A parade at Changlimithang, the home of football in Bhutan
Country
Bhutan
Governing body
Bhutan Football Federation
National team(s)
men's national team women's national team national futsal team various youth teams
National competitions
Bhutan Premier League BPL Qualifiers Dzongkhag (District) leagues Jigme Dorji Wangchuk Memorial Gold Cup BFF President's Cup Coronation Championship National Women's Championship Women's National League Qualifier Women's District League National Futsal League (sometimes)
International competitions
AFC Challenge League AFC Women's Champions League SAFF Club Championship AFC Asian Cup FIFA World Cup FIFA Women's World Cup Women's Asian Cup SAFF Championship SAFF Women's Championship AFC Futsal Club Championship AFC Futsal Championship FIFA Futsal World Cup
Football is a sport with a comparatively brief history in Bhutan, having had an initial period of favour in the mid-twentieth century, when it was first introduced to the country by visiting teachers from India and Europe. It has only achieved significantly renewed popularity in the early 2000s, following the advent of satellite television broadcasting, with historically national sport being archery. Consequently, the domestic game was underdeveloped. After the establishment of an initial league in the late 1980s, little in the way of recorded competition took place until the mid-1990s when a formal championship, the A-Division, was created. Football became the most popular sport in Bhutan.
However, although this was nominally a national league, it was in reality merely a competition for teams based in Thimphu. This championship developed into its current three-tiered format, but remained resolutely Thimphu-focused until an annual, true national competition, Bhutan Premier League, was established in 2012 (as National League). Due to financial and transportation issues, this competition has only added at most another three teams to the overall number competing. Throughout the history of football in Bhutan, its clubs have remained in the third tier of continental competition within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the AFC President's Cup, and have more often than not struggled to compete in this competition. They have had slightly more success within their regional federation, the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), but again have consistently been recognised as one of the weaker teams.
The national team was ranked by FIFA as the worst in the world, without a single ranking point, and fourth worst (including non-FIFA teams) in the all-time Elo ratings. The team played irregularly, mainly competing in the SAFF Championship or the qualifying rounds of the AFC Challenge Cup. The 2018 FIFA World Cup was their first attempt at qualifying. They have beaten Sri Lanka in the first round 2–1 on aggregate and have qualified for the second round.
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