The Mongolia national football team represents Mongolia in international football and is controlled by the Mongolian Football Federation.
Founded in 1959, the association was inactive between 1960 and 1998 when the team did not feature in any international fixtures. The Mongolian Football Federation is a member of the Asian Football Confederation and the East Asian Football Federation. The team has never participated in the FIFA World Cup, and the only major international tournaments the team has taken part in are the 1998 Asian Games and 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, not progressing past the group stage in either competition.
History Mongolia's first international fixture was a 12–0 loss to Japan during a match in Manchukuo in 1942. Between 1960 and 1998, the Mongolia team played no international matches before being accepted as a FIFA member in 1998. Mongolia's first competitive matches were in the 1998 Asian Games qualifiers where they were heavily defeated by Kuwait 11–0, and by Uzbekistan 15–0.
They entered qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but lost their opening five matches before drawing 2–2 with Bangladesh, securing a single point. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Mongolia was drawn against the Maldives and though they remained competitive after the first leg, only losing 1–0 at home, they were crushed in the second leg in Malé 12–0 and eliminated. In the first round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Mongolia was beaten 9–2 on aggregate by North Korea, and four years later in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Mongolia lost to Myanmar 2–1. Mongolia then lost in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to Timor-Leste; however, they were later awarded two 3–0 victories as Timor-Leste had fielded numerous ineligible players. This came after the second round matches had been played; therefore, Mongolia did not advance in the competition.
According to the voting outcome at the AFC Congress held in January 2011, the Mongolian Football Federation was suspended to conduct any activities at the EAFF until the EAFF Ordinary Congress of March 2014. They were welcomed back to the federation at the 7th Ordinary Congress and 41st and 42nd Executive Committee Meeting of the EAFF.
For Mongolia, their next tournament was the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, a tournament for the confederation's lowest ranked teams who have limited opportunities to arrange friendly matches, in November 2016. The tournament would replace the defunct AFC Challenge Cup. Being drawn in Group B alongside Sri Lanka, Macau, and Laos, Mongolia finished third in the group with a loss to Laos in the final match-day ending their chances of qualifying through to the semi-finals.
Mongolia then hosted their first international with the EAFF Annual Meeting advising that Mongolia would host the Round 1 of qualification for the East Asian Football Championship After comfortable wins in its first two matches, Mongolia needed only a single point against Guam on the final matchday to secure a place in the second round of the tournament for the first time ever. After a scoreless first half, Guam took the lead in the 89th minute. However, in the fourth minute of stoppage time a Norjmoo Tsedenbal strike rescued a point for Mongolia which was enough for the team to earn the top spot in the group and advance. Mongolia's 9–0 result over the Northern Mariana Islands set the current team record for largest margin of victory
Mongolia succeeded in qualifying past the first round for the first time in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers by beating Brunei 3–2 over two legs. In the second round, following a 14–0 defeat to Japan on 30 March 2021, they let head coach Rastislav Božik go and hired Shuichi Mase as their new head coach. In their next game on 7 June, Mongolia managed to shock Kyrgyzstan 1–0 for their first ever win against a Central Asian and a top-100 ranked opponent in a FIFA qualifier. This win meant that the national team competed in 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifying in the third-round where they only would get the one win against Yemen. In March 2023, Mongolia recorded its highest-ever FIFA ranking of 183rd.
Team image
Nicknames The Mongolian national team is often nicknamed the Blue Wolves. The blue wolf is a symbol of Turkic and Mongolian people, and originates from the Mongolian legend of the blue wolf. The team has also been known as the "Shegshee", which translates as "national team" in Mongolian.
Kits and crest Currently, the Mongolian national football team uses an all-white uniform as their first colours, and a blue uniform as their second colours. In August 2021 it was announced that Mongolian sportswear company TG Sport had signed a two-year deal with the Mongolian Football Federation to provide kits for all Mongolian national teams.
Kelme is currently the official jerseys sponsor for the team from 2023
Home stadium Mongolia plays their home matches at the MFF Football Centre, a 5,000 capacity stadium in Ulaanbaatar. The stadium boasts an artificial playing surface.
Results and fixtures
2026
Coaching staff
PositionNameTeam Manager Temuulen TerbishHead Coach Marco RaginiAssistant coach Sükhnaagiin Otgonbayar Zorigtyn Battulga Tserenjavyn EnkhjargalGoalkeeper coach Dorjmoogiin GanboldTeam Doctor Samatyn BakhtiyarPhysiotherapist Khürelbaataryn TsakhiaMedia Officer Mönkh-Erdeniin Khaltmaa
Coaching statistics NameNatPeriodMatchesWinsDrawsLossesWin % Pavel Sevastyanov 1958–1960 3 0 0 3 0% none 1961–19921994–1997 National football team does not exist Lkhamsürengiin Dorjsüren 1993, 199820020% Luvsandorjiin Sandagdorj February 1999 – January 2000 0 0 0 0 0%Ishdorjiin Otgonbayar January 2000 – January 2011 31 7 4 21 17% Sandagdorjiin Erdenebat January 2011 – July 2014 4 2 0 2 50% Vojislav Bralušić July 2014 – January 2015 3 1 0 2 33.3% Sanjmyataviin Purevsukh January 2015 – 2016 5 1 1 3 20% Zorigtyn Battulga May 2016 3 1 1 1 33% Toshiaki Imai October 2016 – January 2017 3 1 0 2 33.3% Michael Weiß March 2017 – 24 January 2020 12 5 3 11 26.3% Vojislav Bralušić (interim) 27 January 2020 – 18 September 2020 0 0 0 0 0.0% Rastislav Božik 18 September 2020 – 8 April 2021 0 0 0 2 0.0% Shuichi Mase 8 April 2021 – 17 December 2021 1 1 0 0 100.0% Otsuka Ichiro 17 December 2021 – 26 August 2024 16 2 2 12 12.50% Bayasgalangiin Garidmagnai 28 August 2024–present 0 0 0 0 0%
Players
Current squad The following players were called up for the Football at the 2026 Asian Games matches against Singapore and Hong Kong on 31 May and 5 June 2026.
Caps and goals are correct as of 5 June 2026, after the match against Hong Kong.
Recent call-ups The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.
Notes INJ = Withdrew due to injury. PRE = Preliminary squad/standby. RET = Retired from the national team. SUS = Serving suspension. WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
Player records
Players in bold are still active with Mongolia.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer 1 Tsend-Ayuush Khürelbaatar 49 1 2007–present2 Garidmagnai Bayasgalan 35 2 2003–2019 Donorovyn Lümbengarav 35 8 2000–2014 Norjmoogiin Tsedenbal 35 7 2009–2021 5 Naranbold Nyam-Osor 33 9 2014–present 6 Törböt Daginaa 28 2 2015–present Tserenjavyn Enkhjargal 28 0 2000–2016 Mönkh-Orgil Orkhon 28 1 2017–present9 Baljinnyam Batbold 26 4 2018–present Davaajav Battör 26 0 2016–2021 Ganboldyn Bilgüün 26 0 2013–present Ganbaataryn Tögsbayar 26 6 2003–2015
Top goalscorers
RankNameGoalsCapsRatioCareer1Naranbold Nyam-Osor9332014–present2Donorovyn Lümbengarav8352003–20143Tögöldör Mönkh-Erdengiin7262013–presentNorjmoogiin Tsedenbal7352009–20215Ganbaataryn Tögsbayar6262003–20116Oyuunbatyn Bayarjargal4102013–2018Davaagiin Bayarzorig4192000–2007Gankhuyag Serodyanjiv4222016–presentBaljinnyam Batbold4262018–present10Boldyn Buman-Uchral3112000–2005Narmandakh Artag3192018–present
Competitive record FIFA World Cup FIFA World CupQualificationYearResultPosition 1930 Team did not existTeam did not exist 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 Not a member of FIFANot a member of FIFA 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 Did not qualify6015222 20062002013 2010200229 2014210112 2018200215 2022 10307629 2026 200202 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034Total0000002641211282
AFC Asian Cup AFC Asian Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPosition** 1956 to 1996 Not an AFC memberNot an AFC member 2000Did not qualify3003110 2004211050 2007Did not enterDid not enter 2011Did not qualifyAFC Challenge Cup 2015 2019200215 202313409831 2027410336Total0 Titles0/170000002461171852
AFC Solidarity Cup AFC Solidarity Cup recordYearRound* 2016 Group stage310235 2020CancelledTotalBest: Group stage310235
AFC Challenge Cup AFC Challenge Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPosition** 2006 Did not participateDid not participate 2008 2010 Did not qualify210133 2012210123 2014301215Total0 Titles0/50000007214611
Asian Games Asian Games recordYearResultMWDLGFGA 1951-1994Did not participate 1998Group stage20020262002–presentSee Mongolia national under-23 football teamTotal1/132002026
EAFF E-1 Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship recordQualification recordYearResultPosition** 2003 Did not qualify4103216 20054112413 2008311159 2010320163 2013Suspended by EAFFSuspended by EAFF 2015 Did not qualify310265 20173111104 201962131713 2022Did not participateNot held 2025Did not qualify200207 2028To be determined 2030To be determinedTotal0 Titles0/80000002894155070
Notes
References
External links
FIFA profile AFC profile Mongolian Football Central Team profile on WorldFootball.net