Gabon national football team

The Gabon national football team, (French: Équipe nationale de football du Gabon) represents Gabon in men's international association football, The team's nickname is The Brazilians and it is governed by the Gabonese Football Federation, They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but have qualified seven times (as of 2017) for the Africa Cup of Nations, The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Gabon

Nickname(s)	Les Panthères (The Panthers) Les Brésiliens (The Brazilians)
Association	Gabonese Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coach	Patrice Neveu
Captain	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Most caps	Didier Ovono (112)
Top scorer	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (26)
Home stadium	Stade Omar Bongo
FIFA code	GAB
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	86 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest	30 (July 2009)
Lowest	125 (April–May 2003)
First international
Upper Volta 5–4 Gabon  (Madagascar; 13 April 1960)
Biggest win
Gabon 7–0 Benin  (Libreville, Gabon; 2 April 1995)
Biggest defeat
Cameroon 6–0 Gabon  (Abidjan, Ivory Coast; 26 December 1961)  Morocco 6–0 Gabon  (Rabat, Morocco; 15 November 2006)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	7 (first in 1994)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 1996 and 2012

History

1960s

Gabon made their debut on 13 April 1960 by entering the first Friendship Games (Jeux de L'Amitié) tournament, created for French-speaking African countries (a precursor to the modern African Games), held in Antananarivo, Madagascar. In the First Round they were drawn against Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), who were also making their debut, and lost 5–4, despite leading 3–2 at half-time.[2][3][4] They did not play another match for over a year and a half, until the next time the tournament was staged, in December 1961 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.[2] They were drawn in Pool 3 alongside Cameroon and Senegal. Gabon began the tournament with a 3–2 defeat to Senegal on Christmas Day, before being thrashed 6–0 by Cameroon on Boxing Day, finishing bottom of their group.[5] A few months after the tournament, the Gabonese Football Federation (Federation Gabonaise de Football) was formed to officially oversee the development of the national team and the domestic game.[6] The new association would not have to wait long for their first win, as in their very next match on 14 July 1962 they defeated the Congo 3–1 in their first match on home soil. They played 2 more matches in 1962, a 1–1 home draw with Cameroon on 20 August, a vast improvement over their previous meeting, and a 3–1 away defeat to the Congo on 16 September, before entering the third and final Friendship Games held in April 1963 in Dakar, Senegal.[2] They were drawn in Group C, along with British Gambia, the France amateur team, and Upper Volta. They opened on 12 April with a strong 4–0 win over Upper Volta, but were comfortably beaten 3–0 by the French amateurs 2 days later. They drew their final game 2–2 with British Gambia on 16 April and finished 2nd in the group, a marked improvement over their previous 2 appearances at the tournament; however only the group winners progressed and therefore Gabon were eliminated.[7] A few months later, Gabon entered qualification for the 1966 FIFA World Cup held in England. However, on 8 October 1964 they withdrew from the competition, along with all the other African entrants, in protest at FIFA's decision to only award 1 finals place to all of Africa, Asia and Oceania.[8][9]

As a result of this boycott, Gabon did not play another match for over two years until August 1965, when they hosted a friendly double-header against Nigeria, drawing 2–2 on 28 August and losing 4–1 the next day. At the 35th FIFA Congress held in London, England on 6 July 1966, Gabon were officially admitted as full members of FIFA.[6] They played their next match on 2 December 1966 when they suffered a 4–3 defeat against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before playing them again on 4 January 1967 at home, this time winning 1–0. They played one more friendly, a 3–0 home defeat to the Ivory Coast on 28 March, before entering qualification for the 1968 Olympic football tournament, held in Mexico.[10] In the First Round, they were drawn against Guinea with whom they drew the first leg 0–0 at home on 18 June, before being routed in the second leg 6–1, on 9 July.[11] In 1967, they also became full members of CAF.[12] Following on from the Olympic qualifiers, Gabon did not play another match for over two years until they travelled to Dahomey (now Benin) on 24 August 1969 to play a friendly, which they lost 1–0.[10]

1970s

Gabon then did not play for over a year, before entering qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time. Their attempt to qualify for the 1972 tournament held in Cameroon fell at the first hurdle however, as they were drawn against Ivory Coast in the First Round. They lost the first leg at home 2–1 on 8 November 1970, and were defeated 1–0 away two weeks later.[10] Gabon then entered qualification for the 1972 Olympic football tournament held in West Germany. In the First Round they were drawn against Cameroon. Having lost the first leg 3–2 in Libreville on 30 May 1971, Gabon forfeited the tie as they did not travel to Yaoundé to contest the return leg.[13] Following this ignominious exit, Gabon entered qualification for the 1974 FIFA World Cup held in West Germany, and were due to play Cameroon in the First Round the Summer of 1972, however they withdrew before the matches could be played.[14] As a result of this withdrawal, they did not play another match for over a year until they entered the football tournament at the 1972 Central African Cup (a precursor to the Central African Games) held in Brazzaville, Congo. The 5-team round robin tournament included, alongside Gabon; Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, and Chad. They played their first match on 16 July against the Congo, losing 3–0. Two days later they were defeated 3–1 by the Central African Republic and on 20 July they were soundly beaten by Cameroon, 4–0. However they salvaged some pride by beating Chad 1–0 in their final match on 22 July to avoid the bottom spot. Furthermore, this tournament doubled up as a qualification group for the 1973 All-Africa Games football tournament, and as Gabon did not win the group, they failed to qualify.[15] A year later they entered qualification for the 1974 African Cup of Nations held in Egypt, and were due to play the Central African Republic in the summer of 1973, however they once again withdrew before a ball was kicked.[16]

As a result, Gabon did not play a single match for almost 4 years until they thrashed São Tomé and Príncipe 6–1 at home in a friendly in May 1976, which was São Tomé and Príncipe's first international match.[17] A few weeks later Gabon hosted the inaugural Central African Games. In the football tournament, they were drawn into Group B alongside Burundi, Cameroon and Rwanda. They played their opening match on 28 June, registering a convincing 4–1 win over Burundi. Then, on 1 July they played out a 1–1 draw against Zaire who had travelled to Gabon to play each team in Group B in a friendly capacity, and had not entered the competition proper. On 5 July Gabon gained another impressive victory, beating Rwanda 3–0. In their final group game on 7 July they held neighbours Cameroon to creditable 0–0 draw, thus securing 2nd place (having only missed out on the top spot via goal difference) and qualification for the Semi-Finals. On 9 July they faced Group A winners the Congo, and were narrowly beaten 1–0. However, two days later they managed to clinch 3rd place with a 3–1 victory of the Central African Republic, to put the seal on an impressive performance in their own tournament.[18] A year later, Gabon entered qualification for the 1978 African Cup of Nations held in Ghana. After being given a bye in the First Round, they were drawn against the Congo in the Second. They lost the first leg away 3–2 on 17 July 1977, and drew the second at home 3–3 on 31 July, losing 6–5 on aggregate.[19] Later that year, they entered a qualification tournament for the football competition at the 1978 All-Africa Games held in Algiers, Algeria. The qualification tournament for their zone, which was held in Cameroon, consisted of 2 groups, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the Semi-Finals. In Gabon's group (B) were Burundi, the Congo and Equatorial Guinea. They beat Equatorial Guinea 2–0 in their opening match on Christmas Eve, defeated the Congo 1–0 on Boxing Day and beat Burundi 2-0 two days later. With 3 wins out of 3, they topped their group and faced Group A runners-up Chad in the Semi-Finals to whom they lost 3–1 on New Year's Eve, and therefore failed to qualify, as only the tournament winner went to the finals.[20] A few months later in February 1978, they hosted a friendly against Nigeria, which they lost 1–0. In January 1979 they registered a 2–2 away draw against Rwanda, before defeating Ivory Coast 2–1 at home in April.

2010s

In the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon upset Cameroon 1–0 and had a good chance of progressing to the quarter-finals after a scoreless draw against Tunisia. However, Gabon lost 2–1 to Zambia as it finished in its group with a three-way tie with Zambia and Cameroon. Gabon only scored twice in the group stage and were eliminated on the goals scored tiebreaker. In 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon co-hosted the tournament as it won their group matches: 2–0 against Niger, 3–2 against Morocco, and 1–0 against Tunisia. The second match saw Gabon qualify for its first quarter-final since 1996 in the most dramatic circumstances. Gabon had come back to lead 2–1 only for Morocco to tie the match in early stoppage time. However, on the final play of the game, Gabon scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time, from a direct free kick. Eventually, Gabon lost 5–4 in penalties (1–1 a.e.t) in the quarterfinal against Mali, after a penalty missed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had scored three goals in the tournament.

Gabon began its 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign in the second round in Group E as it was drawn with Niger, Burkina Faso, and Congo. Despite opening its campaign with a scoreless draw against Niger, Gabon lost 3–0 due to having fielded ineligible player Charly Moussono. After four qualifiers, Gabon scored only one goal, but thanks to an Aubameyang hat-trick on June 15, 2013, Gabon stayed in contention for a play-off berth with a 4–1 victory over Niger. However, Burkina Faso eliminated Gabon in the final qualifier with the 1–0 result as Gabon finished third in its group.

For the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon has been drawn to qualify against Togo. Even though Daniel Cousin scored in each leg against Togo, Gabon missed out on the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations as it lost 3–2 on aggregate. A year later, Gabon played six qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations as it was drawn with Burkina Faso, Angola and Lesotho. Despite a stunning 1–1 result in Lesotho in qualifying, Gabon finished ahead of Burkina Faso to top the group as it qualified for the tournament with a game to spare in Angola. In January 2015, Gabon was drawn along with Burkina Faso, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. However, its 2–0 victory on the opening day of the tournament were all the points Gabon achieved during the tournament as it suffered a shocking exit in the group stage.

Honours

UNIFAC Cup :

• Champions: 1999

UDEAC Championship :

• Champions: 1985, 1988
• Runner-up: 1989

Minor

• CEMAC Cup :

Champions: 2013

Runner-up: 2007

Competition records

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	Part of  France									Part of  France
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966	Withdrew									Withdrew
1970	Did not enter									Did not enter
1974	Withdrew									Withdrew
1978	Did not enter									Did not enter
1982
1986
1990	Did not qualify									6	2	0	4	5	9
1994										4	2	1	1	7	5
1998										7	2	1	4	4	11
2002										2	1	0	1	1	2
2006										12	3	5	4	15	14
2010										16	9	0	7	20	13
2014										6	2	1	3	5	6
2018										8	2	3	3	3	8
2022	To be determined									To be determined
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total	-	0/23	-	-	-	-	-	-		61	23	11	27	60	68

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1957	Part of  France
1959
1962 to 1968	Not affiliated to CAF
1970	Did not enter
1972	Did not qualify
1974	Withdrew
1976	Did not enter
1978	Did not qualify
1980	Did not enter
1982	Withdrew
1984 to 1992	Did not qualify
1994	Group stage	12th	2	0	0	2	0	4
1996	Quarter-finals	7th	3	1	1	1	4	3
1998	Did not qualify
2000	Group stage	16th	3	0	1	2	2	6
2002 to 2008	Did not qualify
2010	Group stage	10th	3	1	1	1	2	2
2012	Quarter-finals	5th	4	3	1	0	7	3
2013	Did not qualify
2015	Group stage	12th	3	1	0	2	2	3
2017		9th	3	0	3	0	2	2
2019	Did not qualify
2021	To be determined
2023	To be determined
2025	To be determined
Total	Quarter-finals	7/32	21	6	6	9	19	23

African Nations Championship record

• 2009 – Did not qualify
• 2011 – Group stage
• 2014 – Quarter-finals
• 2016 – Group stage
• 2018 – Withdrew
• 2020 – Banned[21]

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Gambia on 12 and 16 November 2020 respectively.[22]

Caps and goals updated as of 16 November 2020, after the match against Gambia.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Yves Bitséki Moto	23 April 1983	26	1	Mosta
	GK	Anthony Mfa Mezui	7 March 1991	15	0	Sarre-Union
	GK	Junior Noubi	20 June 1999	0	0	Cholet
	DF	Bruno Ecuele Manga	16 July 1988	85	9	Dijon
	DF	Lloyd Palun	28 November 1988	59	0	Guingamp
	DF	Johann Obiang	5 July 1993	29	0	Rodez
	DF	Yoann Wachter	7 April 1992	9	0	Saint-Malo
	DF	Gilchrist Nguema	7 August 1996	2	0	Maccabi Ahi Nazareth
	DF	Sidney Obissa	4 May 2000	1	0	Ajaccio
	MF	André Biyogo Poko	1 January 1993	61	2	Altay
	MF	Lévy Madinda	11 June 1992	53	6	Ankara Keçiörengücü
	MF	Guélor Kanga	1 August 1990	45	2	Red Star Belgrade
	MF	Didier Ndong	17 May 1994	37	0	Dijon
	MF	Medwin Biteghé	1 September 1996	5	0	Al-Adalah
	MF	Nathanael Mbourou	24 August 1996	1	0	Maritzburg United
	FW	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang	18 June 1989	65	26	Arsenal
	FW	Denis Bouanga	11 November 1994	19	6	Saint-Étienne
	FW	Aaron Boupendza	7 August 1996	15	3	Hatayspor
	FW	Louis Ameka	3 October 1996	15	0	Les Chamois
	FW	Jim Allevinah	27 February 1995	7	0	Clermont
	FW	Fahd Ndzengue	7 July 2000	1	0	Tabor Sežana

Recent call-ups

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
^DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up. ^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. ^PRE Preliminary squad. ^RET Player has retired from international football. ^SUS Suspended from the national team.

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.

  Win   Draw   Loss

2021

22 March 2021 2021 AFCONQ	Gabon	v	DR Congo
--:-- UTC±0

30 March 2021 2021 AFCONQ	Angola	v	Gabon
--:-- UTC±0

5 September 2021 Friendly	Estonia	v	Gabon
--:-- UTC±0

7 October 2021 Friendly	Moldova	v	Gabon
--:-- UTC±0

Records

As of 17 November 2019

Players in bold text are still active with Gabon.

Most Caps[23] # Player Caps Goals Career 1 Didier Ovono 112 0 2003– 2 François Amégasse 110 9 1984–2000 3 Kassa Ngoma 92 7 1985–1997 4 Cédric Moubamba 86 2 1998–2012 5 Bruno Ecuélé Manga 85 9 2007– 6 Valéry Ondo 80 12 1988–2001 7 Nzué Nguema 77 23 1995–2005 8 Germain Mendomé 72 0 1988–2000 9 Rodrigue Moundounga 70 1 2001–2016 10 Bruno Zita Mbanangoyé 68 11 1999–2012

Top Goalscorers[23] # Player Goals Caps Ratio Career 1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 26 65 0.4 2009– 2 Nzué Nguema 23 77 0.3 1995–2005 3 Guy Roger Nzamba 21 47 0.45 1988–2000 4 Michel Minko 14 41 0.34 1984–1990 5 Brice Mackaya 13 43 0.3 1992–1999 Daniel Cousin 13 60 0.22 2000–2014 7 Malick Evouna 12 34 0.35 2012– Valéry Ondo 12 80 0.15 1988–2001 9 Bruno Zita Mbanangoyé 11 68 0.16 1999–2012 10 Etienne Bito'o 9 18 0.5 2000–2015 Bruno Ecuélé Manga 9 82 0.11 2007– François Amégasse 9 110 0.08 1984–2000

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
2. "Gabon matches". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
3. "Jeux Sportifs de la Communauté Française 1960 (Tananarive, Madagascar)". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
4. "Burkina Faso matches". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
5. "Jeux de l'Amitié 1961 (Abidjan, Ivory Coast)". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
6. "Member Association - Gabon". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
7. "Jeux de l'Amitié 1963 (Dakar, Senegal)". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
8. "World Cup 1966 Qualifying". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
9. "How Africa Boycotted the 1966 World Cup". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
10. "Gabon matches". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
11. "Games of the XIX. Olympiad Football Qualifying Tournament (Mexico City, Mexico, 1968)". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
12. "Member Association - Gabon". www.cafonline.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
13. "Games of the XX. Olympiad Football Qualifying Tournament (Munchen, Germany, 1972)". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
14. "World Cup Qualifying 1974". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
15. "African Games 1973". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
16. "African nations Cup 1974". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
17. "Sao Tome matches". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
18. "Jeux d'Afrique Centrale 1976 (Gabon, June 28-July 11)". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
19. "African Nations Cup 1978". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
20. "African Games 1978". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
21. "Gabon, Djibouti suspended for Total CHAN 2020". CAF. 15 November 2017.
22. at afrik-foot.com.
23. Mamrud, Roberto. "Gabon – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2017.

External links

• Homepage of the national team
• Gabon at FIFA.com
• National football team of Gabon picture