Cambodia national football team

The Cambodia national football team represents Cambodia in international football. Its players are known as the Angkor Warriors. It finished fourth at the 1972 Asian Cup in Thailand.

The main stand and pitch of the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, 2014. Photo: I G, CC BY 2.0

Organization details
Alternative names	Angkor Warriors
Type	Sports team
Focus areas	International football
Country	Cambodia
Operating status	active

History

Cambodia earned its place at the 1972 Asian Nations Cup through a qualifying group played in Bangkok. In a match that decided the groups, on May 21, 1971, it drew one goal each with Thailand and lost the penalty shoot-out. It then beat Hong Kong by two goals to one, lost to Malaysia by the same score and beat Indonesia two goals to none in the semifinal. Thailand won the final four goals to two, and both teams went through to the final tournament.

The final tournament was held in Bangkok in May 1972. Cambodia lost its group-deciding match to Iran by two goals to none. It then lost to South Korea four goals to one and beat Kuwait four goals to none, finishing second in its group. Iran beat Cambodia two goals to one in the semifinal. The match for third place against Thailand ended two goals each, and Thailand won the penalty shoot-out five to three.

In August 2018, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body of football, ranked Cambodia 166th in the world. On August 12 of that year, Keisuke Honda, who played for Japan, was named general manager of the team at Le Royal Hotel in Phnom Penh. The appointment was announced in the presence of Sao Sokha, president of the Football Federation of Cambodia and acting commander-in-chief of the country's military police. Honda signed a two-year contract without pay, with his travel costs covered, while he went on playing for Melbourne Victory in Australia. His duties included the team's campaign at the 2018 Suzuki Cup, a championship for 10 Southeast Asian teams held from November 8 to December 15. Honda said he wanted to give the team one clear style of play and to make the country better known abroad.

On October 10, 2019, Iran beat Cambodia by 14 goals to none in a World Cup qualifying match at Azadi Stadium in Tehran. Reuters called it the heaviest defeat in the team's history.

Players from abroad

Players born abroad have also played for the team. The forward Chhunly Pagenburg, born in Nürnberg, Germany, played one match for Cambodia, a friendly against Guam at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on November 19, 2013. Guam won by two goals to none.

In 2022 the team's scouts learned that Nick Taylor, a US-born winger who had signed with Orlando City B, had Khmer ancestry. The national coach invited him to a training camp before a match against Bangladesh, and he first played in an international tournament at the 2022 championship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In March 2024, Cambodia was scheduled to play in the first FIFA Series in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, against two African teams.

References