The Brunei national football team (; recognised as Brunei Darussalam by FIFA), nicknamed Tebuan (The Wasps), is the national team of Brunei, controlled by the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam. The team was founded in 1959 and joined FIFA in 1969. In the past, they have also frequently featured in the Malaysian league and cup competitions as one of the state representative sides.
The Brunei State Football Amateur Association was formed on 15 March 1956. In 1993, the word "Amateur" was dropped, and they were known as the Brunei Football Association. Brunei's experience of international football has been more or less restricted to regional Asian competitions, such as the Southeast Asian Games and the AFF Championship. So far, Brunei has entered the FIFA World Cup qualifiers only four times, in 1986, 2002, 2018 and 2022. On these occasions, they did not qualify for the competition. They have made seven appearances in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, entering the third round for the first time via the play-off round in 2024.
History
Early days
left|thumb|271x271px|Brunei national football team of 18 players and 4 officers posed for a photo together with [[Pengiran Muhammad Yusuf|Pengiran Yusuf at Berakas Airport in 1970]]
The national team's first appearance took place during the 1972 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where they were unable to qualify after all three heavy defeats. The following two championships (1976 and 1977) were no different from the first, with their first and second victory during the 1980 Summer Olympics. In 1979, Brunei entered a team to compete in the professional Malaysian league and despite competing against Malaysian clubs, Brunei had previously never made an impact. However, in 1999, they shocked everyone by lifting the Malaysia Cup.
Brunei became the runners-up of the Brunei Merdeka Games trophy in 1985. Since then, team was not able to qualify into or win any major tournaments. Coming the closest was the 1993 Philippines International Cup, where they came in third position after a 1–0 victory against the Philippines. Brunei was then invited for the inaugural 2006 AFC Challenge Cup held in Bangladesh being grouped with Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal. Brunei narrowly lost to Sri Lanka 1–0 before bouncing back from their defeat in the second match winning against Nepal 2–1 however with them needing the win in the last fixture, Brunei ended up in a goalless draw crashing out from the cup splitting the same points as Nepal but on goal differences.
Suspension
In September 2009, the Brunei Football Association (BAFA) was suspended due to governmental interference in its affairs, which started with a decision by the Brunei authorities to dissolve BAFA and to replace it with a new federation in December 2008. The suspension was applied with immediate effect and meant that the Brunei club DPMM were no longer permitted to play in the Singapore S.League until it was resolved. DPMM has confirmed to Football Association of Singapore (FAS) that they are unable to finish their S.League season because of the issue with its association. FIFA rejected FAS's final request on 17 October 2009 to permit DPMM to compete in the current S.League season while BAFA's suspension persisted.
On 19 March 2010, the FIFA Executive Committee agreed to submit to the next FIFA Congress the expulsion of the association if the BAFA has not been reinstated by then, after noting that no major progress had been made since the BAFA was suspended in September 2009. FIFA warned that unless BAFA came to FIFA's Congress on 9 and 10 June in South Africa having met the conditions for reinstatement it would be expelled. Brunei were re-instated on 31 May 2011 and the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) was formed that same year.
Reform
thumb|Brunei captain, [[Hendra Azam Idris|Hendra Azam playing against Indonesia during the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification|239x239px]]
Upon returning to the football action, the Wasps were unable to qualify for both the 2012 and 2014 AFF Championship following several losses. Brunei was again defeated 2–1 in aggregate against the Chinese Taipei during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification in March 2015. The wasps failed to qualify for the 2016 AFF Championship after suffering defeats from Cambodia and Laos. Brunei was then invited to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup where they finished in fourth place after losing 3–2 to Laos. Despite the disappointment, Shah Razen Said from the Bruneian side managed to become the tournament's top scorer, finishing with a total of 4 goals.
Timor-Leste defeated Brunei in the second leg 2018 AFF Championship qualifying match at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium on 8 September 2018, securing their spot in the 2018 AFF Championship final round group action for the first time in 14 years. Despite having a two-goal advantage from the first leg, Timor-Leste fell 1–0 but still advanced with a 3–2 aggregate score. Brunei defeated Mongolia 2–1 on 11 June 2019, but were unable to advance to the next stage of the preliminary joint qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Return to the AFF Championship
Under new coach Mario Rivera, Brunei managed to qualify to the 2022 AFF Championship for the first time in 26 years since its inaugural edition in 1996, by defeating Timor-Leste 6–3 on aggregate. The Wasps were grouped with Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia. They finished the group stage without gaining a single point, conceding at least 5 goals in every game with Razimie Ramlli scoring against the Philippines and Nur Ikhwan Othman scoring against Cambodia.
On 17 October 2023, Brunei returned to the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium after four years since their last match against Mongolia in 2019 for their fixture against Indonesia in the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. The Wasps were beaten 0–12 on aggregate, knocking them out of the qualification in the first round.
2024 win streak
In 2024, FIFA invited Brunei to the 2024 FIFA Series held in March in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where they would face their first ever opponents outside of their confederation. On 22 March, Brunei faced off against CONCACAF opponent Bermuda but conceded two late goals, losing 2–0. Four days later, Brunei came against Vanuatu and won the match 3–2, when three minutes into stoppage time Hakeme Yazid Said's direct free kick sealed the victory against their opponents from Oceania.
Later in June of that year, Brunei invited the Sri Lanka national team to two friendly matches in the country in conjunction with the FIFA calendar. Headed by interim coach Rui Capela Batista, Brunei extended their winning form to three which is the first time in their history after captain Azwan Ali Rahman scored the only goal in both games held at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium on 8 and 11 June respectively.
The following September, Brunei registered two wins against Macau with an aggregate of 4–0 during the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification play-off round to further stretch the streak to five games and thus gaining their spot at the third qualification round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification. The following month, they failed to qualify for the 2024 ASEAN Championship, losing to Timor-Leste 0–1 on aggregate. A friendly in Russia organised by the Russian Football Union was then held in November and resulted in a 11–0 heavy defeat, with the squad marred by an indiscipline scandal that led to several suspensions meted out to offending players.
Brunei finished their 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification behind Lebanon, Yemen and Bhutan with three points in six games.
Team image
thumb|[[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper (left) and home kits (right) of Brunei in 2023|243x243px]]
Kit
Brunei had initially worn a predominantly yellow pattern as their home kit adorned with white or black since their inception in 1956 to represent the colours of their flags. The current kit manufacturer is Puma which was incorporated since 2024.
Home stadium
Brunei's home stadium is the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan. The stadium capacity is 28,000. From 2021 to 2022, Brunei used the Track and Field Sports Complex as an alternative stadium as their main stadium were undergoing renovation works. However, as the Track and Field Sports Complex does not meet the required standards, Brunei chose the Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Malaysia as their home ground for their 2022 AFF Championship matches.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="5" style="background:#F7E017; color:black; text-align:center;" |Brunei national football team home stadiums
|-
!Image
!Stadium
!Capacity
!Location
!Last match
|-
|152x152px
|Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium
|28,000
|Bandar Seri Begawan
|v <small>(18 November 2025; 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification)</small>
|-
|152x152px
|Track & Field Sports Complex
|1,700
|Bandar Seri Begawan
|v Sabah FC <small>(6 September 2023; Unofficial friendly)</small>
|}
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.
2025
2026
Coaching staff
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="color:black;background:#F7E017|Position !! style="color:black;background:#F7E017|Name
|-
| Head coach || Fabio Maciel
|-
| Team manager || Hazim Hamzah
|-
| Assistant coach || Ali Mustafa
|-
| Goalkeeping coach || Omar Nur Aqammaddin Sallehuddin
|-
| Kitman || Roney Morni
|-
| Media officer || Khairi Zuhair
|}
Coaching history
:Caretaker coaches are listed in italics.
- John Then (1959–71)
- Abdul Karim Pukul & Ibrahim Yahya (1971)
- Duncan McDowell (1976–81)
- Ibrahim Damit (1982)
- Idris Damit (1983)
- Danny Bergara (1984)
- Oscar Amaro de Silva (1985–86)
- Dayem Ali (1987)
- Zainuddin Kassim (1988)
- Dayem Ali (1989)
- Hussein Aljunied (1990–1993)
- Mick Lyons (1993–95)
- Bobby McLachlan (1995)
- David Booth (1996–98)
- Mick Jones (1998–01)
- Zainuddin Kassim (2001)
- Mick Lyons (2002)
- Karim Bencherifa (2003–04)
- Amir Alagić (2005)
- Ranko Buketa (2005)
- Ali Mustafa (2006)
- Kwon Oh-son (2008)
- Vjeran Simunić (2008–09)
- Ali Mustafa (2009–11)
- Dayem Ali (2011)
- Kwon Oh-son (2012–13)
- Vjeran Simunić (2013–14)
- Steve Kean (2014)
- Mike Wong (2014–16)
- Kwon Oh-son (2016)
- Stephen Ng (2017)
- Kwon Oh-son (2018)
- Robbie Servais (2019)
- Paul Smalley (2019–20)
- Ali Mustafa (2020)
- K. Rajagobal (2020–22)
- Rosanan Samak (2022)
- Mario Rivera (2022–24)
- Rui Capela (2024)
- Jamie McAllister (2024)
- Vinícius Eutrópio (2024–25)
- Fábio Maciel (2025–)
Players
Current squad
The following 23 players are called up for the 2026 ASEAN Championship qualification matches against Timor Leste on 2–9 June 2026.
:Information correct as of 31 March 2026, after the match against Bhutan.
Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Brunei squad in the last twelve months.
;Notes
- = On standby
- = Preliminary squad
- = Injured
- = Retired from international duty
Player records
:Players in bold are still active with Brunei.
Most appearances
thumb|Azwan Saleh is Brunei's most capped player with 36 appearances.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
!class="unsortable" style="width:200px;"|Name
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Goals
!class="unsortable" style="width:100px;"|Career
|-
|1
|align=left|Azwan Saleh
|36
|3
|2006–2025
|-
|rowspan=3|2
|align=left|Azwan Ali Rahman
|30
|8
|2012–present
|-
|align=left|Haimie Abdullah Nyaring
|30
|0
|2016–present
|-
|align=left|Najib Tarif
|30
|1
|2008–2024
|-
|5
|align=left|Adi Said
|29
|7
|2012–present
|-
|6
|align=left|Yura Indera Putera Yunos
|27
|0
|2012–present
|-
|rowspan=3|7
|align=left|Hanif Hamir
|25
|0
|2009–present
|-
|align=left|Khairil Shahme Suhaimi
|25
|0
|2015–present
|-
|align=left|Nurikhwan Othman
|25
|0
|2012–present
|-
|rowspan=4|10
|align=left|Fakharrazi Hassan
|24
|2
|2011–2024
|-
|align=left|Hakeme Yazid Said
|24
|4
|2022–present
|-
|align=left|Nazirrudin Ismail
|24
|2
|2022–present
|-
|align=left|Shah Razen Said
|24
|8
|2008–2019
|-
|}
Top goalscorers
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! width="30px" |Rank
! class="unsortable" width="200px" |Name
! width="50px" |Goals
! width="50px" |Caps
! width="50px" |Ratio
! class="unsortable" width="100px" |Career
|-
|rowspan="2"|1
| align="left" |Shah Razen Said
|8
|24
|
|2008–2019
|-
| align="left" |Azwan Ali Rahman
|8
|30
|
|2012–present
|-
|3
| align="left" |Adi Said
|7
|29
|
|2012–present
|-
|4
| align="left" |Razimie Ramlli
|6
|20
|
|2016–2024
|-
|5
| align="left" |Said Abdullah
|5
|14
|
|1993–2001
|-
|6
| align="left" |Hakeme Yazid Said
|4
|24
|
|2022–present
|-
| rowspan="7" |7
| align="left" |Jamhari Lani
|3
|9
|
|1985–1987
|-
| align="left" |Adie Arsham Salleh
|3
|10
|
|2006–2009
|-
| align="left" |Hardi Bujang
|3
|12
|
|2006–2008
|-
| align="left" |Zainuddin Kassim
|3
|16
|
|1982–1989
|-
| align="left" |Abdul Azizi Ali Rahman
|3
|19
|
|2015–2023
|-
| align="left" |Azwan Saleh
|3
|36
|
|2006–present
|-
|}
Competition records
FIFA World Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan=9|FIFA World Cup
!rowspan=39|
!colspan=7|Qualification
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| 1930 to 1950
|colspan=8|Part of
|colspan=6|Part of
|-
| 1954 to 1970
|colspan=8|Not a FIFA member
|colspan=6|Not a FIFA member
|-
| 1974 to 1982
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 1986
|colspan=8|Did not qualify
|6
|0
|0
|6
|2
|29
|-
| 1990 to 1998
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 2002
|colspan=8|Did not qualify
|6
|0
|0
|6
|0
|28
|-
| 2006 and 2010
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 2014
|colspan=8|Suspended
|colspan=6|Suspended
|-
| 2018
|colspan=8 rowspan=3|Did not qualify
|2
|1
|0
|1
|1
|2
|-
| 2022
|2
|1
|0
|1
|2
|3
|-
| 2026
|2
|0
|0
|2
|0
|12
|-
| 2030||colspan=9 rowspan=2|To be determined||colspan=9 rowspan=2|To be determined
|-
| 2034
|-
!Total
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!18
!2
!0
!16
!5
!74
|}
AFC Asian Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=9|AFC Asian Cup record
!width=1% rowspan=39|
!colspan=6|AFC Asian Cup qualification
|-
!Year
!Result
!Position
!
!
!*
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| 1956 ||colspan=8 rowspan=4|Did not enter || colspan="6" rowspan="4" |Did not enter
|-
| 1960
|-
| 1964
|-
| 1968
|-
| 1972||colspan=8 rowspan=2|Did not qualify
|3||0||0||3||0||27
|-
| 1976
|3||0||0||3||1||19
|-
| 1980||colspan=8 rowspan=2|Withdrew
|colspan=6 rowspan=2|Withdrew
|-
| 1984
|-
| 1988||colspan=8 rowspan=3|Did not enter
|colspan=6 rowspan=3|Did not enter
|-
| 1992
|-
| 1996
|-
| 2000||colspan=8 rowspan=2|Did not qualify
|3||0||0||3||0||11
|-
| 2004
|2||0||1||1||1||6
|-
| 2007||colspan=8|Did not enter
|colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 2011||colspan=8|Did not qualify
|colspan=6 |AFC Challenge Cup
|-
| 2015||colspan=8|Withdrew
|colspan=6|Withdrew
|-
| 2019||colspan=8 rowspan=3|Did not qualify
|2||1||0||1||1||2
|-
| 2023
|2||1||0||1||2||3
|-
| 2027
|10
|3
|0
|7
|7
|34
|-
!Total||–||0/18||−||−||−||−||−||−
!25||4||1||20||11||102
|}
Asian Games
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=9|Asian Games Record
|-
!Year||Result||M||W||D||L||GF||GA
|-
|1951–1998||colspan=7| Did not enter
|-
|2002–present ||colspan=7|See Brunei national under-23 football team
|-
!Total !! 0/13 !! colspan=6| —
|}
AFC Challenge Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"
!colspan=8|AFC Challenge Cup
|-
!Year
!Round
!GP
!W
!D
!L
!GF
!GA
|-
| 2006 || Group stage||3||1||1||1||2||2
|-
| 2008 || colspan=7 rowspan=2| Did not qualify
|-
| 2010
|-
| 2012 || colspan=7| Suspended
|-
| 2014 || colspan=7| Withdrew
|-
!Total||Best: Group stage ||3||1||1||1||2||2
|}
AFC Solidarity Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"
!colspan=8|AFC Solidarity Cup
|-
!Year
!Result
!GP
!W
!D
!L
!GF
!GA
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 2016 || Fourth place ||4||1||1||2||7||7
|-
!Total||Best: Fourth place ||4||1||1||2||7||7
|}
ASEAN Championship
This competition was formerly known as the Tiger Cup and afterwards the AFF Championship
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;font-size:100%;"
!colspan=9|ASEAN Championship record
!rowspan=39|
!colspan=7|Qualification record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| 1996 || Group stage || 8th || 4 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 1 || 15
|colspan=6| No qualification
|-
| 1998|| colspan=8| Did not qualify
|2||0||0||2||2||6
|-
| 2000|| colspan=8| Withdrew || colspan=6| Withdrew
|-
| 2002|| colspan=8 rowspan=2| Did not enter || colspan=6 rowspan=2| Did not enter
|-
| 2004
|-
| 2007|| colspan=8 rowspan=2|Did not qualify
|4||1||1||2||6||11
|-
| 2008
|4||1||1||2||8||7
|-
| 2010|| colspan=8|Suspended || colspan=6|Suspended
|-
| 2012|| colspan=8 rowspan=4|Did not qualify
|4||2||0||2||6||7
|-
| 2014
|4||0||0||4||5||12
|-
| 2016
|3||1||0||2||5||8
|-
| 2018
|2||1||0||1||2||3
|-
| 2020|| colspan=8|Withdrew || colspan=6 |Withdrew
|-
| 2022 || Group stage || 10th || 4 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 2 || 22
|2||1||0||1||6||3
|-
| 2024|| colspan=8|Did not qualify || |2||0||1||1||0||1
|-
| 2026|| colspan=8|To be determined || colspan=6 |To be determined
|-
! Total || Group stage || || 8 || 1 || 0 || 7 || 3 || 37
! 27||7||3||17||40||58
|}
Head-to-head record
Honours
Friendly
- Borneo Cup (3): 1968, 1981, 1987
Awards
- ASEAN Championship Fair Play Award (1): 1996