Before Malaysia’s formation, the Malaya national football team had already achieved notable success, including a bronze medal at the 1962 Asian Games.

Malaysia's most significant achievements include qualifying for the 1972 Summer Olympics, winning the AFF Championship in 2010, and earning multiple SEA Games gold medals in 1961, 1977, 1979, and 1989.

Over the years, Malaysia has developed strong rivalries with teams like Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore, contributing to the rich football culture in the region.

Prior to 16 September 1963, North Borneo (now Sabah), Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore were represented by their own national teams, a situation which pre-dated the establishment of Malaysia.

[12] The beginning of the Malaysian football team match took place in Merdeka Stadium on 8 August 1963 with the combined strength of Singapore and Malaya (although the federation only existed after 16 September 1963).

[18] Although they managed to defeat the United States 3–0,[19] they lost the other two matches with a score of 0–3 to West Germany and 0–6 to Morocco,[20][21] ranking 10th in the final standings.

Malaysia won the play-off against South Korea with a 2–1 scored in the Merdeka Stadium and qualified but joined the US-led boycott of the games as the Malaysian government made a decision to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

Malaysia made its second Asian Cup appearance in 1980, placed in Group B alongside South Korea, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

[40][41] With the dearth of mainstream interest and lack of funds, Malaysian football has failed to repeat the performances of the 1970s and 1980s to qualify into major tournaments, despite the recruitment of Claude LeRoy.

In the second half of 2004, FAM appoint Bertalan Bicskei, former Hungarian goalkeeper and national coach, to succeed Allan Harris.

Bicskei led the national side to third place at the regional Tiger Cup tournament, but was demoted to youth development duties by FAM for his actions during a friendly against Singapore in Penang on 8 June 2005.

Norizan's position as the head coach was criticised by the Malaysian football community, fans and officials alike, after the team's performances during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup as co-host of the edition, where Malaysia lost to China 1–5, Uzbekistan 0–5 and Iran 0–2.

This defeat was the final straw in the eyes of Malaysian supporters, and in February 2009, the contracts of Sathianathan and manager Soh Chin Ann were terminated.

Placed in group A and lost the first match to host Indonesia 1–5, Malaysia bounced back from defeat drawing Thailand and beating Laos 5–1.

Malaysia scored twice through Safee Sali and once through Mohd Ashaari Shamsuddin on a night when Bukit Jalil National Stadium was filled over capacity for the first time since it was built.

[56] Dollah guided Malaysia to the final of the 2014 AFF Championship but failed to replicate the same form as the previous head coach.

As for the result, frustration happened in the team and Malaysia suffered two consecutive defeats against North Korea, with both matches ending 1–4.

[61] After failure to qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Malaysia proceeded with its journey in the 2018 AFF Championship and was grouped with rival Vietnam together with Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

By qualifying as group runners-up, Malaysia faced Thailand, the fierce rival in their long-time head-to-head records as well as the reigning champions in the tournament, where they were able to overcome the latter by holding them 2–2 in Thailand's home stadium of Bangkok, winning the match by away goals rule in one of the tournament's greatest shock despite being tied 0–0 earlier at home.

[64] Despite being unable to achieve the AFF Cup the second time, the enhancing performance of Malaysia was seen with the emergence of new talents coming from its youth football development which brought a hope in future.

Malaysia opened their game with a 3–2 comeback victory over rival Indonesia in a match filled with scandal and strong Anti-Malaysian sentiment among Indonesians.

[69] The next encounter was against rival Vietnam in Hanoi, which was the rematch of their 2018 AFF Championship match, ended with another Malaysian defeat as Malaysia fell 0–1.

Then, Malaysia managed one of the most famous victories in their FIFA World Cup campaign, beating neighbour and regional powerhouse Thailand 2–1 at home to keep its dream alive.

[73] After Tan Cheng Hoe's resignation, former vice-president of Korea Football Association, Kim Pan-gon was appointed as Malaysia's new national team coach on a 2-year contract.

At that time, Pan-gon recorded his first success when Malaysia won 2–0 against Philippines but suffered a subsequent 1–2 loss to Singapore in the next match.

[75] Pan-gon's next challenge came when Malaysia faced Brunei and Hong Kong in a series of friendly matches as part of preparations for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

[85] At the end of 2022, before the start of the 2022 AFF Championship campaign, Malaysia held 2 friendly matches against Cambodia and Maldives,[86] winning 4–0[87] and 3–0 respectively.

[94] Later in March 2023, Malaysia won again against Turkmenistan with 1–0[95] and 2–0 against Hong Kong at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor in a series of friendlies.

Eventually, a Lee Kang-in free-kick and a penalty from Son Heung-min put South Korea back in the lead.

On 16 December 2024, FAM announced the appointment of Peter Cklamovski, who is recently the former manager of FC Tokyo as the new head coach for the Malaysian team.