The Syria national football team () represents Syria in international football, and is controlled by the Syrian Arab Federation for Football, the governing body for football in Syria.
Nicknamed "the Qasioun Eagles" ("), Syria has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but reached the fourth qualification round in 2018. The team has been banned by FIFA from playing at home since 2011, following the Syrian civil war. Internationally, Syria has won the 1957 Arab Games, the 1987 Mediterranean Games, and the 2012 WAFF Championship.
History 1936–1969: The beginnings The Syrian Football Federation was founded in 1936, 10 years before independence from the French in 1946. It has been affiliated with FIFA since 1937 and has been a member of AFC since 1969. In 1939, Syria played its first unofficial matches under the name of Damascus XI with Beirut XI in Beirut, resulting in a 5–4 win. Over the following years, the two teams competed in 16 unofficial matches until 1963, with the Damascus XI winning seven, drawing two, and losing seven.
Syria's first official football match took place on 26 April 1942, against Lebanon, as part of the Coupe Hauteclocque. The game, held at the AUB field in Beirut, ended in a 2–1 victory for "the Qasioun Eagles", in front of 3,000 spectators. The Coupe Hauteclocque, a trophy donated by French diplomat in 1939, was intended to be a regular fixture between Lebanon and Syria.Le Jour. 19 March 1942. Although two matches were initially planned, only the Beirut fixture was played. The cup became a point of contention, as the Syrian Football Association had retained possession of it since 1939. Syria later played two additional friendly matches against Lebanon in 1947, winning 4–1 in Beirut on 4 May, and 1–0 in Aleppo on 18 May.
Syria took part in their first FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 1950, as one of the first teams in the region to do so. They played their first qualifying game against Turkey in Ankara, which ended in a 7–0 defeat on 20 November 1949. Five days later, on 25 November, Syria lost 8–0 against Greece in Athens.
At the 1951 Mediterranean Games in Alexandria, on 12 October 1951, one of Syria's biggest defeats was recorded against Egypt which ended with a score of 8–0 for the Pharaohs.
The first medal for the national team was silver at the 1953 Arab Games, when they were defeated in the final by Egypt (4–0). At the 1957 Arab Games in Beirut, they advanced to the finals after the semi-final defeat of Morocco, in which they defeated Tunisia with goals scored by Shamas and Awadis Kaoulakian 3–1.
In the FIFA World Cup 1958 qualifiers, the Syrian football team was defeated by the Sudan in the first round of the playoffs. Between 1958 and 1961, the team combined with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic national team, although the team's records are attributed only to Egypt by FIFA. Syria reached the finals in the FIFA Arab Cup twice: in 1963 (beaten by Tunisia) and 1966 (beaten by Iraq).
In the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualifiers they were one of two teams from the Asian zone (the other being Israel) to be allocated to the European qualifying zone and were originally placed with Spain and the Republic of Ireland. However, they joined the Asian and African boycott of the 1966 qualifiers, due to the decision of FIFA to allocate just one place between Asia and Africa.
1970s: Successes in Arab competitions In the 1970s, they regularly participated in the Palestine Cup, which served as a substitute for the Arab Cup. At the 1972 Palestine Cup, they placed fourth when they lost 1–3 to Algeria. At the 1973 Palestine Cup, they advanced from the group stage to the semifinals, where they eliminated Algeria after penalties (0–0, pen. 3–2). In the final of the cup, they clearly lost to Tunisia 0–4.
In the 1974 Kuneitra Cup, "the Qasioun Eagles" entered the knockout phase after the group defeat of Sudan, Libya, Palestine and North Yemen. In the semifinals of the cup, they defeated Tunisia (3–1), but in the final, they lost to Morocco after a penalty shootout.
For the 1974 FIFA World Cup, they finished second in the group in the 1st round of the qualification, behind Iran, insufficient to advance to the next round.
At the 1975 Palestine Cup, they eliminated Libya in the group stage, but lost to Iraq in the semifinals 0: 4 and in the bronze medal match with Sudan 0–1. In 1976, Damascus hosted the Arab Games, whose football tournament was played at the Abbasiyyin Stadium, where the home Syrian team won bronze medals.
In the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification, the "Qasioun Eagles" did not go through the first round, as despite losing one victory over Saudi Arabia (2–0) they lost both matches to Iran, finishing in third place in the group.
1980–1996: Milestones and missed opportunities The Syrian team made it to the 1980 Olympics thanks to Iran, as the team withdrew due to the American-led boycott of the Olympics. Despite losing 0–3 to Algeria and 0–5 to the GDR, they gained experience from big matches. However, the most valuable result in the tournament was a draw with a strong Spain 0–0.
The Syrian team took part in the three editions of the AFC Asian Cup in the 1980s. In the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, they finished 3rd out of 5 in the group stage, behind North Korea and Iran, ahead of China and Bangladesh.
In the 1984 AFC Asian Cup, they finished 4th out of 5 in the 1st round, ahead of South Korea, behind Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In the 1988 AFC Asian Cup, they finished 3rd out of 5 still in the 1st round, behind China and Saudi Arabia, ahead of Kuwait and Bahrain. The two Syrian scorers were with one goal each: Walid Nasser and Walid Al-Hel. They were finalists in the FIFA Arab Cup in 1988 (beaten by Iraq).
For the qualifiers of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, they finished last in the group stage behind Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. As for the qualification round of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Syria came very close to a qualification which would have been historic, since it passed the 1st round ahead of Kuwait and North Yemen, beat Bahrain and lost in the final qualifying round to Iraq 1–3 on aggregate, with the only Syrian goal scored by Walid Abu Al-Sel.
One of the greatest successes of "the Qasioun Eagles" in the 1980s was the participation in the finals of the 1987 Mediterranean Games, which took place in Latakia, and the defeat of the France team 2–1.Mediterranean Games 1987 (Latakia) - rsssf.com
In the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the national team placed second in the first round after losing to Saudi Arabia 4–5 (goal scorers: Mahrous, Jakalan, Al-Nasser and Helou).
In 1992, the Arab Games were held in Syria, which included the Arab Cup In this tournament, the Syrian national team led by Virgil Dridea placed 4th after advancing to the semifinals (losing to Egypt 4–3 on penalties) and losing in the bronze medal match with Kuwait 1–2.
During the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, they led the qualifying group after winning over Taiwan and Oman, but due to draws with Iran (0–0 and 1–1, goal scored by Abdul Latif Helou), they did not advance to the second round.
In the 1st round of the 1996 AFC Asian Cup, the Syrian team beat Uzbekistan (2–1), thanks to goals from Nader Joukhadar and Ali Dib, but they were beaten by Japan (1–2, goal by Nader Joukhadar) and by China (0–3). By finishing 3rd in the group, they had a chance to qualify for the quarterfinals but having a low score compared to the other two countries (Iraq and South Korea), the team finished as the worst 3rd, again missed the knockout phase.
1996–2007: Hope and disappointment
At the 1997 Arab Games in Beirut, they reached the final, in which Jordan defeated them 0–1.
One of Syria's biggest victories was recorded in Tehran on 4 June 1997, against the Maldives, a match that ended with a final score of 12–0 for the Syrians. 5 days later it faces again the Maldives, still in Tehran, which ends with the same score of 12–0. These two matches were played as a part of the qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where it was eliminated in the first preliminary round, ahead of Iran.
The Syrian team was twice finalist in 2000 and 2004 of a regional competition, the West Asian Football Championship, beaten each time by Iran; as they reached the semi-finals of the 2002 WAFF Championship held at home but lost to Jordan on a golden goal scored in the last minutes of extra time (1–2), before losing to Iran on penalties during the match for the 3rd place (2–2, 2–4).
During the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, Syria were overtaken by Oman at 1st, while being ahead of the Philippines and Laos.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, Syria did not advance to the third stage after uncertain match performances and losses with Bahrain (1–2) and Kyrgyzstan (0–1).
During this period, the national team participated in the 2007 Nehru Cup, where after the first victory over Bangladesh (2–0) they defeated Kyrgyzstan (4–1), India (3–2) and Cambodia (5–1) and advanced to the finals. The top scorers were famous Syrian stars Zyad Chaabo (5 goals) and Maher Al-Sayed (4 goals). But the cup final for the team did not turn out well, because they lost to India 0–1.
2007–2012: Steady progress and first major title
In 2007, Syria advanced to the 2007 WAFF Championship under the leadership of coach Fajr Ibrahim, where they after victories over Lebanon and Jordan (both 1–0), lost in the semifinals to Iraq 0–3.
A year later, "the Qasioun Eagles" took part in the 2008 WAFF Championship, where after a 2–1 victory over Oman and a draw with Jordan, they advanced to the semifinals, where they lost to Iran (0–2).
At the 2009 Nehru Cup, Syria sovereignly won the group stage, defeating Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and, in a close match, India (1–0). In the final of the cup, they encountered India, with which they lost 1–2 on penalties (the only Syrian scorer was Ali Diab).
In the qualifications for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Syria beat Afghanistan in the 1st round, then Indonesia in the 2nd round, but narrowly failed in the 3rd round to qualify for the 4th round, due to an unfavorable goal average, behind UAE and Iran, but ahead of Kuwait.
The Syrian team qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar after a long absence from it since 1996, where it ascended to the championship without any loss in the qualifiers. They were eliminated from the group stage again after losing to Jordan and Japan and defeating Saudi Arabia. Shortly afterwards, they were disqualified from the 2014 FIFA World Cup due to the use of an ineligible player.
In December 2012, Syria beat Iraq in the final of 2012 WAFF Championship to collect its first major trophy and Ahmad Al Saleh became the scorer of the historic winning goal (1–0). Official Syrian television interrupted its broadcasts to announce the victory and show the presentation of the cup live.Foot - Asian Cup: Victory for Syria , on lequipe.fr, 20 December 2012.
2013–2016: Away game challenges In 2013, the Syrian team withdrew from the 2014 WAFF Championship due to the ongoing Syrian Civil War. In the following years, the national team faced challenges due to being unable to play in their home stadiums.
Syria missed the 2015 AFC Asian Cup after failing to qualify and occupying third place in Group A which included Jordan, Singapore and Oman. In 2016, Syria took part in the 2016 King's Cup in Bangkok under national team captain Mosab Balhous and head coach Ayman Hakeem, where they lost in the semifinals after a penalty shootout with Thailand and defeated the United Arab Emirates 1–0 in third place match.
2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers: Approaching success Ever since the Syrian civil war broke out in the country, Syria have been banned from playing home games in their own country and in fact were one day away from being thrown out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup only for Malaysia to swoop in at the last minute and offer to host all of Syria's home games.