game, they lost 7–0 against Hong Kong in the Mong Kok Stadium, and then 6–0 less than a week later against China at Changlimithang, the first time despite their lowly ranking that Bhutan had been beaten at home in an official international match. Results got worse still in the following match as they lost 15–0 to Qatar, their heaviest defeat since their then world record 20–0 loss to Kuwait in 2000. The next two matches saw an improvement in their fortunes. Though both were lost, the scorelines were much more narrow. Firstly a 4–3 home defeat to the Maldives, in which Bhutan showed a spirited display to come back from 4–0 down in the final five minutes. At half time in the match, following a disagreement with team manager Hishey Tshering, coach Norio Tsukitate was sacked, his rigid methodology having created significant friction between himself and the overall team management. Secondly a 1–0 home loss to Hong Kong, the winning goal coming in the penultimate minute of the match for the visitors. This was a result that pleased the Bhutan Football Federation so much that they awarded all of the players involved in the match a Nu 25,000 bonus to reflect their "brilliant performance". However the improvement in their performances was not to last and a visit to China resulted in a 12–0 loss, and a home match against Qatar another loss, this time 3–0. Following their World Cup qualifying attempt, Bhutan entered the eleventh SAFF Championship, held in India between 23 December 2015 and 3 January 2016. Originally scheduled to take place in July 2015, the monsoon season and schedule congestion led to the tournament being postponed to late December. Their performance was identical to their efforts in the last four tournaments as the team lost all three group games beginning with a 3–1 defeat to the Maldives, Tshering Dorji scoring for Bhutan after 20 minutes, and followed by two 3–0 losses to Afghanistan and Bangladesh to be eliminated from the competition. Prior to their last qualifying match, the national team visited Thailand where they played two back to back charity friendly matches against reigning Thai League T1 champions Buriram United. Although they were playing against a club side rather than a fellow national team, Bhutan were soundly beaten in both matches; firstly 6–0 and then 9–0 in a rematch the following day, with Buriram's new signing Weslley scoring