Myanmar faced SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) in the first match of the FIFA World Cup 26™ / AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ Preliminary Joint Qualification. The match was played at Panasonic Stadium Suita in November last year and Japan won 5-0 thanks to a hat-trick from UEDA Ayase, in a match in which Myanmar failed to register a single shot.

Myanmar also went down 1-6 at home to DPR Korea in their next match but bounced back to draw 1-1 at home to Syria in March this year, living up to the words of German coach Michael FEICHTENBEINER, who said before the qualifiers that he wanted to cause an upset or two. However, they lost 0-7 away to Syria six days later, and after four games have lost three and drawn one, leaving them bottom of the four-team group.

Although it now struggles on the international stage, Myanmar was one of the most powerful countries in Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was known as Burma. They won back-to-back Asian Games titles in 1966 and 1970, finished runners-up in the 1968 AFC Asian Cup and qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics. The country produced young, talented players, as evidenced by the seven AFC Youth Championship (now AFC U-20 Asian Cup) titles won between 1961 and 1970, which helped fuel the glory years.

The bright days were then overshadowed by the rise of other Asian nations, but their participation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015™ (where they lost all three matches and were eliminated at the group stage) was a ray of hope. It was a great achievement that showed Myanmar's potential to continue producing quality players. Although the country is facing a period of social unrest and other difficulties, Myanmar have the potential to make another breakthrough if they can create an environment more conducive to the sport. Since football became a popular sport under British rule before the country gained independence, the people's enthusiasm for the game has never waned.

As coach Feichtenbeiner said before last year's match, the team will “concentrate on defence” when they host Japan in Yangon on 6 June. Whether or not they can create scenes that excite their enthusiastic supporters could be a major factor in boosting Myanmar football's confidence for the future.

Results of last 10 matches
(H: Home, A: Away, N: Neutral ground, ○: Win, △: Draw, ●: Loss)

Record against Japan *Including matches from the Burma-era

2 wins, 5 draws, 8 losses (12 goals, 34 against)

Results at the FIFA World Cup™

Appearances: None
*Burma achieved its independence from the UK in 1948

1950　Did not participate
1954　Did not participate
1958　Did not participate
1962　Did not participate
1966　Did not participate
1970　Did not participate
1974　Did not participate
1978　Did not participate
1982　Did not participate
1986　Did not participate
1990　Did not participate
1994　Did not participate
1998　Did not participate
2002　Did not participate
2006　Did not participate
2010　Eliminated in the qualifier
2014　Eliminated in the qualifier
2018　Eliminated in the qualifier
2022　Eliminated in the qualifier

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