Mongolia national football team

History

Mongolia's first international fixture was a 12–0 loss to Japan during a match in Manchukuo in 1942. Between 1960 and 1998, the Mongolia team played no international matches before being accepted as a FIFA member in 1998. Mongolia's first competitive matches were in the 1998 Asian Games qualifiers where they were heavily defeated by Kuwait 11–0, and by Uzbekistan 15–0.

They entered qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but lost their opening five matches before drawing 2–2 with Bangladesh, securing a single point. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Mongolia was drawn against the Maldives and though they remained competitive after the first leg, only losing 1–0 at home, they were crushed in the second leg in Malé 12–0 and eliminated. In the first round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Mongolia was beaten 9–2 on aggregate by North Korea, and four years later in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Mongolia lost to Myanmar 2–1. Mongolia then lost in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to Timor-Leste; however, they were later awarded two 3–0 victories as Timor-Leste had fielded numerous ineligible players. This came after the second round matches had been played; therefore, Mongolia did not advance in the competition.

According to the voting outcome at the AFC Congress held in January 2011, the Mongolian Football Federation was suspended to conduct any activities at the EAFF until the EAFF Ordinary Congress of March 2014. They were welcomed back to the federation at the 7th Ordinary Congress and 41st and 42nd Executive Committee Meeting of the EAFF.

For Mongolia, their next tournament was the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, a tournament for the confederation's lowest ranked teams who have limited opportunities to arrange friendly matches, in November 2016. The tournament would replace the defunct AFC Challenge Cup. Being drawn in Group B alongside Sri Lanka, Macau, and Laos, Mongolia finished third in the group with a loss to Laos in the final match-day ending their chances of qualifying through to the semi-finals.

Mongolia then hosted their first international with the EAFF Annual Meeting advising that Mongolia would host the Round 1 of qualification for the East Asian Football Championship After comfortable wins in its first two matches, Mongolia needed only a single point against Guam on the final matchday to secure a place in the second round of the tournament for the first time ever. After a scoreless first half, Guam took the lead in the 89th minute. However, in the fourth minute of stoppage time a Norjmoo Tsedenbal strike rescued a point for Mongolia which was enough for the team to earn the top spot in the group and advance. Mongolia's 9–0 result over the Northern Mariana Islands set the current team record for largest margin of victory

Mongolia succeeded in qualifying past the first round for the first time in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers by beating Brunei 3–2 over two legs. In the second round, following a 14–0 defeat to Japan on 30 March 2021, they let head coach Rastislav Božik go and hired Shuichi Mase as their new head coach. In their next game on 7 June, Mongolia managed to shock Kyrgyzstan 1–0 for their first ever win against a Central Asian and a top-100 ranked opponent in a FIFA qualifier. This win meant that the national team competed in 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifying in the third-round where they only would get the one win against Yemen. In March 2023, Mongolia recorded its highest-ever FIFA ranking of 183rd.

Team image

Nicknames

The Mongolian national team is often nicknamed the Blue Wolves. The blue wolf is a symbol of Turkic and Mongolian people, and originates from the Mongolian legend of the blue wolf. The team has also been known as the "Shegshee", which translates as "national team" in Mongolian.

Kits and crest

Currently, the Mongolian national football team uses an all-white uniform as their first colours, and a blue uniform as their second colours. In August 2021 it was announced that Mongolian sportswear company TG Sport had signed a two-year deal with the Mongolian Football Federation to provide kits for all Mongolian national teams.

Kelme is currently the official jerseys sponsor for the team from 2023

Home stadium

Mongolia plays their home matches at the MFF Football Centre, a 5,000 capacity stadium in Ulaanbaatar. The stadium boasts an artificial playing surface.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Mongolia national football team results

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

2024

• Everton
• Wong Wai
• Benavides
• Kouamé
• Estama
• Yu Yao-hsing

Coaching staff

Coaching statistics

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship preliminary matches against Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei on 8 and 11 December 2024.

Caps and goals are correct as of 11 Decemember 2024, after the match against Chinese Taipei.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection. ;Notes

• INJ = Withdrew due to injury.
• PRE = Preliminary squad/standby.
• RET = Retired from the national team.
• SUS = Serving suspension.
• WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Player records

: :Players in bold are still active with Mongolia.

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

AFC Asian Cup

AFC Solidarity Cup

AFC Challenge Cup

Asian Games

EAFF E-1 Football Championship

Notes

References

References

1. (14 November 2019). "UPDATED: Blue Wolves All-Time Top Scorers List". Mongolian Football Central.
2. (October 2021). "Mongolian football takes a giant steppe".
3. (12 December 2017). "Latest decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee". FIFA.com.
4. EAFF. "Agenda and Decisions of 6th Ordinary Congress and 33rd and 34th Executive Committee Meeting". EAFF.
5. EAFF. "The 7th Ordinary Congress and 41st & 42nd Executive Committee Meeting". EAFF.
6. "AFC Competitions Committee Decisions". Asian Football Confederation.
7. "AFC Solidarity Cup Malaysia 2016 Draw Details Announced". Asian Football Confederation.
8. "Laos Reach AFC Solidarity Cup Semis At Expense of Mongolia". The AFC.
9. (31 March 2018). "Mongolia to Host Round 1 of 2019 EAFF Championship Qualification". Mongolian Football Central.
10. "One Point Needed to Compete in the Second Round for the First Time". montsame.mn.
11. "Mongolia progress to Qualifiers Round 2". The Asian Football Confederation.
12. (7 September 2018). "Who is Bajinnyam Batbold?". Mongolian Football Central.
13. "2nd Leg: Brunei Darussalam 2-1 Mongolia". The Asian Football Confederation.
14. "Asian Qualifiers - Group F: Mongolia edge Kyrgyz Republic to end campaign on a high". Asian Football Confederation.
15. (13 March 2011). "Azkals now in Mongolia, tired but in high spirits". GMA Network.
16. "Football (Soccer) Team Nicknames".
17. (16 August 2021). "Үндэсний үйлдвэрлэгч "TG sport" Монголын хөлбөмбөгийн шигшээ багуудын хувцсыг урлана". news.mn.
18. "Football Centre MFF - Soccerway".
19. "Asian Coaches Year : Mongolia – AFC.com".
20. "УЛС ТӨР ЧӨЛӨӨТ ЦАГ ДЭЛХИЙД СПОРТ БУСАД ШУУД ЭФИР 8-р сар 15 Даваа 22o / 9o 5 м/с Улаанбаатар MNB Сэтгэлийн Үндэс ШУУРХАЙ: Рио 2016 Хүндийн өргөлт /эрэгтэй 105 кг/ шууд 2350 тонн хог цэвэрлэжээ Шарилж,харшил үүсгэгч зэрлэг ургамалыг устгав.. Өнөөдөр болох тэмцээний хуваарь Нийслэлийн удирдлагууд сургууль, цэцэрлэгийн засварын явцтай танилцаж байна.. Хөлбөмбөгийн шигшээ багийн хувь заяаг З.Баттулгад даатгалаа". mnb.mn.
21. "IMAI PLEASED WITH MONGOLIA'S FORTUITOUS WIN OVER SRI LANKA". The AFC.
22. (27 January 2020). "Vojislav Bralušić to Lead Blue Wolves on Interim Basis". Mongolian Football Central.
23. (22 September 2020). "MFF Quietly Names Rastislav Božik New MNT Manager". Mongolian Football Central.
24. (8 April 2021). "MFF Names New MNT Head Coach Following Massive Loss to Japan". Mongolian Football Central.
25. (22 December 2021). "Ichiro Takes Over Reigns of National Team". Mongolian Football Central.
26. (27 August 2024). "MFF Parts Ways with MNT Manager Otsuka Ichiro". Mongolian Football Central.
27. (28 August 2024). "Garidmagnai, Mongolia's First Pro-Licensed Coach, Takes Over National Team". Mongolian Football Central.
28. "Final Squad". Mongolian Football Federation.
29. "Mongolia".