Syria national football team records and statistics explained

The following is a list of the Syria national football team's competitive records and statistics. Their first international match was played on 19 April 1942 in Beirut against Lebanon, winning 2–1. The team they have played the most is Jordan, with a total of 40 matches played.^[1]

Individual records

Player records

^[2]

Players in bold are still active with Syria.

Most capped players

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Maher Al-Sayed	109	29	1999–2013
2	Ali Diab	97	4	2004–2013
3	Mahmoud Al-Mawas	93	15	2012–present
4	Mosab Balhous	86	0	2006–2016
5	Raja Rafe	84	32	2002–2015
6	Tarek Jabban	83	5	1996–2007
7	Ibrahim Alma	80	0	2012–present
8	Nizar Mahrous	76	12	1985–1993
9	George Khouri	74	8	1982–1989
10	Moayad Ajan	72	3	2012–present

Age records

Oldest player to make debut: Firas Al-Khatib, aged 36 years and 94 days vs, 5 September 2019
Youngest player to make debut: Abdelrazaq Al-Hussain, aged 17 years and 82 days vs, 07 Dec 2002
Oldest player to score: Firas Al-Khatib, aged 36 years and 94 days vs, 5 September 2019

Manager records

Team records

Wins

Largest win :

13–0 vs Muscat and Oman on 6 September 1965
12–0 vs on 4 June 1997
12–0 vs on 30 April 2001

Largest home win :

13–0 vs Muscat and Oman on 6 September 1965

Largest away win :

12–0 vs on 4 June 1997

Largest win at the Asian Cup :

2–1 vs on 9 January 2011
2–1 vs on 12 December 1996

Draws

Highest scoring draw :

3–3 vs on 17 October 1998
3–3 vs on 18 May 2001

Highest scoring draw at the Asian Cup :

1–1 vs on 1 December 1984
1–1 vs on 31 January 2024

Defeats

Largest defeat :

8–0 vs on 25 November 1949
8–0 vs on 16 October 1951
7–0 vs on 20 November 1949

Largest defeat at home :

1–7 vs on 21 June 2004

Largest defeat away :

8–0 vs on 25 November 1949
8–0 vs on 16 October 1951

Largest defeat at the Asian Cup :

3–0 vs on 9 December 1996
3–0 vs on 4 December 1988

Attendance

Highest home attendance:

50,000, vs, 30 March 1989

Highest away attendance:

100,000, vs, 13 June 1997

World rankings

FIFA

Source: FIFA.com^[3]

Highest FIFA ranking : 68th (July 2018)

Elo

Source: Eloratings.net^[4]

Highest Elo ranking : 53rd (October 1974)

Goal records

General

First goal : Mudhafar Al-Aqqad vs on 1 August 1953

Most goals : Firas Al-Khatib (2001–2019), 36 goals

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Firas Al-Khatib	36	72		2001–2019
2	Raja Rafe	32	84		2006–2016
3	Maher Al-Sayed	29	109		1999–2013
4	Omar Khribin	27	58
5	Said Bayazid	24	24		1997–2001
6	Zyad Chaabo	22	49		2001–2010
7	Omar Al Somah	21	40		2012–2023
8	Mohamed Al-Zeno	15	48		2004–2011
8	Mahmoud Al-Mawas	15	93
10	Avedis Kavlakian	14	—	—	1953–1966

. Highlighted names denote a player still playing or available for selection.

Hat-tricks

Player	Competition	Home/Away	Result	Goals
Said Bayazid	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	Home	12–0	5
Nader Joukhadar	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification	Away	12–0	3
Said Bayazid	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	Home	11–0	3
Said Bayazid	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	Away	9–0	3
Firas Al-Khatib	2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification	Away	8–0	3
Omar Khribin	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Home	7–0	3
Zyad Chaabo	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification	Home	7–0	3
Raja Rafe	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification	Home	7–0	3
Osama Omari	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Home	5–2	3
Omar Al Somah	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Home	4–0	3
Mahmoud Al-Mawas	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Away	4–0	3
Raja Rafe	2002 Arab Nations Cup	Home	4–1	3

In major tournaments

AFC Asian Cup

Most goals in a single Asian Cup tournament : Jamal Keshek (in 1980), 2 goals Nader Joukhadar (in 1996), 2 goals Abdelrazaq Al-Hussain (in 2011), 2 goals Omar Khribin (in 2023), 2 goals

Competition records

Overview
Event	1st place	2nd place	3rd place	4th place
World Cup	0	0	0	0
Asian Cup	0	0	0	0
WAFF Championship	1	2	0	1
FIFA Arab Cup	0	3	0	1
Arab Games	1	2	1	1
West Asian Games	0	2	1	0
Mediterranean Games	1	0	1	1

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record								Qualification record
Year	Round
1930	Did not enter	Did not enter
1934
1938
1950	Withdrew							1	0	0	1	0	7
1954	Did not enter							Did not enter
1958	Did not qualify							2	0	1	1	1	2
1962	Withdrew	Withdrew
1966
1970	Did not enter							Did not enter
1974	Did not qualify							6	3	1	2	6	6
1978	Withdrew							4	1	0	3	2	6
1982	Did not qualify	4	0	0	4	2	7
1986	8	4	3	1	8	4
1990	4	2	1	1	7	5
1994	6	3	3	0	14	4
1998	5	2	1	2	27	5
2002	6	4	1	1	40	6
2006	6	2	2	2	7	7
2010	10	6	2	2	23	10
2014	Disqualified							2	0	0	2	0	6
2018	Did not qualify	20	9	5	6	36	22
2022	18	8	3	7	31	23
2026	6	2	1	3	9	12
2030	To be determined	To be determined
2034
Total		–	–	–	–	–	–	108	46	24	38	214	132

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

AFC Asian Cup

See main article: Syria at the AFC Asian Cup.

Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
AFC Asian Cup record	width=1% rowspan=22		Qualification record
1956	Not a AFC member	Not a AFC member
1960
1964
1968
1972	Did not qualify							3	0	2	1	4	5
1976	Withdrew							Withdrew
1980	Group stage	4	2	1	1	3	2	3	2	1	0	2	0
1984		4	1	1	2	3	5	6	3	0	3	9	9
1988		4	2	0	2	2	5	4	3	1	0	8	2
1992	Did not qualify							2	1	0	1	3	4
1996	Group stage	3	1	0	2	3	6	4	3	0	1	6	2
2000	Did not qualify	6	4	1	1	11	3
2004	6	2	1	3	16	10
2007	6	2	2	2	10	6
2011	Group stage	3	1	0	2	4	5	6	4	2	0	10	2
2015	Did not qualify							6	1	1	4	7	7
2019	Group stage	3	0	1	2	2	5	8	6	0	2	26	11
2023	Round of 16	4	1	2	1	2	2	8	7	0	1	22	7
2027	To be determined								6	2	1	3	9	12
Total	Round of 16	25	8	5	12	19	30	74	40	12	22	143	80

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

AFC Asian Cup history
Year	Round	Score	Result
1980
	Round 1	0–0	Draw
	Round 1	1–0	Win
	Round 1	1–2	Loss
	Round 1	1–0	Win
1984
	Round 1	1–1	Draw
	Round 1	0–1	Loss
	Round 1	1–0	Win
	Round 1	1–3	Loss
1988
	Round 1	0–2	Loss
	Round 1	0–3	Loss
	Round 1	1–0	Win
	Round 1	1–0	Win
1996
	Round 1	1–2	Loss
	Round 1	0–3	Loss
	Round 1	2–1	Win
2011
	Round 1	2–1	Win
	Round 1	1–2	Loss
	Round 1	1–2	Loss
2019
	Round 1	0–0	Draw
	Round 1	0–2	Loss
	Round 1	2–3	Loss
2023
	Round 1	0–0	Draw
	Round 1	0–1	Loss
	Round 1	1–0	Win
	Round 1	1–0	Draw

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record	Olympic Games qualification record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1900 to 1968	Did not enter
1972	Did not qualify							2	0	1	1	0	1
1976	Did not enter
1980	Round 1	3	0	1	2	0	8	4	2	0	2	3	1
1984	Did not qualify	6	2	1	3	6	10
	2	0	0	2	0	5
1992 to present	See Syria national under-23 team								See Syria national under-23 team
Total	0 Titles	3	0	1	2	0	8	14	4	2	8	9	17

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

WAFF Championship

WAFF Championship record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2000	Runners-up	5	2	1	2	5	2
2002	Fourth place	4	1	1	2	5	6
2004	Runners-up	4	1	1	2	6	13
2007	Semi-finals	3	2	0	1	2	3
2008	Semi-finals	3	1	1	1	2	3
2010	Group stage	2	0	1	1	2	3
2012	Champions	4	2	2	0	5	3
2014	Withdrew
2019	Group stage	4	0	2	2	5	7
2023	Qualified
Total	1 Title	29	9	9	11	32	40

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

FIFA Arab Cup

FIFA Arab Cup record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1963	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	9	4
1964	Did not enter
1966	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	9	4
1985	Did not enter
1988	Runners-up	6	2	2	2	5	5
1992	Fourth place	4	0	3	1	2	3
1998	Group stage	2	0	0	2	1	6
2002	Group stage	4	2	0	2	8	6
2012	Did not enter
2021	Group stage	3	1	0	2	4	4
Total	0 Titles	28	11	6	11	38	32

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Arab Games

Pan Arab Games record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1953	Runners-up	3	1	1	1	3	5
1957	Champions	5	2	2	1	12	6
1961	Did not enter
1965	Group stage	4	2	0	2	20	8
1976	Third place	6	3	1	2	6	4
1985	Group stage	2	0	0	2	0	4
1992	Fourth place	4	0	3	1	2	3
1997	Runners-up	5	4	0	1	9	5
1999	Group stage	4	0	4	0	5	5
2007	Did not enter
2011	Withdrew
2023	See Syria national under-23 team
Total	1 Title	33	12	11	10	57	40

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Mediterranean Games

Mediterranean Games record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951	Third place	2	0	0	2	0	12
1955	Fourth place	3	0	0	3	0	10
1959	Did not enter
1963	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	10
1967	Did not enter
1971	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	4
1975	Did not enter
1979
1983	Group stage	2	0	0	2	0	2
1987	Champions	5	4	1	0	13	3
1991 to present	See Syria national under-20 team
Total	1 Title	18	4	1	13	15	41

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1951	Did not enter
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982	Group stage	3	0	2	1	3	5
1986	Did not enter
1990
1994
1998
2002 to present	See Syria national under-23 team
Total	0 Titles	3	0	1	2	3	5

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

West Asian Games

West Asian Games record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1997	Runners-up
2002	Third place^[5]	4	1	3	0	5	4
2005	Runners-up	4	1	3	0	7	5
Total	0 Titles	8	2	6	0	12	9

Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Head-to-head record

The list shown below shows the Syria national football team all-time international record against opposing nations.

Key

All friendly and international matches have been approved, except for Olympic matches.A-level matches

Syria national football team head-to-head records
width=160	Opponent	width=12	Confederation	width=30		width=30		width=30	width=30	width=30	width=30	width=30
	AFC	4	4	0	0	16	3	+13
	CAF	6	1	2	3	4	7	−3
	AFC	4	0	1	3	4	7	−3
	AFC	23	11	6	6	27	24	+3
	AFC	3	3	0	0	5	1	+4
	UEFA	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
	AFC	3	3	0	0	17	1	+16
	CAF	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
	AFC	15	5	2	8	14	29	−15
	AFC	4	4	0	0	17	1	+16
	UEFA	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
^a	UEFA	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5
	CAF	10	1	2	7	5	23	−18
	UEFA	2	0	0	2	0	12	−12
	AFC	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7
	CONCACAF	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
	AFC	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
	AFC	7	3	2	2	8	7	+1
	AFC	5	4	0	1	15	3	+12
	AFC	30	1	12	17	16	52	−36
	AFC	33	5	11	17	25	46	−21
	AFC	13	0	2	11	9	37	−23
	AFC	43	14	14	15	47	44	+3
	UEFA	4	3	1	0	8	1	+7
	AFC	37	12	9	16	43	56	−13
	AFC	7	2	2	3	10	8	+2
	AFC	2	2	0	0	20	0	+20
	AFC	25	15	5	5	50	28	+22
	AFC	10	3	3	4	13	17	−4
	AFC	7	3	2	2	15	15	0
	AFC	7	6	0	1	39	4	+35
	CAF	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
	CAF	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2
	CAF	6	0	3	3	2	7	−5
	AFC	2	1	1	0	8	1	+7
	AFC	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5
	CAF	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
	AFC	13	4	5	4	18	15	+3
	AFC	26	9	8	9	39	28	+11
	AFC	15	8	5	2	25	13	+12
	AFC	5	5	0	0	25	3	+22
	AFC	16	5	4	7	20	22	−2
	UEFA	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
	AFC	28	2	9	17	22	53	−31
	CAF	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6
	AFC	6	4	0	2	11	7	+4
	AFC	10	1	3	6	5	12	−7
^a	AFC	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1
^a	UEFA	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
	AFC	3	3	0	0	17	0	+17
	UEFA	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
	CAF	10	4	2	4	10	10	0
	UEFA	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
	AFC	8	6	1	1	13	6	+7
	AFC	5	1	2	3	10	13	−3
	CAF	11	5	1	5	14	16	−2
	UEFA	1	0	0	1	0	7	−7
	AFC	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4
	AFC	24	3	8	13	18	36	−18
	AFC	7	3	2	2	5	5	0
	CONMEBOL	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4
	AFC	4	1	1	2	1	3	−2
^b	AFC	14	11	1	2	42	10	+32
	CAF	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6
Total		539	202	125	211	768	697	+71
Last match updated was against on 11 June 2024.

(a) Denotes defunct national football team.
(b) Including North Yemen

Unofficial matches

This is a list of the Syria national football team results from 1939 to the present day that, for various reasons, are not accorded the status of official International A Matches.

2020s

References

Web site: Syria–Head-to-head record. 11v11.com. 22 October 2022.
Web site: Mamrud . Roberto . Syria - Record International Players . RSSSF.
Web site: FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking . .
Web site: World Football Elo Ratings: Syria . World Football Elo Ratings web site and Advanced Satellite Consulting . 22 October 2022 . dmy .
Web site: Second West Asian Games . https://web.archive.org/web/20090915175231/http://www.westasiangames.com/second_wagf.asp. dead. 15 September 2009. West Asian Games Federation. 10 June 2019.

External links

FIFA.com
Syria - List of International Matches, RSSSF, 1 Jan 2005
World Football Elo Ratings: Syria