Laos established their national football association in 1951. The South-east Asian nation is still waiting to make its entrance into a major international competition. Laos have never qualified for theFIFA World Cup,AFC Asian Cup orAsian Games and as an international side, their appearances have been restricted to regional tournaments such as theSoutheast Asian Games and theAFF Championship. After years of internal strife, Laos focused on economic and political recovery. With the country achieving political stability, football has made an impact on Laotians.[6][7]
Since making their appearance at the1995 Southeast Asian Games, Laos has competed in the inaugural1996 AFF Championship, drawing againstVietnam 1–1 and winning againstCambodia 1–0. Although they are new to the regional tournaments, Laos has displayed a fiery passion and talent. In 1995, they beatBrunei andPhilippines and two years later in the1997 Southeast Asian Games held in Jakarta, they also beatMalaysia 1–0 andPhilippines 4–1. Domestic competitions are also active with over 60 clubs competing at various levels. Domestic football is amateur although most of the top teams are drawn from government ministries and public services. In the qualifying preliminary rounds for the2004 Asian Cup, Laos beatBangladesh 2–1. In the2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, Laos qualified for thesecond round as a lucky loser afterGuam andNepal both withdrew from the competition, but proceeded to lose all its games (againstQatar,Iran andJordan).[8] They also advanced to thesecond round of the2014 FIFA World Cup qualification for the2014 FIFA World Cup, after defeatingCambodia 8–6 on aggregate. In the second round, they lost toChina 13–3 on aggregate. Laos has defeated their much more established counterparts such as Brunei, Cambodia, Philippines,Singapore and Malaysia. Laos' first appearance in a continental tournament was in 2014, when they played at the2014 AFC Challenge Cup.[9][10] In 2016, Laos were invited to the inaugural2016 AFC Solidarity Cup held inKuching being grouped withMacau,Sri Lanka andMongolia. In the first match, Laos won Sri Lanka 2–0 before losing to Macau 1–4 but bounced back with another win against Mongolia 3–0 sending the team to the knockout stage. They would go on to face Nepal in the semi-finals and were 2–2 at the end of extra time but lost in the penalty shootout, thus bowing out from the cup.
In 2023, Laos participated in the first round of the2026 FIFA World Cup qualification facing againstNepal. On 12 October 2023, Laos contested in a 1–1 draw at theDasharath Rangasala inKathmandu but lost 1–0 at home suffering a 2–1 aggregate. Laos would then go on to play in the2024 ASEAN Championship after playing just two friendlies match against Malaysia and Thailand in November 2024 right before the tournament began.
Laos's current kit sponsor isJogarbola. The contract started in June 2025. Laos was also previously sponsored byAdidas,FBT,Deffo,Evo andGrand Sport. The traditional home colour for the team is all red with white trim and the away colour is all white with red trim. Occasionally, the team wore dark blue short as home jersey and all blue as away jerseys.
INJ Withdrew from the squad due to injury PRE Included in the preliminary squad or on standby RET Retired from the team SUS Serving suspension from the team WD Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue