The Macau national football team (; ; recognised as Macau, China by FIFA) represents the Chinese special administrative region of Macau in international association football. The team is supervised by the Football Association of Macau, China (; Portuguese: Associação de Futebol de Macau-China). The Macau football team has a ranking that is one of the lowest among the FIFA members.
The national team has never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup or EAFF East Asian Championship. The team qualified for the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup, where they got one draw and two losses.
The team had been representing Macau in international football events before 1999 when Macau was a dependent territory of Portugal. It continues to represent Macau even after Macau was handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal and became a special administrative region of China in 1999. This team is separate from the China national football team, as the Basic Law and the principle of "one country, two systems" allows Macau to maintain its own representative teams in international sports competitions. In Macau, the Macau football team is colloquially referred to as the "Macau team" (), while the Chinese national team is referred to as the "national team" ().
History Macau participated in the inaugural 2006 AFC Challenge Cup held in Bangladesh being grouped with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan but lost all of their match against their opponent.
Macau then participated in the inaugural 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup held in Kuching, Malaysia being grouped with Laos, Mongolia and Sri Lanka. In the first match, Macau won Mongolia 2–1 with captain, Niki Torrão scoring a brace. The following match, Macau won Laos 4–1 before eventually drawing to Sri Lanka 1–1 which see Macau advanced to the semi-finals as group leaders. Macau faced Brunei which Leong Ka Hang rescued Macau from a one goal deficit to level the match at 1–1 seeing both sides off to extra time however the match goes on to penalties shoot out with Macau advancing to their first even international cup final. On 15 November 2016, Macau faced Nepal however in the 29' minute of the match, Nepalese Sujal Shrestha break the deadlock and Nepal ended up winning the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup at the Sarawak Stadium. Leong Ka Hang is given the tournament 'Most Valuable Player' and Niki Torrão as the top joint goal scorer with 4 goals.
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Sri Lanka in which they won the first tie 1–0, they forfeited the second tie which awarded Sri Lanka was awarded as a 3–0 victory to Sri Lanka after Macau did not send their team for the match due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. After a 4 years hiatus from the COVID-19 pandemic, On 26 March 2023, Macau play their first ever international matches at their own ground, Estádio Campo Desportivo against Singapore in a 1–0 defeat. On 19 June 2023, Macau travelled to Dalian, China to face Myanmar in a friendly match. Since their returned to international football, Macau mostly played against Southeast Asian country like Cambodia and Brunei.
In August 2024, all non-Chinese nationals listed to play for the Macau Football Association became ineligible for the team under FIFA Congress's adoption to a rule amendment made in 18 September 2020. The players affected include Vitor Almeida, Iuri Capelo, captain Nicholas Torrão, and Filipe Duarte, as well as a fifth player who was about to join up.
In September 2024, Macau signed a deal with Adidas in preparation for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round ending their 10-years partnership with Nike. It will also see the team back in Adidas since 2004 making their debut against Brunei.
Rivalries Hong Kong
The Hong Kong–Macau rivalry has been contested by Hong Kong Football Association and Macau Football Association since 1937.
FIFA suspension In 2005, Macau was temporarily barred by FIFA from entering any international matches because of alleged undue influence of the government in forming the committee of its football association. The suspension was lifted after rectification by Macau.
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.
2026
Coaching staff
PositionName Team manager Zhang Liqun Technical director Iong Cho Ieng Head coach (acting) Emmanuel Noruega Assistant coaches Pedro Simões Lai Yong Luo Wei Xing Cai Cheng Zhang Lok Chong Keong Team doctor Liu Zhiliang --->
Coaching history
João dos Santos (1996–1998) Eiji Ueda (2000–2002) Masataka Imai (2003–2004) Masanaga Kageyama (2006–2008) Leung Sui Wing (2008–2015) Tam Iao San (2015–2017) Chan Hiu Ming (2017–2018) Iong Cho Ieng (2018–2019) Lázaro Oliveira (2020–2024) Kwok Kar Lok (2024–2025)
Players
Current squad The following players are selected for the match against Hong Kong on 19 March 2025.
Caps and goals correct as of 12 December 2024, after the match against Guam.
Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up to the Macau squad within the previous 12 months.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury PRE Preliminary squad WD Player withdrew from the squad. RET Player retired from international football
Records
Players in bold are still active with Macau.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsPeriod1Cheang Cheng Ieong5802005–20182Ho Man Fai4702011–present34302006–20194Pang Chi Hang3612012–present5Che Chi Man3461996–20136Chan Man3322011–presentGeofredo Cheung3332001–20118Lei Ka Him3112010–20199Lam Ka Seng3062014–2023Lao Pak Kin3012005–2017Leong Ka Hang30122010–present
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioPeriod1Chan Kin Seng17292006–20132Leong Ka Hang12302010–present3Niki Torrão9212011–20234Lam Ka Seng6302014–2023Che Chi Man6341996–20136Ho Man Hou5192006–20157Carlos Leonel482017–2018Pelé491996–19979Filipe Duarte3132016–2023Chong In Leong3242001–2011Geofredo Cheung3332001–2011
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup FIFA World CupQualificationYearResultPosition 1930Part of Part of 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982Did not qualify300309 19866204415 1990Did not enterDid not enter 1994Did not qualify6006146 19986114328 20026006231 2006200216 20102002213 20142002113 2018201114 2022210113 2026201115 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034Total–––––––39433217173
AFC Asian Cup AFC Asian CupAFC Asian Cup qualificationYearResultPosition 1956 Did not enterDid not enter 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980Did not qualify310247 1984Did not enterDid not enter 1988 1992Did not qualify311144 19963102712 2000310214 2004200205 2007 Did not enter Did not enter 2011Did not qualify AFC Challenge Cup 2015 20198017520 2023210113 2027401319Total–0/19––––––2853202364
East Asian Cup record
East Asian Football Championship FinalsPreliminary competitionYearResultPositionEast Asian Football Championship 2003Did not qualify3rd420255 2005Did not enterDid not enter 2008Did not qualify4th3012314 20103rd311195EAFF East Asian Cup 2013Did not qualify2nd210154 20152nd311144EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2017Did not qualify3rd311176 20192nd311145 2022Did not participateNot held 2025Did not qualify2nd100112Total–0/9–––––––2275103845
AFC Challenge Cup record AFC Challenge Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPosition* 2006Group stage15th301228No qualification 2008Did not qualify200236 20105104412 2012210145 2014300306TotalGroup stage1/5301228122091129
AFC Solidarity Cup record
AFC Solidarity CupYearResultPosition* 2016Runners-up2nd5221852020CancelledTotalRunners-up1/1522185
Head-to-head record As of 29 March 2026 after match against Tanzania
Opponents First Last Pld W D L GF GA GD Confederation20262026100114−3CONCACAF19701970100109−9AFC20092009100103−3AFC20232023100101−1AFC198520245312660AFC200820237115718−11AFC197819996006326−23AFC199220251211101238−26AFC20032018622268−2AFC1982202540223628123−95AFC20172017200216−5AFC200120012002013−13AFC198020004004026−26AFC20012001200208−8UEFA198020073003112−11AFC194919933003211−9AFC199319932002118−17AFC20132017400438−5AFC20162017220072+5AFC199320163012014−14AFC20182018100101−1CAF19932018105231814+4AFC200920238017426−22AFC199720166114716−9AFC197519751010110OFC200920185311166+10AFC19971997200206−6AFC20032013301227−5AFC19751975110021+1CONCACAF197820125203714−7AFC199319932002014−14AFC20002023401326−4AFC20182018100114−3OFC20162019311124−2AFC20062013200207−7AFC200720073003215−13AFC20262026100106−6CAF201120112002113−12AFC
Honours Continental AFC Solidarity Cup Runners-up (1): 2016
Summary Competition TotalAFC Solidarity Cup0101Total0101
Notes
References
External links Macau team profile at NationalFootballTeams.com Macau – Team Info at globalsportsarchive.com Macau at soccerway.com