Equatorial Guinea national football team

The Equatorial Guinea national football team, nicknamed Nzalang Nacional, represents Equatorial Guinea in international football and is controlled by the Equatoguinean Football Federation, a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Equatorial Guinea

Nickname(s)	Nzalang Nacional (National Thunder)
Association	Equatoguinean Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coach	Juan Micha and Casto Nopo
Captain	Emilio Nsue
Most caps	Iván Zarandona (41)
Top scorer	Emilio Nsue (11)
Home stadium	Estadio de Malabo
FIFA code	EQG
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	134 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest	49 (February 2015)
Lowest	195 (December 1998)
First international
China PR 6–2 Equatorial Guinea  (China; 23 May 1975)
Biggest win
Equatorial Guinea 4–0 South Sudan  (Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; 4 September 2016)
Biggest defeat
Congo 6–0 Equatorial Guinea  (Congo; 13 December 1990)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	2 (first in 2012)
Best result	Fourth place (2015)

The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but has qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations twice, both as hosts in 2012 and 2015. It reached the quarter-finals of the former and came fourth at the latter.

History

Equatorial Guinea played its first match on 23 May 1975 against China in a friendly, losing 6–2. They did not play another game until entering the 1985 UDEAC Cup in December 1985. They were drawn in a group against the hosts Congo and Central African Republic. They lost 5–0 to the Congo on 9 December and then earned their first draw by drawing 1–1 against the Central African Republic on 14 December. On 16 December, they played a play-off for fifth place against Chad, and lost 3–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.[2]

Equatorial Guinea would come in fourth in the 1987 UDEAC Cup, losing on penalties in the third place match to Gabon, even though they only scored one goal throughout the tournament in a 1–1 draw against Chad. They also drew 0–0 against Cameroon. On their next attempt, they got sixth place after losing on penalties against the Central African Republic. The next time Equatorial Guinea played the Central African Republic, in 1999, they won, 4–2. It was Equatorial Guinea's first win.[2]

In the late 2000s, the Equatoguinean Football Federation, along with the Gabonese Football Federation, announced a bid to host the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, against bids from other African nations including Angola, Libya and Nigeria. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon won the right to host the games,[3] and two new stadiums were built in Equatorial Guinea: Estadio de Bata in Bata and Estadio de Malabo in Malabo.[4]

The first game in the 2012 African Cup of Nations was Equatorial Guinea's first in a major international tournament, and resulted in a historic 1–0 win over Libya on 21 January 2012 in the opening game of the tournament. An 87th-minute strike from former Real Madrid winger Javier Balboa earned the victory.[5] In the next game, they secured the qualification for the quarter-finals by beating Senegal 2–1,[6] and finished second in their group after losing 0–1 to Zambia.[7] They progressed to the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by the tournament's runners-up Ivory Coast after losing to The Elephants 3–0 thanks to goals from Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré.[8] Various national side players were praised due to their performances in the tournament, including Javier Balboa, Randy, Ben Konaté and Rui, the latter a part of the Team of the Tournament.[9]

Three years later, Equatorial Guinea organized solely the 2015 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, but on this occasion, it was to replace Morocco, which was the original host. In the opener, they drew 1–1 against Congo, with Emilio Nsue opening the scoring. In the second game, they managed to play out a 0–0 draw with Burkina Faso, the runners-up of the previous edition. With these two results, the Nzalang Nacional had to win against its classic rival Gabon in the third match in order to qualify for the quarter-finals. Equatorial Guinea won 2–0 with goals from Javier Balboa (a penalty kick) and Ibán. As Group A's runner-up, the Equatoguinean national team then defeated Tunisia 2–1 with two goals from Balboa, the first being a penalty kick in the final moments of the regular time, and the second was in extra time. In the semi-final, however, they lost 0–3 to Ghana, and in the match for third place, drew 0–0 against DR Congo, ultimately losing 2–4 on penalties. The country finished the tournament in fourth place, being its best international participation to date and helping it reach a historical 49th position in the FIFA rankings.

Equatorial Guinea continued to fail in every qualification in AFCON as the team did not qualify for 2017 and 2019 editions. Likewise, the team had also failed to qualify for 2018 FIFA World Cup. During the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, they were grouped in group J along with powerhouse Tunisia, 2019 AFCON participant Tanzania and North African bedfellow Libya. The Nzalang Nacional performed poorly in their first two games, losing both with one goal margin to Tanzania away and Tunisia at home, and it appeared that Equatorial Guinea would just end up failing as usual as the team had never qualified throughout regular qualification outside hosting the competition twice.[10][11] However, the COVID-19 pandemic led all AFCON qualification suspended until late 2020, when it resumed as Equatorial Guinea faced up against a rising spirit Libyan side that aimed to qualify for the first time since 2012. Despite this, Equatorial Guinea produced an outstanding comeback against Libya in Egypt, beating Libya 3–2 with two late goals by Pedro Obiang and Salomón Obama from being led 1–2 until injury times.[12] The Nzalang Nacional then later hosted the same opponent at home, and like their game in Cairo, the Equatorial Guineans won again, 1–0, by virtual goal from Iban Salvador.[13] Adding with Tunisia managed to beat Tanzania 1–0 in Tunis and drew the same opponent 1–1 in Dar es Salaam, Equatorial Guinea is now having a historic chance to qualify throughout regular qualification for the first time ever in the history, if they can beat Tanzania in the decisive game at home soil.

Naturalised players controversy

In recent years, Equatorial Guinea has courted controversy by recruiting foreign players and giving them citizenship despite having little or no ties to the country. In 2009, South African journalist and FIFA archivist Mark Gleeson wrote that it was undermining the integrity of African football.[14]

In late 2005, and at the request of Ruslán Obiang Nsue, a son of President Teodoro Obiang, Brazilian coach Antônio Dumas recruited several Brazilian players to represent the Equatorial Guinea but the CAF and FIFA turned a blind eye, despite complaints from other nations.

In 2012, having lost the first leg of a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification round 4–0 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea recruited nine Brazilian players to help overturn the deficit for the second leg. The team did manage to win the match 2–1, but it was not enough to overturn the aggregate and Equatorial Guinea were eliminated from the tournament. DR Congo head coach Claude Le Roy complained that the Equatorial Guinea were acting like the "United Nations of football".

Before the arrival of new coach Andoni Goikoetxea to Malabo, in March 2013, the Equatoguinean board made the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde and again called-up nine Brazilian players.[15] In May 2013, they joined Colombian-born, Ecuadorian-based Jimmy Bermúdez, to who was going to pay him €3,000 for each match he plays.[16]

During the qualifiers, in the series played against Mauritania, the Nzalang Nacional lost 1–0 away and won 3–0 in Malabo, qualifying to the next round to face Uganda. However, the Mauritanian Football Federation Submitted a complaint to CAF about the inclusion of ineligible players by Equatorial Guinea (Some with fake passports and false names), resulting in the expulsion of the Equatorial Guinean team, based on the particular situation of Thierry Fidjeu, while the cases of the other players remained under investigation.

Home stadium

Estadio de Malabo

Equatorial Guinea's home stadium is Estadio de Malabo in Malabo. It can hold up to 15,250 people. Equatorial Guinea played there when they hosted the 2012 African Cup of Nations During their participation in the tournament, they played in this stadium against eventual winners Zambia and runners-up the Ivory Coast. During the national side's participation in the 2012 African Cup of Nations, they also played in the newly constructed Estadio de Bata, in which they played and won both their games in the stadium against Libya and Senegal.[4]

Kit and colors

Equatorial Guinea wears a red and white uniform. The kit manufacturer is Errea. When they play in Equatorial Guinea, they wear a solid red jersey and matching shorts with white stripes. The number, FEGUIFUT logo, and Adidas logo are located on the chest. The socks are red with white at the top.[17] When Equatorial Guinea is away, they wear all white shirt with blue stripes.

Achievements

• CEMAC Cup: 1

2006

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1998	Did not enter									Did not enter
2002	Did not qualify									2	0	0	2	2	5
2006										2	1	0	1	1	2
2010										6	1	0	5	4	10
2014										8	1	2	5	9	17
2018										2	1	0	1	1	2
2022	To be determined									To be determined
2026
Total	–	0/21	–	–	–	–	–	–		20	4	2	14	17	36

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations record
Host nation(s) / Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1957 to 1968	Part of  Spain
1970 to 1986	Not affiliated to CAF
1988	Withdrew
1990	Did not qualify
1992 to 1994	Did not enter
1996	Withdrew
1998 to 2000	Did not enter
2002 to 2010	Did not qualify
2012	Quarter-finals	7th	4	2	0	2	3	5
2013	Did not qualify
2015	Fourth place	4th	6	2	3	1	5	5
2017 to 2019	Did not qualify
2021	To be determined
2023
2025
Total	Fourth place	2/32	10	4	3	3	8	10

African Nations Championship record

African Nations Championship
Appearances: 1
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2009	Did not qualify
2011
2014
2016
2018	Group stage	15th	3	0	0	3	1	7
2020	Did not qualify
2022	To be determined
Total	Group stage	1/6	3	0	0	3	1	7

Recent schedule and results

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

  Win   Draw   Loss

2020

11 November 2021 AFCONQ	Libya	2–3	Equatorial Guinea	Cairo, Egypt
21:00 UTC+2	Al Warfali  55' (pen.) Bettamer  58'	Report	Josete  33' Obiang  90+1' Obama  90+4'	Stadium: Al Salam Stadium[note 1] Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

15 November 2021 AFCONQ	Equatorial Guinea	1–0	Libya	Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
20:00 UTC+1	Salvador  27'	Report		Stadium: Estadio de Malabo Referee: Norman Matemera (Zimbabwe)

2021

22 March 2021 AFCONQ	Equatorial Guinea	v	Tanzania
--:-- UTC+1

30 March 2021 AFCONQ	Tunisia	v	Equatorial Guinea
--:-- UTC+1

Players

Current squad

The following players had been called up for two 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group J matches against Libya on 11 and 15 November 2020.[18]

Caps and goals updated as of 15 November 2020 after the match against Libya.[19]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Jesús Owono	1 March 2001	3	0	San Ignacio
13	GK	Aitor Embela	17 April 1996	5	0	Atlético Saguntino
22	GK	Marcos Ondo	13 August 2000	1	0	Cano Sport
3	DF	Igor Engonga	4 January 1995	23	1	Futuro Kings
5	DF	Cosme Anvene	3 March 1990	7	0	Deportivo Unidad
11	DF	Basilio Ndong	17 January 1999	17	0	Westerlo
12	DF	Miguel Nzang	27 July 1990	8	0	Futuro Kings
15	DF	Carlos Akapo (captain)	12 March 1993	16	1	Cádiz
20	DF	Marvin Anieboh	26 August 1997	1	0	Cacereño
21	DF	Esteban Obiang	7 May 1998	6	0	Sant Rafel
23	DF	Luis Meseguer	7 September 1999	8	1	Zamora
2	MF	Miguel Ángel Mayé	8 December 1995	5	0	Futuro Kings
4	MF	Fede Bikoro	17 March 1996	24	1	Badalona
7	MF	Jordan Nsang	8 July 1998	7	0	Leganés B
8	MF	Pedro Obiang	27 March 1992	9	3	Sassuolo
10	MF	José Machín	14 August 1996	10	0	Pescara
14	MF	Kike Boula	17 January 1993	28	0	Futuro Kings
16	MF	Federico Nsué	20 April 1997	2	0	Cano Sport
18	MF	Valeriano Nchama	18 June 1995	8	0	Manzanese
6	FW	Iban Salvador	11 December 1995	23	3	Fuenlabrada
9	FW	Salomón Obama	4 February 2000	5	1	Sevan
17	FW	José Boacho	22 July 1998	19	2	Getafe B
19	FW	Pedro Oba Asu	18 May 2000	8	1	Futuro Kings

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Felipe Ovono	26 July 1993	40	0	Futuro Kings	v.  Libya, 11 November 2020 ^INJ
MF	Emilio Nsué	30 September 1989	23	11	APOEL	v.  Libya, 11 November 2020 ^CVD
MF	Jannick Buyla	6 October 1998	3	0	UCAM Murcia	v.  Libya, 11 November 2020 ^CVD
MF	Rubén Belima	11 February 1992	21	0	Logroñés	v.  Libya, 11 November 2020 ^PRE
MF	Pablo Ganet	4 November 1994	19	2	Kazma	v.  Libya, 11 November 2020 ^PRE
MF	Nico Kata	15 January 1993	13	0	Real Estelí	v.  Libya, 11 November 2020 ^PRE

Notes:

• (^PRE) Preliminary squad
• (^RET) Retired from the national team
• (^INJ) Injured
• (^REJ) Rejected the call up

Records

As of 15 November 2020[20]

Players in bold text are still active with Equatorial Guinea.

Most Caps # Player Caps Goals Career 1 Iván Zarandona 41 1 2003–2017 2 Juvenal Edjogo-Owono 40 9 2003–2015 Felipe Ovono 40 0 2011– 4 Iban Iyanga 38 4 2010–2018 5 Rui da Gracia 34 0 2010–2019 6 Javier Balboa 32 6 2007–2017 7 Viera Ellong 31 2 2007–2017 Diosdado Mbele 31 0 2013– 9 Kike Boula 30 0 2015– Danilo Clementino 30 0 2006–2013 Sipo 30 0 2010–2015

Top Goalscorers # Player Goals Caps Ratio Career 1 Emilio Nsue 11 23 0.48 2013– 2 Juvenal Edjogo-Owono 9 40 0.23 2003–2015 3 Javier Balboa 6 32 0.19 2007–2017 4 Pedro Oba 4 10 0.4 2017– Iban Salvador 4 24 0.17 2015– Iban Iyanga 4 38 0.11 2010–2018 7 Pedro Obiang 3 9 0.33 2018– Juan Epitié 3 12 0.25 2003–2012 Rodolfo Bodipo 3 13 0.23 2003–2008

Coaches

• Manuel Sanchís Martínez (1980)
• Julio Raúl González (1989–90)
• Pedro Mabale (199?–1998)
• Jesús Martín Dorta (1999)
• Raúl Eduardo Rodríguez (2000)
• Juan Carlos Bueriberi Echuaca (2000–200?)
• Francisco Nsi Nchama (2002)
• Jesús Martín Dorta (2003)
• Óscar Engonga (2003)
• Adel Amrouche (2004)
• Antônio Dumas (2004–2006)
• Quique Setién (2006)
• Jordan de Freitas (2007–2008)
• Vicente Engonga (2008–2009)
• Carlos Diarte (2009–2010)
• Casto Nopo (2010) caretaker
• Henri Michel (2010)
• Casto Nopo (2011) caretaker
• Gílson Paulo (2012)
• Andoni Goikoetxea (2013–2014)
• Esteban Becker (2015–2017)
• Casto Nopo (2017) caretaker
• Franck Dumas (2017–2018)
• Casto Nopo (2018) caretaker
• Ángel López (2018–2019)
• Casto Nopo (2019) caretaker
• Dani Guindos (2019)
• Sébastien Migné (2019–2020)
• Juan Micha and Casto Nopo (2020–)

Coaches of local-based national team

• Rodolfo Bodipo (2017–2018)
• Antonio Pancho (2019)
• Felipe Esono (2019–present)

Notes

1. Libya has played their home match outside Libya due to security concerns from the ongoing civil war.

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
2. "Equatorial Guinea - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. RSSSF. 5 June 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
3. "Angola to host 2010 Nations Cup". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
4. "Nuevo Estadio de Malabo". stadiumguide.com. The Stadium Guide. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
5. "Balboa dá vitória à Guiné Equatorial" [Balboa gives the victory to Equatorial Guinea]. abola.pt. A Bola. 21 January 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
6. "Africa Cup of Nations: Equatorial Guinea in quarters as Senegal crash out". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
7. "Africa Cup of Nations: Zambia book quarter-final slot". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
8. "Ivory Coast 3−0 Equatorial Guinea". espn.com. ESPN. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
9. "Orange CAN 2012 Best XI". cafonline.com. Confédération Africaine de Football. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
10. https://www.goal.com/en-tza/news/afcon-2021-qualifiers-tanzania-didnt-collapse-against-equatorial-/n6mx5m4acy4f1tktczmp72azl
11. https://www.europasur.es/deportes/algecirascf/Alavedra-Ganet-cara-cruz-Algeciras_0_1411359431.html
12. https://www.cafonline.com/total-africa-cup-of-nations/2021/news/equatorial-guinea-leaves-it-late-to-beat-libya-in-cairo
13. https://www.libyaobserver.ly/sports/libya-loses-1-0-equatorial-guinea
14. "African football's integrity is undermined, by Mark Gleeson". WorldSoccer.com. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
15. "Volante Neto é convocado pela Seleção de Guiné Equatorial" [Midfielder Neto is called for the national team of Equatorial Guinea] (in Portuguese). Barretos Esporte Clube. 10 March 2013. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
16. "Archived copy" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
17. "Equatorial Guinea ANC Puma Home Shirt 2012". Football Shirts. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
19. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers - Africa - Matches - South Sudan - Equatorial Guinea - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com.
20. Mamrud, Roberto. "Equatorial Guinea - Record International Players". RSSSF.

External links

• Equatoguinean Football Federation (in Spanish)
• Equatorial Guinea at FIFA.com