Papua New Guinea national under-23 soccer team

Papua New Guinea U23
Nickname(s)Kapuls (Cuscus)
AssociationPapua New Guinea Football Association
ConfederationOFC (Oceania)
Head coachAustralia Warren Moon
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Australia 4–0 Papua New Guinea 
(Melbourne, Australia; May 19, 1991)
Biggest win
 Cook Islands 0–7 Papua New Guinea 
(Lautoka, Fiji; March 7, 2008)
Biggest defeat
 Australia 9–0 Papua New Guinea 
(Sydney, Australia; January 16, 2004)
OFC U23 Championship
Appearances5 (First in 1991)
Best resultFourth place (1991, 1999, 2004, 2008)

The Papua New Guinea national under-23 soccer team, also known as PNG U23, represents Papua New Guinea at U23 tournaments. The team is considered to be the feeder team for the Papua New Guinea national soccer team

History

PNG U23 made five appearances so far at the OFC U23 Championship. Their best result was third place, achieved at the 2015 Pacific Games.

OFC

The OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament is a tournament held once every four years to decide the only qualification spot for Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and representatives at the Olympic Games.

OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Year Round Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Fiji 1991 Fourth place 6 0 1 5 4 19 -15 1
Australia 1996 Did not enter
New Zealand 1999 Fourth place 4 1 0 3 3 11 -8 3
Australia 2004 Group Stage 4 0 1 3 7 21 -14 1
Fiji 2008 Fourth place 5 2 0 3 18 20 -2 6
New Zealand 2012 Fourth place 4 1 0 3 3 5 -2 3
Papua New Guinea 2015 Semi-finals 4 1 0 3 3 6 -3 3
Fiji 2019 Group Stage 3 1 0 2 8 7 +1 3
New Zealand 2023 Group Stage 2 0 0 2 0 5 -5 0
Total Semi-Finals 32 6 2 24 46 94 -48 20

Fixtures & results

2019

Vanuatu  v  Papua New Guinea
22 September 2019 (2019-09-22) 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage Vanuatu  3-1  Papua New Guinea Fiji Lautoka, Fiji
12:00
Report
  • Togubai 56'
 Stadium: Churchill Park
Attendance: 150
Referee: New Zealand Matthew Conger
Fiji  v  Papua New Guinea
25 September 2019 (2019-09-25) 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage Fiji  3-1  Papua New Guinea Fiji Lautoka, Fiji
15:00
Report
  • Simongi 66'
 Stadium: Churchill Park
Attendance: 250
Referee: New Zealand Nick Waldron
Papua New Guinea  v  Tonga
28 September 2019 (2019-09-28) 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage Papua New Guinea  6-1  Tonga Fiji Lautoka, Fiji
12:00
  • Kepo 11', 73'
  • Togubai 45', 49' (p)
  • Purari 55'
  • Malafu 72' (o.g.)
 Report Stadium: Churchill Park
Referee: New Zealand Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh

Current technical staff

Position
Head coach Australia Warren Moon
Assistant coach Papua New Guinea David Muta
Team manager Papua New Guinea Gordon Manub

Current squad

The following players were called to the squad for the 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament from 21 September - 5 October 2019.
Caps and goals updated as of 28 September 2019 after the match against the  Tonga.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Jordan Tobem (1997-08-28) 28 August 1997 (age 26) 2 0 Papua New Guinea Morobe United
18 1GK Jonathan Pole (1999-01-19) 19 January 1999 (age 25) 1 0 Papua New Guinea Morobe United
20 1GK Jerry Seriba (1999-05-15) 15 May 1999 (age 24) 1 0 Papua New Guinea Kagua Erave
2 2DF Peter Dabinyaba Jr. (1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 27) 3 0 Papua New Guinea Vitiaz United
3 2DF Carlos Onne (1999-07-04) 4 July 1999 (age 24) 3 0 Papua New Guinea Hekari United
4 2DF Gimale Essacu (1997-07-04) 4 July 1997 (age 26) 4 0 United States Western Illinois University
5 2DF Rupa Amil (1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 26) 1 0 Papua New Guinea Gulf Komara
14 2DF Gabby Yanum (1997-02-05) 5 February 1997 (age 27) 3 0 Papua New Guinea Bougainville
17 2DF Edward Joshua (1999-01-04) 4 January 1999 (age 25) 1 0 Papua New Guinea Lae City
2DF Felix Komolong (1997-03-06) 6 March 1997 (age 27) 6 0 Papua New Guinea Lae City
6 3MF Timothy Mali (1998-06-19) 19 June 1998 (age 25) 0 0 Papua New Guinea FC Bougainville
7 3MF Gregory Togubai (1998-03-22) 22 March 1998 (age 26) 3 3 Papua New Guinea Hekari United
8 3MF Freddy Kepo (1998-04-19) 19 April 1998 (age 26) 3 2 Papua New Guinea Hekari United
11 3MF Bernard Purari (1997-05-10) 10 May 1997 (age 26) 3 1 Papua New Guinea Bougainville
12 3MF Emmanuel Simongi (2000-09-25) 25 September 2000 (age 23) 3 1 Papua New Guinea Kutubu
13 3MF Joseph Waiwai (2001-03-07) 7 March 2001 (age 23) 1 0 Papua New Guinea Star Mountain
15 3MF Yagi Yasasa (2000-08-17) 17 August 2000 (age 23) 3 0 Papua New Guinea Vitiaz United
19 3MF Ernest Gwaitep (1997-12-22) 22 December 1997 (age 26) 2 0 Papua New Guinea Lae City
9 4FW Pokana Mea (1997-05-14) 14 May 1997 (age 26) 2 0 Papua New Guinea Gulf Komara
10 4FW Franck Toboroyan (1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 (age 26) 0 0 Papua New Guinea Hekari United
16 4FW Tyran Vapara (1997-07-24) 24 July 1997 (age 26) 3 0 Papua New Guinea Southern Strikers

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