Sri Lanka

In January 1933, an All-Ceylon side lost 0–1 against the touring Indian football team. Though it was an All-Bengal team organised by the IFA, it was a de facto Indian national football team.

In 1939, the Ceylon Football Association was formed.

In 1946 and 1948, Ceylon played against touring Indian sides. In April 1949, the team played two test matches against the touring Indian national football team, losing 0–1 and 1–6 respectively. The same year, Ceylon played two matches against the touring Pakistani team Jinnah Gymkhana, losing 0–4 and 0–1.

In 1952, Ceylon became a member of FIFA. The team participated in the 1952 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament, held in Colombo. Later on, the team also participated in the 1953, 1954 and 1955 editions of the tournament.

In 1956, the team played two test matches against the touring Pakistan national team, losing and drawing once. The next year, Ceylon played against the touring Soviet team Neftyanik.

In 1958, the team toured the far east under the captainship of Tom Ossen.

In January 1960, Ceylon played two test matches against touring soviet club Zenit Leningrad. The next year the team played test matches against touring Soviet club Spartak Praha Sokolovo and Brazilian club Madureira. Ceylon began participating in the Southern Pentangular Tournament, a regional football competition held among Ceylon and leading Indian state teams during the 1960s, later reduced to a quadrangular format in 1970. Ceylon took part in all editions held in 1961 (Bangalore), 1962 (Madras), 1963 (Colombo), 1964 (Andhra Pradesh), 1967 (Colombo), and 1970 (Colombo). The final edition in 1970, played at the Sugathadasa Stadium, saw Ceylon emerge as unbeaten champions, marking one of the national team's earliest major international achievements.

In 1963, Ceylon participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics qualifiers, losing against India in the home and away fixtures. The next year, the team played against the touring East Germany team, recording a 1–12 defeat. The same year, the team also played two tests against touring Indonesia.

On 28 February 1965, Ceylon secured their first international victory on home soil, defeating Pakistan 3–1 in a friendly at the Sugathadasa Stadium. The second friendly match was tied 0–0. The same year, the team toured Indonesia, and also played against German side 1. FC Nürnberg in home venue. In 1967, the team also played against touring American side Dallas Tornado, and Soviet team FK Žalgiris.

In 1966, Ceylon played two friendly matches against touring Burma, losing 0–3 and 1–3.

Ceylon participated in the 1968 Summer Olympics qualifiers, losing against Israel in both home and away fixtures. Later on, the team embarked on a tour in Israel and Germany, playing against local sides including clubs from Palenberg, Essen and Hamburg.

In 1971, the team participated in the 1972 AFC Asian Cup qualification, losing all matches against Iraq, Jordan and Bahrain. The next year, the team again failed to advance at the 1972 Summer Olympics Qualifiers, losing all matches. Later on, the team also participated in the 1972 Jakarta Anniversary Tournament and the 1972 Merdeka Tournament. The same year, the team also played friendlies against Singapore in away venue and China in home. Soviet club Dinamo Tbilisi, who toured Ceylon also played test matches against the Ceylon national side.

In 1979, Sri Lanka featured in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification, 1979 President's Cup Football Tournament and the 1979 King's Cup in Thailand. The team also played against Swedish club Kronängs IF; the tour was organised by Kronängs player Norman Alfonso, a former player of Saunders club of Sri Lanka.

At the 1980 Summer Olympics Qualifiers, Sri Lanka failed to advance after losing against Singapore, North Korea, India, China and Iran.

In 1983, the team played friendlies against Maldives and Singapore. In 1984, after playing a friendly against the touring Maldives, the team participated in the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification. Sri Lanka participated in the 1986 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament held in Islamabad, ending in the fourth position.

At the 1989 South Asian Games, the team failed to advance past the group stage.

The team participated at the 1991 South Asian Games, again ending unsuccessful.

In 1993, Sri Lanka participated for the first time at the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, losing all the matches. The same year, the team participated in the 1993 SAARC Gold Cup and the 1993 South Asian Games, achieving bronze, after defeating Maldives by 3–1 in the third place match.

In 1995, Sri Lanka made history winning the 1995 SAARC Gold Cup, after defeating India in the final by 1–0. At the 1995 South Asian Games, the team achieved bronze, after defeating Nepal in the penalty shootout after a goalless draw. The team also played at the Burma Tournament 1995.

In 1996, the team ended unsuccessful at the 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification and the FIFA World Cup qualification.

At the 1997 SAFF Gold Cup, Sri Lanka was ousted in the semifinal after losing against eventual finalists Maldives. The next year the team played at the Bristol Freedom Cup organised by the Sri Lanka Football Federation. The team eventually lost in the final against India B.

In 1999, Sri Lanka participated in the 1999 SAFF Gold Cup, 1999 South Asian Games and the 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

In 2015, Sri Lanka played for the first time in the Bangabandhu Cup. This tournament was organised by Bangladesh Football Federation. The national U-23 teams of Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia and Singapore participated in this tournament. The national football teams of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also competed in this tournament.

Sri Lanka was placed in the group with Malaysia and Bangladesh. In the first game Sri Lanka played against the Malaysian team. Malaysia won the match by 2–0. The second match was played against the host Bangladesh. Sri Lanka lost the game 1–0. Sri Lanka failed to score a goal in this tournament. After a six years of poor performance in the international football field Sri Lanka football team managed to qualify for the Semi Final of 2015 SAFF Championship. The poor performance continued in the Solidarity Cup as well. They had another shock defeat this time by the hands of Mongolia the lowest ranked team in Asia. As a result of this defeat Sri Lanka eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.

In July 2018, Sri Lanka welcomed a historical encounter when they faced Lithuania, marked for the first time Sri Lanka will face a European team. The Sri Lankans managed a respectable 0–0 draw to the UEFA side but lost 0–2 in the second encounter. During 2022 World Cup campaign however, Sri Lanka suffered another poor performance as the team fell 0–1 in Zhuhai to Macau. Macau was subsequently disqualified, as the team refused to travel to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, Sri Lanka was awarded a 3–0 win in response, thus qualified to the second round of the World Cup for the first time since 2006 campaign.

In the second round, Sri Lanka was unlucky to be drawn with four 2019 AFC Asian Cup participants, South Korea, North Korea, Lebanon and Turkmenistan. As predicted, Sri Lanka proved too weak for the group, losing all matches without scoring a single goal as for the end of 2019, and was eliminated from World Cup contention. Sri Lanka had improved since then, and participated in the 2020 Bangabandhu Cup, but the team still finished bottom with two defeats and no goal.

In February 2020, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka announced the appointment of Bosnian-Australian specialist Amir Alagić as head coach of the national team. Sri Lanka then travelled to South Korea to finish their two remaining games against Lebanon and South Korea, losing both, yet optimism rose when Sri Lanka demonstrated an outstanding performance against Lebanon, scoring two goals and only lost by one goal margin, which was also the country's first-ever goals in the qualification. Alagić resigned as coach of Sri Lanka after the qualification, as Sri Lanka, rated as the weakest team in the group, were eliminated without scoring a point. He was replaced by Scottish manager, Andy Morrison.

On 22 January 2023, FIFA announced the suspension of the FFSL from 21 January 2023 until further notice due to the government interference in football, but was provisionally included in the draw, pending a resolution. Therefore, all teams/clubs affiliated with the FFSL are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions. However, after the issue was settled, the ban was lifted allowing Sri Lanka to take part in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification under a strict condition: FFSL must conduct a new election ten days before the fixture against Yemen; failure to do so would result in automatic disqualification of the team. The suspension was lifted on 29 August 2023.

Sri Lanka then participated in the first round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification facing against Yemen on 12 October 2023 but lost 4–1 on aggregate in the process. In September 2024, Sri Lanka then played in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification play-off round against Cambodia in which the aggregate was tied on 2–2 where Claudio Kammerknecht scored in the 120+2th minute in extra time to send the game to penalties shoot-out. Sri Lanka came out victorious thus qualifying to the third round.

The Sri Lanka national football team began their 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification campaign by integrating players of Sri Lankan origin from overseas, including Claudio Kammerknecht and Marvin Hamilton. Their contributions were pivotal in the team's penalty shoot-out victory over Cambodia in the play-off round, securing a place in the third round.

In September 2024, Kuwaiti head coach Abdullah Al Mutairi was appointed to prepare the team for the next stage of qualification. Sri Lanka is scheduled to play six international friendlies in 2025 to build match fitness and test tactical adjustments ahead of the third round. The third round of qualification will take place in 2025, where Sri Lanka has been drawn into Group D alongside Thailand, Turkmenistan, and Chinese Taipei. On 5 June 2025, Sri Lanka won Chinese Taipei 3–1 on home soil.