Establishment and pre-WWII era Before Hong Kong became a member of FIFA in 1954, Hong Kong began playing in the
Hong Kong–Macau Interport tournament in 1937, which was one of the oldest competitions co-held by Hong Kong as well as continuously played. There were other interport tournaments in the past, such as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Interport which was first held in 1908. At that time the team was composed of ethnic Chinese as well as western expatriates, as in the 1935 and 1937 edition of Shanghai-Hong Kong Interport. There was another Interport tournament against Saigon. The aforementioned Macau, Shanghai and Saigon were not a member of FIFA nor a sovereign nation at that time, with Hong Kong and Macau only having joined FIFA in 1954 and 1978 respectively. The
China national team that participated in
1936 and
1948 Summer Olympics, were mainly composed of ethnic Chinese players from Hong Kong, most famously
Lee Wai Tong. After WWII, a number of Shanghai-based players began representing Hong Kong, such as
Chang King Hai and
Hsu King Shing.
FIFA member (1954–present) The
Hong Kong FA became a member of
FIFA and the
Asian Football Confederation in 1954. Since then Hong Kong played their first FIFA-recognised international match against other countries. The HKFA also sent a
scratch team for
1957 Merdeka Tournament, which was composed of players from
Eastern due to their proximity, plus few players from other clubs. The club was having a pre-season tour in South Asia, thus the HKFA invited the club to represent Hong Kong. However, some of the players were in fact ineligible to play for Hong Kong, as they were ROC (Taiwan) international players. Hong Kong qualified for three of the first four editions of the
Asian Cup, including a third-place finish in
the 1956 edition as host. At that time, most Hong Kong players represented
Republic of China; they finished third in the Asian Cup in
the 1960 edition, leaving more inferior players to the proper Hong Kong team. The 1998 World Cup Asian qualifiers was considered one of Hong Kong's darkest moments as it was hit by a match-fixing scandal that involved former Sing Tao striker Chan Tsz-Kong who was found guilty and jailed for a year after he bribed players to throw and lose a match against Thailand. Others who were involved include goalkeeper Kevin Lok Kar-Win, defenders Chan Chi-Keung and Lau Chi Yuen and striker Wai Kwan-Lung.
Football fever in 2015 In 2015, a short football fever appeared during the
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches in Hong Kong under the guidance of
Kim Pan Gon, as Hong Kong had been drawn into the same group with their fierce rival,
China. Due to the tensions built up from the Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict, many local citizens became interested in this year's campaign; all four home matches were recorded as a sellout. Hong Kong ended the campaign with 4 victories against
Bhutan and
Maldives, 2 scoreless draws against
China, and 2 losses against
Qatar.
Post-Kim era In late 2018, after the sudden departure of
Kim Pan-gon, English coach
Gary White was hired as the new head coach in which under his guidance, he helped Hong Kong secure qualification for their third appearance at the EAFF E-1 Football Championship finals after a narrow win against
Chiense Taipei, a draw against
North Korea and a heavy win against
Mongolia. Shortly afterwards, White departed from the role. In April 2019, Hong Kong appointed Finnish coach
Mixu Paatelainen as the new head coach of the national football team in time for the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the
2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship tournament. His first game in charge ended in a disappointing and surprising loss at home during friendly international against
Chiense Taipei. After a run of poor performances throughout the World Cup qualifiers and the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, Mixu Paatelainen's contract was not renewed.
Return to the Asian Cup team. On 13 December 2021, Norwegian coach
Jørn Andersen who formerly guided
North Korea was named as the new head coach succeeding
Mixu Paatelainen in preparation for the
third round of qualification of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. He guided Hong Kong to qualify for the
2023 AFC Asian Cup by beating
Afghanistan 2–1 and
Cambodia 3–0, reaching the final tournament after a 55-year absence. On 15 January 2024, Hong Kong then kicked off their
2023 Asian Cup campaign against
UAE in which they lost 3–1 in the opening match where
Chan Siu Kwan scored the 1,000th goal in the AFC Asian Cup history. They eventually finished the campaign at the bottom of their group after losses against
Iran (0–1) and
Palestine (0–3).
Post-Asian Cup times On 29 May 2024, Jørn Andersen announced his resignation as head coach of the Hong Kong national team after over 2 years in charge. On 28 August 2024, English manager
Ashley Westwood was appointed as the new head coach of the Hong Kong national football team, succeeding Jørn Andersen. In September 2024, Hong Kong travelled to Fiji and played two friendly matches against Oceania countries,
Solomon Islands and
Fiji. In October 2024, the team also travelled to Europe for the first time where they played against
Liechtenstein. On 8 December 2024,
Yapp Hung Fai became the first-ever Hong Kong player to reach 100 international caps against
Mongolia during the
2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship Preliminary Round. On 10 June 2025, Hong Kong played their
2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification home game against
India at the
Kai Tak Stadium, which resulted in a 1–0 win for the hosts in the stadium's maiden official football match. All tickets were sold out and a new attendance record was set for a Hong Kong football match with 42,570 spectators. After securing a win and a draw against Bangladesh, Hong Kong required to win the penultimate tie against Singapore on 18 November 2025 at Kai Tak Stadium in order to secure qualification to the 2027 AFC Asian Cup finals. However, Hong Kong succumbed to a 1–2 loss against Singapore which meant that they missed out on qualification. On 24 November, the Hong Kong Football Association announced that head coach Ashley Westwood stepped down from the role after failing to secure qualification. ==Team image==