Solomon Islands national football team

Solomon Islands
Nickname(s)	Bonitos
Association	Solomon Islands Football Federation
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Felipe Vega-Arango
Captain	Micah Lea'alafa
Most caps	Henry Fa'arodo (64)
Top scorer	Commins Menapi (34)
Home stadium	Lawson Tama Stadium
FIFA code	SOL
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	147 1 (19 December 2024)
Highest	120 (October 2007, April 2008)
Lowest	200 (January–March 2016)
First international
	Solomon Islands 6–3 New Hebrides ; (Suva, Fiji; 30 August 1963)
Biggest win
	Solomon Islands 16–0 Cook Islands ; (Papeete, Tahiti; 21 August 1995)
Biggest defeat
	Tahiti 18–0 Solomon Islands ; (Suva, Fiji; 8 December 1963)
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances	7 (first in 1980)
Best result	Runners-up, 2004

The Solomon Islands national football team is the national football team of the Solomon Islands, administered by the Solomon Islands Football Federation. The Solomon Islands national football team was founded in 1978. They were officially recognised by FIFA a decade later, in 1988.^[3]

History

During the 2004 Oceania World Cup qualification/Oceania Cup the team drew 2–2 with Australia and qualified for the second leg. In the second leg, the Solomon Islands national men's team was humiliated by Australia 5–1 and 6–0 in the two matches, with Australia qualifying for the 2005 Confederations Cup.

The Solomons got a second chance against the Socceroos in a two-legged series in September 2005, this time with the winner advancing to a two-legged series against CONMEBOL's fifth-place finisher for a berth in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and the team was thrashed by Australia 7–0 on the first leg and 2–1 in the second played at home.

The Solomons were knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup – having got off to a good start winning every game in their qualifying group and comfortably progressing to the knockout rounds, defeats to New Caledonia and then to Vanuatu saw them knocked out of the competition.

In 2012, the Solomon Islands held the 2012 OFC Nations Cup which was also the second round of World Cup qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup where they finished in fourth place after qualifying through to the knockout stage by defeating Papua New Guinea and having draws against Fiji and New Zealand. They lost in the semi-final after they lost to the champions Tahiti after Jonathan Tehau scored the only goal. They later lost to New Zealand in the third-place playoff. The third round of World Cup qualifying saw the team finish bottom of the group after only taking one win against Tahiti.

After first taking charge of the team in 2017, Spaniard Felipe Vega-Arango was appointed for his second stint in June 2021.^[4]

Kit sponsorship

Kit lier	Period
Lotto	2004–2012
Pasifika	2013–2016
Veto	2016–2021
UCAN	2022–

Results and fixtures

In March 2022, the Solomon Islands will play their first matches since they took part in the 2019 Pacific Games.

2022

3 March Unofficial Friendly	Brisbane Roar	0–1	Solomon Islands	Gold Coast
19:30 AEST (UTC+10:00)				Stadium: Gold Coast Sports & Leisure Centre

5 March Unofficial Friendly	Caboolture Sports FC	2–1	Solomon Islands	Burpengary
19:00 AEST (UTC+10:00)				Stadium: Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex

8 March Unofficial Friendly	Queensland Lions FC	2–4	Solomon Islands	Richlands
19:30 AEST (UTC+10:00)				Stadium: Lions Stadium

17 March 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Cook Islands	0–2	Solomon Islands	Doha, Qatar
17:00 UTC+3		Report	Atkin Kaua 20' Alwin Hou 45+1'	Stadium: Al Arabi Stadium Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea)

20 March 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Solomon Islands	Cancelled^[a]	Vanuatu	Doha, Qatar
20:00 UTC+3				Stadium: Al Arabi Stadium

24 March 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Solomon Islands	v	Tahiti	Doha, Qatar
17:00 UTC+3				Stadium: Qatar SC Stadium

Coaching staff

Position
Head coach	Felipe Vega-Arango
Assistant coach	Eddie Marahare
Goalkeeper coach	Zantas Kabini
Kit Manager	Augustine Hou
Team Manager	Patrick Miniti

Coaching history

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Edward Ngara (1995–1996)
Wilson Maelaua (1996)
George Cowie (2000–2003)
Alan Gillett (2004–2005)
Ayrton Andrioli (2006–2009)
Jacob Moli (2010–2014)^[6]
Moses Toata (2015–2016)^[7]
Felipe Vega-Arango (2017)
Moses Toata (2018–2019)
Wim Rijsbergen (2019)
Stanley Waita (2020–2021)
Felipe Vega-Arango (2021–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the FIFA World Cup qualification matches in March 2022.^[8]

Caps and goals updated as of 17 March 2022, after the match against Cook Islands.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Philip Mango	(1995-08-28) 28 August 1995 (age 29)	23	0	Ajax Cape Town
1GK	Harold Nauania	(1997-10-10) 10 October 1997 (age 27)	0	0	UD Almenia
1GK	Junior Petua	(2003-12-30) 30 December 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Rangers

2DF	Hadisi Aengari	(1988-10-23) 23 October 1988 (age 36)	40	0	Cádiz CF
2DF	Ian Kalu	(1999-07-16) 16 July 1999 (age 25)	1	0	Grasshopper
2DF	Leon Kofana	(2002-06-22) 22 June 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Al-Wasl
2DF	Prince Tahunipue	(1995-01-13) 13 January 1995 (age 29)	1	0	AS Roma
2DF	Junior David	(2001-09-22) 22 September 2001 (age 23)	0	0	AEK Athens
2DF	Javin Wae	(2002-11-17) 17 November 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Central Coast
2DF	David Supa	(2000-12-21) 21 December 2000 (age 24)	0	0	Vfl Wolfsburg
2DF	Ronny Mani	(1989-11-23) 23 November 1989 (age 35)	0	0	Sheriff Tiraspol

3MF	Jerry Donga	(1991-01-31) 31 January 1991 (age 33)	27	4	Charleroi
3MF	Gagame Feni	(1992-08-21) 21 August 1992 (age 32)	26	13	Copenhagen
3MF	Atkin Kaua	(1996-04-04) 4 April 1996 (age 28)	22	5	Kuwait SC
3MF	Micah Lea'alafa (captain)	(1991-06-01) 1 June 1991 (age 33)	16	6	Mallorca
3MF	Alwin Hou	(1996-09-18) 18 September 1996 (age 28)	5	3	Solomon Warriors
3MF	Tigi Molea	(1992-09-24) 24 September 1992 (age 32)	3	0	Porto
3MF	William Komasi	(2000-06-10) 10 June 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Molde FK
3MF	Don Keana	(2000-09-09) 9 September 2000 (age 24)	1	0	HJK
3MF	Molis Junior Gagame	(1999-09-14) 14 September 1999 (age 25)	0	0	Mainz 05
3MF	Carlos Liomasia	(1994-09-17) 17 September 1994 (age 30)	0	0	Real Kakamora

4FW	Joses Nawo	(1988-05-03) 3 May 1988 (age 36)	34	7	Stoke City
4FW	Adrian Mara	(1998-08-01) 1 August 1998 (age 26)	4	4	KV Oostende
4FW	Raphael Lea'i	(2003-09-09) 9 September 2003 (age 21)	1	0	SD Eibar
4FW	Ali Mekawir	(2000-07-27) 27 July 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Sparta Rotterdam

Player records

As of 17 March 2022^[9]

Players in bold are still active with Solomon Islands.

Most capped players

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Henry Fa'arodo	64	20	2002–2017
2	Benjamin Totori	52	29	2007–2019
3	Hadisi Aengari	40	0	2011–present
4	Nelson Sale Kilifa	37	0	2004–2017
5	Commins Menapi	36	34	2000–2007
5	Batram Suri	36	14	1995–2005
7	Joses Nawo	34	7	2011–present
8	Gideon Omokirio	32	4	1996–2007
9	Stanley Waita	31	5	2000–2007
10	Jack Samani	28	6	2000–2007

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Commins Menapi	34	36	0.94	2000–2007
2	Benjamin Totori	29	52	0.56	2007–2019
3	Henry Fa'arodo	20	64	0.31	2002–2017
4	Batram Suri	14	36	0.39	1995–2005
5	Gagame Feni	13	26	0.5	2012–present
6	Noel Berry	10	14	0.71	1995–2000
7	Joses Nawo	7	34	0.21	2011–present
8	Robert Seni	6	14	0.43	1996–2003
	Micah Lea'alafa	6	16	0.38	2016–present
	Alick Maemae	6	19	0.32	2004–2007
	Jack Samani	6	28	0.21	2000–2007

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1990	Did not participate								Did not participate
1994	Did not qualify								GS	4	0	1	3	5	13
1998									GS	8	3	3	2	22	23
2002									GS	4	2	0	2	17	10
2006									P/O	11	6	2	3	24	18
2010									4th	6	4	0	2	23	6
2014									4th	11	2	2	7	10	27
2018									P/O	10	4	1	5	11	18
2022	To be determined								To be determined
2026	To be determined								To be determined
Total	–	0/21	–	–	–	–	–	–		54	21	9	24	112	115

Oceania Nations Cup record

OFC Nations Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Did not enter
1980	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	3	21
1996	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	1	3
1998	Did not qualify
2000	Third place	3rd	4	2	0	2	7	10
2002	Group stage	6th	3	0	1	2	3	9
2004	Runners-up	2nd	7	3	1	3	10	17
2008	Did not qualify
2012	Fourth place	4th	5	1	2	2	5	6
2016	Fourth place	4th	4	1	0	3	2	4
2020	Cancelled
Total	Runners-up	7/10	28	7	4	17	31	70

Pacific Games record

Pacific Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1963	Fourth place	4th	3	1	0	2	6	26
1966	Round 1	6th	2	0	1	1	4	12
1969	Sixth place	6th	5	0	1	4	8	19
1971	Did not enter
1975	Third place	3rd	4	2	1	1	9	8
1979	Third place	3rd	5	4	0	1	24	5
1983	Round 1	10th	3	1	0	2	0	11
1987	Did not enter
1991	Runners-up	2nd	5	4	1	0	12	3
1995	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	0	2	34	10
2003	Round 1	5th	4	2	1	1	14	4
2007	Fourth place	4th	6	4	0	2	23	6
2011	Runners-up	2nd	7	5	0	2	21	6
2015	See Solomon Islands national under-23 football team
2019	Round 1	7th	5	2	1	2	30	9
Total	Second place	12/15	55	29	6	20	185	119

Wantok Cup record

2008 (July, 1st edition) – First place

Head-to-head record

As of 18 July 2019

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
American Samoa	3	3	0	0	29	1	+28	100.00
Australia	10	0	1	9	8	55	−47	0.00
Chinese Taipei	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Cook Islands	4	4	0	0	35	2	+33	100.00
Fiji	35	5	15	15	38	68	−30	14.29
Guam	3	3	0	0	24	2	+22	100.00
Kiribati	1	1	0	0	7	0	+7	100.00
Macau	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
New Caledonia	25	9	2	14	29	53	−24	36.00
New Zealand	12	0	2	10	11	44	−33	0.00
Papua New Guinea	21	12	4	5	34	26	+8	57.14
Samoa^[b]	3	3	0	0	20	0	+20	100.00
Singapore	1	0	0	1	3	4	−1	0.00
Tahiti	23	4	3	16	23	75	−52	17.39
Tonga	5	5	0	0	31	0	+31	100.00
Tuvalu	4	4	0	0	29	1	+28	100.00
Vanuatu^[c]	33	20	7	6	74	37	+37	60.61
Wallis and Futuna	3	3	0	0	23	1	+22	100.00
Total	188	78	34	76	423	370	+53	41.49

Source: 1963–99 results and 2000–present results
Notes:

^ On 19 March 2022, it was announced that Vanuatu had withdrawn from the tournament due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the Vanuatu squad.^[5]
^ Includes results as Western Samoa.
^ Includes results as New Hebrides.

Honours

Oceania Nations Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2004
- Third place (2): 1996, 2000
South Pacific Games
- Runners-up (3): 1991, 1995, 2011
- Third place (1): 1975, 1979
Wantok Cup
- Winners (1): 2008

References

^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 5 January 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
^ "Member Association – Solomon Islands". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
^ "Solomon Islands appoint new coach". 23 June 2021.
^ https://www.vff.vu/vanuatu-withdraws-from-the-fifa-world-cup-oceania-qualifiers/
^ "FIFA.com". 23 June 2007. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007.
^ "Solomons search for new coach". Oceania Football Confederation. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
^ "Futsal stars, S-League standouts among Solomon Islands squad named for Qatar". 11 February 2022.
^ "Solomon Islands". National Football Teams.

External links

Solomon Islands Football Federation official website

[6] On 19 March 2022, it was announced that Vanuatu had withdrawn from the tournament due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the Vanuatu squad.^[5]

[table_note_SAM0.49941704492058-11] Includes results as Western Samoa.

[table_note_VAN0.49941704492058-12] Includes results as New Hebrides.

[FIFA_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.

[World_Football_Elo_Ratings-2] Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 5 January 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2025.

[3] "Member Association – Solomon Islands". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2018.

[4] "Solomon Islands appoint new coach". 23 June 2021.

[5] ttps://www.vff.vu/vanuatu-withdraws-from-the-fifa-world-cup-oceania-qualifiers/

[7] "FIFA.com". 23 June 2007. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007.

[8] "Solomons search for new coach". Oceania Football Confederation. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.

[9] "Futsal stars, S-League standouts among Solomon Islands squad named for Qatar". 11 February 2022.

[10] "Solomon Islands". National Football Teams.

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v t e National football teams of Oceania (OFC)
OFC Nations Cup
Active	American Samoa Cook Islands FS Micronesia² Fiji Kiribati¹ New Caledonia New Zealand Niue² Palau² Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tahiti Tonga Tuvalu¹ Vanuatu
Former	Australia (moved to AFC in 2006) Northern Mariana Islands³ (moved to AFC in 2009) Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)⁴ (returned to AFC in 1989)
¹ Associate member of OFC - Not a member of FIFA ² Not a member of OFC and consequently not a member of FIFA ³ Northern Mariana Islands was only an associate member of OFC between 1998 and 2009 - Not a member of FIFA ⁴ Although not geographically in Oceania, Chinese Taipei was a member of the OFC between 1976–1978 and 1982–1989 Although not geographically in Oceania Israel entered OFC World Cup qualification in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.