Papua New Guinea national under-23 football team
The Papua New Guinea national under-23 football team, also known as PNG U23, represents Papua New Guinea at U23 tournaments. The team is considered to be the feeder team for the Papua New Guinea national football team
| Nickname(s) | Kapuls (Cuscus) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Papua New Guinea Football Association | ||
| Confederation | OFC (Oceania) | ||
| Head coach |  Percy Mataio | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
| 1992 | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Cook Islands 0 - 7 Papua New Guinea (Lautoka, Fiji; March 7, 2008) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia 9 - 0 Papua New Guinea (Sydney, Australia; January 16, 2004) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 0 | ||
| OFC U23 Championship | |||
| Appearances | 5 | ||
| Best result | fourth place | ||
History
PNG U23 made five appearances so far at the OFC U23 Championship. Their best result was third place, achieved at the 2015 Pacific Games.
OFC
The OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament is a tournament held once every four years to decide the only qualification spot for Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and representatives at the Olympic Games.
| OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
 1991 | 4th Place | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 19 | -15 | 1 |
| 1996 | |||||||||
 1999 | 4th Place | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 3 |
| 2004 | Group Stage | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 21 | -14 | 1 |
| 2008 | 4th Place | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 20 | -2 | 6 |
| 2012 | 4th Place | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 3 |
| 2015 | 3rd Place | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 3 |
| 2019 | Group Stage | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 3 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fixtures & Results
2019
| 22 September 2019 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage | Vanuatu  | 3-1 | Papua New Guinea | Lautoka, Fiji |
| 12:00 | Report |
|
Stadium: Churchill Park Attendance: 150 Referee: Matthew Conger |
| 25 September 2019 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage | Fiji | 3-1 | Papua New Guinea | Lautoka, Fiji |
| 15:00 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Churchill Park Attendance: 250 Referee: Nick Waldron |
| 28 September 2019 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group Stage | Papua New Guinea | 6-1 |  Tonga | Lautoka, Fiji |
| 12:00 | Report |
|
Stadium: Churchill Park Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh |
Current technical staff
| Position | |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Percy Mataio |
| Assistant Coach | Jack Jonathan |
| Team Manager | Gordon Manub |
Current squad
The following players were called to the squad for the 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament from 21 September - 5 October 2019.
Caps and goals updated as of 28 September 2019 after the match against the Tonga.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Jordan Tobem | 28 August 1997 | 2 | 0 | Morobe United |
| 18 | GK | Jonathan Pole | 19 January 1999 | 1 | 0 | Morobe United |
| 20 | GK | Jerry Seriba | 15 May 1999 | 1 | 0 | Kagua Erave |
| 2 | DF | Peter Dabinyaba Jr. | 23 March 1997 | 3 | 0 | Vitiaz United |
| 3 | DF | Carlos Onne | 4 July 1999 | 3 | 0 | Hekari United |
| 4 | DF | Gimale Essacu | 4 July 1997 | 4 | 0 |  Western Illinois University |
| 5 | DF | Rupa Amil | 1 October 1997 | 1 | 0 | Gulf Komara |
| 14 | DF | Gabby Yanum | 5 February 1997 | 3 | 0 | Bougainville |
| 17 | DF | Edward Joshua | 4 January 1999 | 1 | 0 | Lae City |
| DF | Felix Komolong | 6 March 1997 | 6 | 0 | Lae City | |
| 6 | MF | Timothy Mali | 19 June 1998 | 0 | 0 | FC Bougainville |
| 7 | MF | Gregory Togubai | 22 March 1998 | 3 | 3 | Hekari United |
| 8 | MF | Freddy Kepo | 19 April 1998 | 3 | 2 | Hekari United |
| 11 | MF | Bernard Purari | 10 May 1997 | 3 | 1 | Bougainville |
| 12 | MF | Emmanuel Simongi | 25 September 2000 | 3 | 1 | Kutubu |
| 13 | MF | Joseph Waiwai | 7 March 2001 | 1 | 0 | Star Mountain |
| 15 | MF | Yagi Yasasa | 17 August 2000 | 3 | 0 | Vitiaz United |
| 19 | MF | Ernest Gwaitep | 22 December 1997 | 2 | 0 | Lae City |
| 9 | FW | Pokana Mea | 14 May 1997 | 2 | 0 | Gulf Komara |
| 10 | FW | Franck Toboroyan | 6 October 1997 | 0 | 0 | Hekari United |
| 16 | FW | Tyran Vapara | 24 July 1997 | 3 | 0 | Southern Strikers |
