The Lesotho national football team, also known as LNFT, represents

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

in men's international

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and is governed by the

Lesotho Football Association The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) is the governing body of association football in Lesotho, a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It was formed in 1932 and it is based in the city of Maseru. The board helps run the Lesotho national foo ...

History

Following Lesotho's independence from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1966, the

was created, and later, the Lesotho national football team, which played its first match on 7 August 1970 against

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

, where Lesotho won 2-1. Lesotho participated in its first World Cup qualifiers, for the 1974 tournament, drawing 0–0 against

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

at home before losing 1–6 in the second leg and getting eliminated. Lesotho was also eliminated in the

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of qualifying for the 1974 AFCON, losing 1–5 to

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

after a 0–0 draw in the first leg. Lesotho faced

again in their next attempt to qualify for 1980 AFCON, losing on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. In qualifying for the 1982 tournament, Lesotho lost 3–7 on aggregate to

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. Lesotho then faced

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

in the 1982 World Cup first qualification round, losing 4–2 on aggregate. Lesotho won their first ever qualification tie during the 1994 AFCON qualifiers, beating

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

4–0 on aggregate, with all four goals coming in the second leg in Botswana. With this victory they entered the group stage of qualifying, managing to draw against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

(2–2),

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

(1–1), and

(1–1) at home, but losing all three away fixtures to finish bottom of the group. Lesotho withdrew from the 1996 AFCON qualification and was subsequently banned from the next tournament therefore next entered the 2000 AFCON qualifiers, losing in the first round to

. Lesotho qualified for the 1999 COSAFA Cup after beating

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

1–0, but lost to eventual winners

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

0–1 in the quarter-finals. The following year Lesotho produced their best ever finish at the

2000 COSAFA Cup The 2000 COSAFA Cup is the 4th edition of the football tournament that involves teams from COSAFA. Zimbabwe beat Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. E ...

, only qualifying for the tournament via disciplinary record. They beat

3–1 on penalties before scoring two late goals against

in the semi-finals to win 2–1. In the final they lost 3–0 twice across two legs to

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

to finish as runners-up.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2024

2025

Managers

:Caretaker manager are listed in ''italics''. * April Phumo (1979–1995) * Lefa Ramakau (2000–??) * Monaheng Monyane (2003–2004) * Antoine Hey (2004–2006) * Motheo Mohapi (2006–2007) * Zaviša Milosavljević (2007–2009) * '' Leslie Notši'' (2009) * Leslie Notši (2011–2013) * '' Adam Siddorn'' (2013) * Seephephe Matete (2014–2015) * Moses Maliehe (2015–2019) * Mpitsa Marai (2019) * Thabo Senong (2019–2021) * '' Leslie Notši'' (2021–2022) *

Veselin Jelušić Veselin Jelušić is a Serbian association football, football coach. Career He taught at the University of Belgrade in the 1990s. He then managed two African national teams, Angola national football team, Angola and Botswana national football t ...

(2022–2023) * Leslie Notši (2023–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group C matches against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

on 21 and 25 March 2025. ''Caps and goals correct as of 25 March 2025, after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Lesotho squad within the last twelve months. ^INJ Withdrew due to injury
^PRE Preliminary squad / standby
^RET Retired from the national team
^SUS Serving suspension
^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Lesotho.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Africa Cup of Nations

COSAFA Cup

Head-to-head record

''As of 10 June 2025 after match against ''

Kit suppliers

Uhlsport Uhlsport GmbH is a German Sports equipment, sporting goods manufacturer. Originally established in 1948 as "Haase & Uhl OHG" and later renamed "Karl Uhl GmbH", the company became "uhlsport GmbH" in 1994. It is an international company which has i ...

(2000) *

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

(2002, 2006) *

(2007) *

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

(2008–2011) * Basutoland Ink (2012–2019) *

(2019–)

References

External links

Lesotho
at CAF
Lesotho
at

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesotho National Football Team African national association football teams