 2019	11	3	5	3
Fajr Ibrahim	10 January 2019 – 31 December 2019	17	7	3	7
Nabil Maâloul	11 March 2020 – present	2	1	0	1