Tibet national football team

Tibet
Nickname(s)	The Forbiddens
Association	Tibetan National Football Association
Confederation	CONIFA
Head coach	Gompo Dorjee
Most caps	Tenzin Samdup; BK Narayan (9)
Top scorer	Tashi Samphel (5)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Unofficial; Nepal 4–0 Tibet ; (China; 6 November 1972); Official; Greenland 4–1 Tibet ; (Copenhagen, Denmark; 30 June 2001)
Biggest win
	Tibet 12–2 Western Sahara ; (Marseille, France; 28 June 2013)
Biggest defeat
	Provence 22–0 Tibet ; (Marseille, France; 23 June 2013)
CONIFA World Football Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 2018)
Best result	12th, 2018

The Tibet national football team is a football team that represents the cultural region of Tibet in non-FIFA international tournaments,^[2] and is organized by the Tibetan National Football Association (TNFA), an organization of exiled Tibetans.

Many of the players are in exile and represent the Tibetan Government in Exile. The team is part of neither FIFA nor the AFC and does not participate in international tournaments. The TNFA was founded in 2001 and its goal is to gain an official status.

History

The Forbidden Team

The first Tibet team, c. 1936

The first international game against a non-Asian team was versus Greenland, which took place in Denmark.^[3] The team was followed by a documentary film crew during the process of forming the team, practicing, playing the match, and events in between. The documentary was titled 'The Forbidden Team'. To form the team, a selective tournament was held in Dehradun, India, featuring all the various Tibetan football teams around India.^{[citation needed]}

After the team was selected, Team Tibet headed to Dharamsala to begin practice sessions. Jens Espense was hired by the Tibetan Football Association to coach the team for the match. He had only a month to get the players conditioned and ready to play, despite the team not yet playing at even a minor league level. Moreover, the pitch was in poor condition and only half of it could be used, as it was located on a public road. During practice, Karma Nyodup was working to complete all documentation or the flight to Greenland. A number of players were subsequently dropped due to improper travel documents.^{[citation needed]}

After a month, the team flew to Denmark for its first international game, which was organized by Michael Nybrandt. He was also advocating for Tibet at a time when the Chinese government officials had made it clear that they did not want this match to happen as they believed Tibet belonged to China. They threatened to cut off all of China's trade with Denmark if the match went ahead as planned. Denmark, despite all of this, allowed the game to take place. And on June 30, 2001, the Tibetan National Football Team played its first international match in which it lost 1– 4 against Greenland.^[4]

FIFI Wild Cup (Hamburg, Germany) and ELF Cup (Northern Cyprus)

The 2006 FIFI Wild Cup took place in Hamburg, Germany. The first match they played was against St. Pauli on 30 May 2006. They lost this game 7–0. The second and final match of Tibet in this tournament was against Gibraltar on 31 May 2006 and lost the game 5–0. During the ELF Cup Tibet played three games, the first game was against Tajikistan on 19, November 2006 in which they lost 3–0. And on the 20th of November, Tibet played the Crimean Tatars, and lost 1–0. In their final match, Tibet played Northern Cyprus, and lost 10–0.

International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes

During 2013, Tibet was invited to Marseille, France from June 22 to June 29 in order to take part in the inaugural World Tournament of Peoples, Cultures, and Tribes.

The Tibetan team came in fifth place when the competition was over.

2018 ConIFA World Football Cup

For the first time in its history, the Tibetan selection participated in the ConIFA World Football Cup in 2018 by qualifying with the wild card.^[5]

2023 CONIFA Asia Cup

Tibet participated in the CONIFA Asia Cup in 2023. They lost 5-4 to Hmong FF in their first match, and then lost 3-1 to Tamil Eelam in their next match, which would get them eliminated. However, they qualified for the CONIFA World Cup 2024.

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the 2023 Conifa Asian Football Cup in Alcochete.^[6]

Head Coach: Gompo Dorjee

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
18	1GK	Tenzin Samdup	(1992-12-23) 23 December 1992 (age 32)	9	0	Namdhari FC
1	1GK	Tashi Dorjee	(1995-06-19) 19 June 1995 (age 29)	1	0	Unattached
21	1GK	Gyaltzen Vangchuk	(1998-06-28) 28 June 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Unattached

4	2DF	Tenzing Vangyal	(1995-09-04) 4 September 1995 (age 29)	2	0	Snowlion FC
3	2DF	Tenlha Palden	(2004-07-20) 20 July 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Cholsum FC
15	2DF	Choying Dorjee	(2004-09-15) 15 September 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Unattached
5	2DF	Tenzingh Dhondhen	(1994-12-13) 13 December 1994 (age 30)	4	1	Dhodupling Fc
12	2DF	Karma Sherap	(1992-05-10) 10 May 1992 (age 32)	1	0	Bhoepa United

8	3MF	Tsering Phurba	(1991-11-25) 25 November 1991 (age 33)	9	0	Yak Boyz Paris
6	3MF	Tenzin Jigmey	(1992-01-10) 10 January 1992 (age 32)	2	0	Unattached
11	3MF	Tenpa Lhundup	(1991-12-21) 21 December 1991 (age 33)	4	0	Dhondupling FC
20	3MF	Tenzin Vosal	(2004-01-17) 17 January 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Cholsum FC
16	3MF	Tenzin Loden	(2002-05-09) 9 May 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Unattached
13	3MF	Tenzing Rigdrol	(2004-11-12) 12 November 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Unattached

19	4FW	Lodoe Dava	(1997-12-24) 24 December 1997 (age 27)	1	0	Cholsum FC
14	4FW	Pema Norbu	(2002-11-18) 18 November 2002 (age 22)	2	1	Unattached
10	4FW	Pema Lhundup	(1996-02-11) 11 February 1996 (age 28)	9	1	Jawalakhel Youth Club
7	4FW	Tenzin Thardoe	(1998-03-15) 15 March 1998 (age 26)	3	1	Yak Boyz Paris
2	4FW	Tenzing Thabke	(1995-11-16) 16 November 1995 (age 29)	2	1	Unattached
9	4FW	Shiva Dul	(2005-05-06) 6 May 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Newcastle Olympic FC
17	4FW	Kunphel Sinha	(1998-06-13) 13 June 1998 (age 26)	2	1	Bhoepa United

Selected internationals

Results 1970s

6 November 1972 Friendly	Tibet	0–4	Nepal	China
				Attendance: —

7 June 1979 Friendly	Tibet	2–3	Nepal	Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu
	Unknown			Attendance: —

9 June 1979 Friendly	Tibet	1–2	Nepal	Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu
	Unknown			Attendance: —

Results 2000s

30 June 2001 Friendly	Tibet	1–4	Greenland	Vanløse Idrætspark, Copenhagen
	Norbu			Attendance: 5000

14 July 2001 Friendly	Tibet	1–2	Monaco	Dreisamstadion, Freiburg
	Unknown	^[7]

10 October 2003 Friendly	Tibet	1–2	Sikkim	Paljor Stadium, Gangtok
	Unknown

30 May 2006 FIFI Wild Cup	Tibet	0–7	FC St. Pauli	Millerntor-Stadion, Hamburg
				Attendance: 400

31 May 2006 FIFI Wild Cup	Tibet	0–5	Gibraltar	Millerntor-Stadion, Hamburg
				Attendance: 400

19 November 2006 ELF Cup

Tibet

0–3

Tajikistan (futsal)

Zafer Stadium, Güzelyurt

20 November 2006 ELF Cup

Tibet

0–1

Crimean Tatars

Zafer Stadium, Güzelyurt

21 November 2006 ELF Cup

Tibet

0–10

Northern Cyprus

Mağusa Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium, Gazimağusa

4 August 2007 Friendly	Tibet	6–0	Delhi XI	Kirori Mal College, New Delhi
	Unknown

31 October 2007 Friendly	Tibet	2–2	Bhutan	Paljor Stadium, Gangtok, Sikkim
	Unknown

2 November 2007 Friendly

Tibet

0–3

Bhutan

Paljor Stadium, Gangtok, Sikkim

17 April 2008 Friendly

VDL-Maassluis

5–0

Tibet

Maassluis, South Holland

19 April 2008 Friendly	JEKA Breda	1–1	Tibet	Breda, North Brabant
	Unknown

7 May 2008 Friendly	Padania	13–2	Tibet	Milan
	Unknown

Results 2010s

23 June 2013 International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes

Quebec

21–0

Tibet

Marseille, France

24 June 2013 International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes

Provence

22–0

Tibet

Marseille, France

28 June 2013 International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	2–12	Tibet	Marseille, France
	Unknown

31 May 2018 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup - Group Stage	Abkhazia	3–0	Tibet	Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Enfield
12:00 BST	Akhvlediani 12' Maskayev 61' Shoniya 77'	Report		Referee: Raymond Mashamba

2 June 2018 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup - Group Stage	Northern Cyprus	3–1	Tibet	Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Enfield
17:00 BST	Turan 2', 67' Gök 73'	Report	Topgyal 38'	Referee: John McCallum

3 June 2018 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup - Group Stage	Kárpátalja	5–1	Tibet	Larges Lane, Bracknell
15:00 BST	Gajdos 2' G. Sándor 36' (pen.) Takács 42', 77' Svedjuk 75'	Report	Yougyal 69'	Referee: Raymond Mashamba

5 June 2018 Friendly	London Turkish Select	4–0	Tibet	Hayes Lane, Bromley
15:00 BST	Nalbant Ali Avci	Report		Referee: Mario Guastafierro

7 June 2018 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup - Placement Round	Tibet	1–8	Kabylia	Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Enfield
12:00 BST	Topgyal 43' (pen.)	Report	Baudia 25', 74', 77', 87' Hadid 45' Mezaib 49', 51' Bouabbas 81'	Referee: Clément Auclair

9 June 2018 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup - Placement Round	Tibet	1–1 (1–4 p)	United Koreans in Japan	St Paul's Sports Ground, Rotherhithe
12:00 BST	Yougyal 20'	Report	Gelek 84' (o.g.)	Referee: Ivan Mrkalj

Results 2020s

5 August 2023 2023 CONIFA Asian Cup	Hmong FF	5–4	Tibet	Alcochete, Portugal
7:00 PM CET

6 August 2023 2023 CONIFA Asian Cup	Tibet	1–3	Tamil Eelam	Alcochete, Portugal
7:00 PM CET

18 August 2023 Friendly	West Papua	5–2	Tibet	The Hague, Netherlands
				Stadium: Sportpark De Verademing

General secretaries of the TNFA

Name	period
Kelsang Dhondup	2001–2017
Passang Dorjee	2017–In progress

Honours

ANFA Cup
- Runners-up (1): 1985^[8]
Ladakh Climate Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2023^[9]

References

^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
^ "Tibet – Monaco". Monégasque Football Federation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
^ Cremer, Justin (28 February 2015). "Dane's Tibetan dream made football history". Retrieved 4 August 2024.
^ Sarmah, Bhargab. "Keeping the flame alive: The Forbidden Team's story".
^ Tibet National Football Team Qualifies for CONIFA World Football Cup 2018
^ "CONIFA Asia Cup 2023". conifa.org. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
^ "Tibet – Monaco". Monégasque Football Federation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
^ "ANFA Invitational Tournament (Nepal)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
^ "Ladakh Climate Cup: Delhi FC rattle TNSA 6–0 to take trophy home". uniindia.com. Jammu. 7 September 2023. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.

External links

Official website (TNFA)
Official website (ConIFA)

[World_Football_Elo_Ratings-1] Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.

[2] "Tibet – Monaco". Monégasque Football Federation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.

[3] Cremer, Justin (28 February 2015). "Dane's Tibetan dream made football history". Retrieved 4 August 2024.

[4] Sarmah, Bhargab. "Keeping the flame alive: The Forbidden Team's story".

[5] Tibet National Football Team Qualifies for CONIFA World Football Cup 2018

[6] "CONIFA Asia Cup 2023". conifa.org. Retrieved 5 November 2023.

[7] "Tibet – Monaco". Monégasque Football Federation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.

[8] "ANFA Invitational Tournament (Nepal)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.

[9] "Ladakh Climate Cup: Delhi FC rattle TNSA 6–0 to take trophy home". uniindia.com. Jammu. 7 September 2023. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.

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