Following Lesotho's independence from theUnited Kingdom in 1966, theLesotho Football Association was created, and later, the Lesotho national football team, which played its first match on 7 August 1970 againstMalawi, where Lesotho won 2-1.
Lesotho won their first ever qualification tie during the1994 AFCON qualifiers, beatingBotswana 4–0 on aggregate, with all four goals coming in the second leg in Botswana. With this victory they entered the group stage of qualifying, managing to draw againstKenya (2–2),Zaire (1–1), andMozambique (1–1) at home, but losing all three away fixtures to finish bottom of the group.
Lesotho withdrew from the1996 AFCON qualification and was subsequently banned from the next tournament therefore next entered the2000 AFCON qualifiers, losing in the first round toMauritius. Lesotho qualified for the1999 COSAFA Cup after beatingNamibia 1–0, but lost to eventual winnersAngola 0–1 in the quarter-finals. The following year Lesotho produced their best ever finish at the2000 COSAFA Cup, only qualifying for the tournament via disciplinary record. They beatZambia 3–1 on penalties before scoring two late goals againstAngola in the semi-finals to win 2–1. In the final they lost 3–0 twice across two legs toZimbabwe to finish as runners-up.
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.
^The South Africa v Lesotho match originally finished as a 2–0 win for South Africa. However, on 29 September 2025, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee awarded the match as a 3–0 win to Lesotho as South Africa fielded the ineligible playerTeboho Mokoena. TheSouth African Football Association were also finedCHF 10,000.[3]