# Tibet national football team

The Tibet national football team is a football team that represents the cultural region of Tibet in non-FIFA international tournaments, and is organized by the Tibetan National Football Association (TNFA), an organization of exiled Tibetans.
Many of the players are in exile and represent the Tibetan Government in Exile. The team is part of neither FIFA nor the AFC and does not participate in international tournaments. The TNFA was founded in 2001 and its goal is to gain an official status.

## History
### The Forbidden Team

The first international game against a non-Asian team was versus Greenland, which took place in Denmark. The team was followed by a documentary film crew during the process of forming the team, practicing, playing the match, and events in between. The documentary was titled 'The Forbidden Team'. To form the team, a selective tournament was held in Dehradun, India, featuring all the various Tibetan football teams around India.
After the team was selected, Team Tibet headed to Dharamsala to begin practice sessions. Jens Espense was hired by the Tibetan Football Association to coach the team for the match. He had only a month to get the players conditioned and ready to play, despite the team not yet playing at even a minor league level. Moreover, the pitch was in poor condition and only half of it could be used, as it was located on a public road. During practice, Karma Nyodup was working to complete all documentation or the flight to Greenland. A number of players were subsequently dropped due to improper travel documents.
After a month, the team flew to Denmark for its first international game, which was organized by Michael Nybrandt. He was also advocating for Tibet at a time when the Chinese government officials had made it clear that they did not want this match to happen as they believed Tibet belonged to China. They threatened to cut off all of China's trade with Denmark if the match went ahead as planned. Denmark, despite all of this, allowed the game to take place. And on June 30, 2001, the Tibetan National Football Team played its first international match in which it lost 1– 4 against Greenland.

### FIFI Wild Cup (Hamburg, Germany) and ELF Cup (Northern Cyprus)

The 2006 FIFI Wild Cup took place in Hamburg, Germany. The first match they played was against St. Pauli on 30 May 2006. They lost this game 7–0. The second and final match of Tibet in this tournament was against Gibraltar on 31 May 2006 and lost the game 5–0. During the ELF Cup Tibet played three games, the first game was against Tajikistan on 19, November 2006 in which they lost 3–0. And on the 20th of November, Tibet played the Crimean Tatars, and lost 1–0. In their final match, Tibet played Northern Cyprus, and lost 10–0.

### International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes

During 2013, Tibet was invited to Marseille, France from June 22 to June 29 in order to take part in the inaugural World Tournament of Peoples, Cultures, and Tribes.
The Tibetan team came in fifth place when the competition was over.

### 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup

For the first time in its history, the Tibetan selection participated in the ConIFA World Football Cup in 2018 by qualifying with the wild card.

### 2023 CONIFA Asia Cup

Tibet participated in the CONIFA Asia Cup in 2023. They lost 5-4 to Hmong FF in their first match, and then lost 3-1 to Tamil Eelam in their next match, which would get them eliminated. However, they qualified for the CONIFA World Cup 2024.

## Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the 2023 Conifa Asian Football Cup in Alcochete.
Head Coach: Gompo Dorjee
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 18 | 1GK | Tenzin Samdup | (1992-12-23) 23 December 1992 (age 31) | 9 | 0 | Namdhari FC |
| 1 | 1GK | Tashi Dorjee | (1995-06-19) 19 June 1995 (age 29) | 1 | 0 | Unattached |
| 21 | 1GK | Gyaltzen Vangchuk | (1998-06-28) 28 June 1998 (age 26) | 0 | 0 | Unattached |
| 4 | 2DF | Tenzing Vangyal | (1995-09-04) 4 September 1995 (age 29) | 2 | 0 | Snowlion FC |
| 3 | 2DF | Tenlha Palden | (2004-07-20) 20 July 2004 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Cholsum FC |
| 15 | 2DF | Choying Dorjee | (2004-09-15) 15 September 2004 (age 20) | 2 | 0 | Unattached |
| 5 | 2DF | Tenzingh Dhondhen | (1994-12-13) 13 December 1994 (age 29) | 4 | 1 | Dhodupling Fc |
| 12 | 2DF | Karma Sherap | (1992-05-10) 10 May 1992 (age 32) | 1 | 0 | Bhoepa United |
| 8 | 3MF | Tsering Phurba | (1991-11-25) 25 November 1991 (age 33) | 9 | 0 | Yak Boyz Paris |
| 6 | 3MF | Tenzin Jigmey | (1992-01-10) 10 January 1992 (age 32) | 2 | 0 | Unattached |
| 11 | 3MF | Tenpa Lhundup | (1991-12-21) 21 December 1991 (age 32) | 4 | 0 | Dhondupling FC |
| 20 | 3MF | Tenzin Vosal | (2004-01-17) 17 January 2004 (age 20) | 1 | 0 | Cholsum FC |
| 16 | 3MF | Tenzin Loden | (2002-05-09) 9 May 2002 (age 22) | 1 | 0 | Unattached |
| 13 | 3MF | Tenzing Rigdrol | (2004-11-12) 12 November 2004 (age 20) | 1 | 0 | Unattached |
| 19 | 4FW | Lodoe Dava | (1997-12-24) 24 December 1997 (age 26) | 1 | 0 | Cholsum FC |
| 14 | 4FW | Pema Norbu | (2002-11-18) 18 November 2002 (age 22) | 2 | 1 | Unattached |
| 10 | 4FW | Pema Lhundup | (1996-02-11) 11 February 1996 (age 28) | 9 | 1 | Jawalakhel Youth Club |
| 7 | 4FW | Tenzin Thardoe | (1998-03-15) 15 March 1998 (age 26) | 3 | 1 | Yak Boyz Paris |
| 2 | 4FW | Tenzing Thabke | (1995-11-16) 16 November 1995 (age 29) | 2 | 1 | Unattached |
| 9 | 4FW | Shiva Dul | (2005-05-06) 6 May 2005 (age 19) | 1 | 0 | Newcastle Olympic FC |
| 17 | 4FW | Kunphel Sinha | (1998-06-13) 13 June 1998 (age 26) | 2 | 1 | Bhoepa United |

## General secretaries of the TNFA

| Name | period |
| Kelsang Dhondup | 2001–2017 |
| Passang Dorjee | 2017–In progress |

## Honours

* ANFA Cup
** Runners-up (1): 1985
* Ladakh Climate Cup
** Runners-up (1): 2023