Timor-Leste national under-23 football team

Timor-Leste
Nickname(s)O Sol Nascente
(The Rising Sun)
AssociationFederação de Futebol de Timor-Leste
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationAFF (Southeast Asia)
Head coachSimón Elissetche
CaptainFilomeno Junior
Most capsRamos Maxanches
Nilo Soares (18)
Top scorerMurilo de Almeida
Henrique Cruz
Mouzinho (3)
Home stadiumTimor-Leste National Stadium
FIFA codeTLS
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Malaysia 3–0  
(Bangkok, Thailand; 30 August 2005)
Biggest win
  7–1 Macau 
(Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 23 July 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Malaysia 11–0  
(Vientiane, Laos; 2 December 2009)
Asian Games
Appearances2 (first in 2014)
Best resultGroup Stage (2014, 2018)
Southeast Asian Games
Appearances8 (first in 2009)
Best resultGroup Stage (8 times)
ASEAN U-23 Championship
Appearances4 (first in 2005)
Best resultThird place (2022)

The Timor-Leste national Under-23 football team (Portuguese: Seleção Timorense de Futebol Sub-23) represents Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor) in international football competitions in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games and any other under-23 international football tournaments. It is controlled by the Federação de Futebol de Timor-Leste, the governing body of football in the country. Timor-Leste is currently one of the weakest teams in the world. They won their first match on 5 November 2011 against Brunei, scoring 2–1.[1]

History

Football was firstly introduced during Portuguese Timor era where many local and the Portuguese colonial official played the sport for enjoyment. After the Portuguese leave the eastern part of the island of Timor, neighbouring Indonesia invaded and change their culture and identity. Timor-Leste gained full independence in 2002 after more than 20 years of occupation which resulted in a long running battle against Jakarta-led forces. The Timor-Leste U-23 team was invited to the 2005 AFF U-23 Youth Championship without any success, which is the first time that the team played in an international tournament. In 2009, the team entered the first Southeast Asian Games. Once again, they lost every match, including a 0–11 loss to Malaysia. Timor-Leste had major improvements at the 2011 SEA Games, when they used overseas players of Timorese descent from Brazil and Australia. These players contributed a lot to their successful run; especially from Murilo de Almeida who managed to score three goals. The team finished third in their group by recording their first win in their history, finishing above Laos, Brunei and the Philippines and had a goal difference of –4, which was a big improvement compared to their previous participation where the team finished last in their group with no wins from four games, scoring only once and having a goal difference of –28.

Kits

Timor-Leste's traditional home kit includes a red shirt, black shorts and red or black socks. The away kits feature white or yellow shirts. At the 2009 SEA Games, their home kit resemble the one worn by the Belgium national team.

Kit evolution

Home Kit 2009–2010
Away Kit 2009–2010
Alternative Kit 2011

Stadium

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA TQ GP W D L GF GA
1992 Part of  Indonesia Part of  Indonesia
1996
2000
2004 did not enter did not enter
2008
2012
2016 did not qualify 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification 3 1 0 2 3 8
2020 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification 3 1 0 2 5 16
2024 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification 3 1 0 2 5 10
2028 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/8 AFC U-23 Asian Cup (From 2016) 9 3 0 6 13 34

Asian Games Record

(Under-23 Team since 2002)

Asian Games
Year Result Position GP W D L GF GA
did not enter
Group stage
28th
3
0
0
3
2
13
24th
3
0
0
3
3
15
did not enter
Total
Group stage
2/5
6
0
0
6
5
28

AFC U-23 Asian Cup Record

AFC U-23 Championship Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
did not qualify 5 1 0 4 5 9
3 1 0 2 3 8
3 1 1 1 7 5
3 1 0 2 5 16
2022 3 1 1 1 3 8
2024 did not qualify 3 1 0 2 5 10
2026 To be determined To be determined
Total
0/7
0
0
0
0
0
0
20 6 2 12 28 56

SEA Games Record

(Under-23 Team since 2001)

Southeast Asian Games
Year Result Position GP W D L GF GA
Did not enter
Group stage 9th
4
0
0
4
1
28
6th
5
2
0
3
4
8
7th
4
1
1
2
5
8
9th
5
1
0
4
4
10
9th
5
1
0
4
2
8
10th
4
0
0
4
2
18
2021 10th 4 0 0 4 3 13
2023 7th 4 1 0 3 3 8
Total
Group stage
8/10
35
6
1
28
24
101

ASEAN U-23 Championship record

ASEAN U-23 Championship
Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA
Group stage
8th
3
0
0
3
1
14
6th
3
1
0
2
1
5
Third place
3rd
4
2
2
0
7
3
Group stage
9th
2
0
0
2
1
4
Total
Third Place
4/4
12
3
2
7
10
26

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Simón Elissetche
Assistant coach Miro Baldo Bento
Goalkeeping coach Derson Gusmão
Physiotherapist Adou Costa
Media Officer Mario Filipe Belo
Administrator Hasan Cesario
Official Adou Marques
Kitman Fablo Freitas

Players

Current squad

The following 23 players were called up for the 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship.[2]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1GK Pablo de Jesus (2005-09-19) 19 September 2005 Ponta Leste
1GK Filonito Nogueira (2004-11-16) 16 November 2004 SLB Laulara
1GK Egidio Luro Emmanuel

2DF Sandro Rivaldo (2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 Emmanuel
2DF Liam Farrugia (2003-01-13) 13 January 2003 Manningham United
2DF Aidan da Costa Trofense
2DF Anizo Correia (2003-05-23) 23 May 2003 Ponta Leste
2DF Mário Quintão (2004-02-18) 18 February 2004 Emmanuel
2DF Jackson Fowler (2004-09-03) 3 September 2004 Sydney Olympic
2DF Ricardo Bianco (2006-01-15) 15 January 2006 Ponta Leste

3MF Leonio Freitas Ponta Leste
3MF Palomito Ribeiro Emmanuel
3MF Freteliano (2004-08-09) 9 August 2004 Emmanuel
3MF Luís Figo (2005-04-17) 17 April 2005 Ponta Leste
3MF Oatnasio Da Silva (2006-06-11) 11 June 2006 Loughgall
3MF Serafin da Costa DIT
3MF Jorge Casimiro Caboolture Sports
3MF Zenivio (2005-04-22) 22 April 2005 Tanjong Pagar United

4FW Olagar Xavier (2003-05-18) 18 May 2003 Karketu Dili
4FW Alexandro Bakhito (2006-06-01) 1 June 2006 SLB Laulara
4FW Nicholas Fowler (2007-05-31) 31 May 2007 Sydney Olympic
4FW Vabio Canavaro (2007-01-25) 25 January 2007 SLB Laulara
4FW Kenny Ximenes (2005-04-04) 4 April 2005 Dollingstown

Recent call-ups

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




Notes
  • INJ Withdrew due to injury
  • PRE Preliminary squad / standby

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.

  Win   Draw   Loss

2025

16 July 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship Myanmar  v   Bekasi, Indonesia
20:00 UTC+7 Stadium: Patriot Stadium
19 July 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship   v  Thailand Bekasi, Indonesia
20:00 UTC+7 Stadium: Patriot Stadium
6 September 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification   v  Australia Xi'an, China
15:30 UTC+8 Stadium: Fengdong Football Park East Stadium
9 September 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification   v  Northern Mariana Islands Xi'an, China
15:30 UTC+8 Stadium: Fengdong Football Park East Stadium

List of coaches

Coach Coaching period Pld W D L Achievements
José Luís 2005 3 0 0 3 2005 AFF U-23 Youth Championship – Round 1 (First Time)
Manuel da Costa Soares 2009–2010 4 0 0 4 2009 Southeast Asian Games – Round 1 (First Time)
Antonio Carlos Vieira 2011–2012 5 2 0 3 2011 Southeast Asian Games – First Win with Brunei
Norio Tsukitate 2012 5 1 0 4 2013 AFC U-22 Championship qualification – Did not qualify
Emerson Alcântara 2013–2014 6 2 2 2 2013 Southeast Asian Games – First Draw with Indonesia
Takuma Koga 2014 3 0 0 3 2014 Asian Games – Round 1 (First Time)
Fábio Magrão 2015–2016 8 2 0 6 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification – Did not qualify
2015 Southeast Asian Games – Round 1
Kim Shin-hwan 2017–2018 3 1 1 1 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification – Did not qualify
Norio Tsukitate 2018–2019 3 0 0 3 2018 Asian Games – Group stage

References

  1. ^ Brunei U23 Vs East Timor U23 Result | World Sportsholic
  2. ^ "Lista ba Ekipa Selesaun Nasional U-23 Atu Aranka ba Partisipa Jogu ASEAN U-23 Championship Mandiri Cup™ 2025". FFTL. 10 July 2025 – via Facebook.