Mauritania national football team

The Mauritania national football team (French: Équipe de Mauritanie de football; Arabic: منتخب موريتانيا لكرة القدم‎) nicknamed Al-Murabitun in reference to Almoravid dynasty, represents Mauritania in men's international football and it is controlled by the Fédération de Football de la République Islamique de Mauritanie and is a member of the Confederation of African Football. They have not qualified for the FIFA World Cup. However, in the Amilcar Cabral Cup, a regional tournament for West Africa, Mauritania came fourth in 1980 on hosting the competition. The national football team of Mauritania were later runners-up in 1995, losing on penalties to Sierra Leone after the final finished 0–0. On 18 November 2018, Mauritania qualified to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history, after they won 2–1 against Botswana.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Mauritania women's national football team.

Mauritania
Nickname(s)Al-Murabitun (المرابطون)
Lions of Chinguetti
AssociationFédération de Football de la République Islamique de Mauritanie
اتحاد الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية لكرة القدم
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationWAFU (West Africa)
Head coachCorentin Martins
Most capsBessam (55)
Top scorerBessam (12)
Home stadiumStade Olympique
FIFA codeMTN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 101 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest81 (July 2017)
Lowest206 (November 2012 – January 2013)
First international
 Malagasy Republic 5–1 Mauritania
(Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 25 December 1961)
Biggest win
Mauritania 8–2 Somalia 
(Beirut, Lebanon; 27 December 2006)
Biggest defeat
 Guinea 14–0 Mauritania
(Guinea; 20 May 1972)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances1 (first in 2019)
Best resultGroup stage (2019)

History

1963–80

Mauritania played its first match after independence from France on 11 April 1963, against Congo Kinshasa (also making their debut) and lost 6–0.[2] The match was held in Dakar, Senegal as part of the L'Amitié tournament between African sides. It also saw the debuts of Chad, Liberia and Niger. Mauritania lost its three other matches in the tournament: 2–0 to the Ivory Coast, 4–0 to Tunisia and 7–0 to Congo Brazzaville.

Mauritania's first goal and avoidance of defeat came four years after their debut, in 1967 with a 1–1 draw away in Tanzania. This was their first match since the L'Amitié tournament in 1963.

Mauritania entered their first African Games qualification campaign, in an aim to reach the 1973 finals in Nigeria. They were drawn in a group against Mali and Guinea in Guinea. The first game was lost 11–0 to Mali, and on 20 May Mauritania lost 14–0 to Guinea. Mauritania did not qualify.

In May 1976 Mauritania entered qualification for the football at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada. They were drawn against neighbouring Mali in a two-legged qualifier. The first leg was lost 6–0 away on 1 May, and the second leg was lost 1–0 at home on 18 May. Mali did not qualify for the finals.

Mauritania's first entrance into World Cup qualification was an attempt to reach the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. In March 1976 they were one of four countries put into two preliminary matches at the start of the African qualification campaign. Mauritania's preliminary was a two-legged match against the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and they drew the first match 1–1 away in Ouagadougou on 13 March. This was their first competitive avoidance of defeat, and their first avoidance of defeat since 1967. On 28 March, Mauritania lost their home leg in Nouakchott 2–0 and the Upper Volta advanced 3–1 on aggregate.

On 12 October 1980, seventeen years after their first game, Mauritania won for the first time by beating Mali 2–1 at home in a qualifier for the African Cup of Nations.[3] Mali won 3–2 on aggregate having won the first leg 2–0.

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania entered qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, which was their first entry in twenty years and second overall. Again, they were drawn to face Burkina Faso in a two-legged preliminary. The first leg was played at home in Nouakchott in front of 15,000 people on 31 May 1996, one day before any other matches in the round. The match finished 0–0.[4] The second leg was played at the Stade du 4-Aout in Ouagadougou on 16 June 1996 in front of 13,000 people. Burkina Faso won 2–0 to advance to the final group phase.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania entered the qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and were placed in a preliminary against Tunisia, who had qualified for the previous tournament. On 7 April 2000 they hosted Tunisia at the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott. A crowd of 10,000 saw Tunisia win 2–1 with second-half goals from Radhi Jaidi and Hassen Gabsi.[5] In the second leg on 22 April 2000, Mauritania were beaten 3–0 at the Stade El Menzah in Tunis. The match was watched by only 3,000, despite a capacity of 45,000 in the ground.[6] Tunisia won 5–1 on aggregate and later qualified for the finals in South Korea and Japan.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania were drawn with Zimbabwe in the preliminary of the African section of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 12 October 2003 they lost the away leg 3–0 at the National Sports Stadium in Harare in front of 55,000 people.[7] In the home return at the Stade Olympique on 14 November 2003, Mauritania scored twice in the opening ten minutes to win 2–1, their first victory in a World Cup match. However, Zimbabwe advanced 4–2 on aggregate.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

The African qualification process was altered for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Only the six lowest-ranked nations played a preliminary, a selection which for the first time did not include Mauritania. Mauritania played in Group 8 of the second qualifying round against Rwanda, Morocco and Ethiopia, and started with an away match at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo in Kigali, Rwanda on 31 May 2008. They lost 3–0 in front of 12,000 people.[8] The first home match was on 7 June at the Stade Nacional in Nouakchott against Morocco. The Moroccans scored two in each half before a late penalty by Dominique da Silva of Mauritania made the game 4–1.

On 13 June 2008 Mauritania hosted Ethiopia at the Stade Nacional and lost 1–0 after an injury-time winner from Saladin Said. On 22 June Mauritania lost 6–1 in the away match versus Ethiopia at the Addis Ababa Stadium. The Ethiopian forwards Fikru Tefera and Andualem Nigussie scored two goals each in a match which also saw Ba Yaoub of Mauritania sent off after 37 minutes, conceding a penalty to Fikru. The game was 1–1 at half time.[9] In September 2008 Ethiopia were expelled from the tournament due to government interferences in their football association and all of their results annulled.

Only 1,000 people saw Mauritania's next game at the Stade Nacional as they were beaten 1–0 by Rwanda on 6 September with a late goal by Bobo Bola. Mauritania finished their group campaign at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, Morocco. Like the home game against the Moroccans, Mauritania were 4–0 down but scored the last goal, this time by Dahmed Ould Teguedi. Although the Moroccan stadium had a capacity of 52,000, only 1,472 saw the match.[10]

2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Mauritania beat Mauritius 1–0 in the first leg of a preliminary round qualifier for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Nouakchott. SC Bastia's midfielder Adama Ba scored the only goal midway through the first half.[11] The return leg in Curepipe ended 2–0 in favour of Mauritania. Scorers were Demba Sow and Moulaye Ahmed Bessam.[12]

In the first round, first leg match, Mauritania beat visitors Equatorial Guinea 1–0 in Nouakchott. The two sides headed into the break scoreless in their match played at Office du Complexe Olympique de Nouakchott. Hosts Mauritania broke the deadlock in the 76th minute through their Tunisian-based striker Ismaël Diakité. In the return match Equatorial Guinea beat Mauritania 3–0 in Malabo.[13] Equatorial Guinea won 3–1 on aggregate. However, on 3 July 2014, the CAF announced that Equatorial Guinea were disqualified for fielding the ineligible player Thierry Fidjeu in the tie, and as a result, Mauritania advanced to the second round.[14] Equatorial Guinea later qualified for the final tournament as replacement hosts.

2019 Africa Cup of Nations

On 18 November 2018, Mauritania qualified to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history, after they won 2–1 against Botswana, coming second in qualification Group I.

Results and fixtures
Main article: Mauritania national football team results

  Win   Draw   Loss

2020
11 November 2021 AFCONQ Mauritania  1–1  Burundi Nouakchott, Mauritania
16:00 UTC±0
Stadium: Stade Cheikha Ould Boïdiya
Referee: Alhadi Allaou Mahamat (Chad)
15 November 2021 AFCONQ Burundi  3–1  Mauritania Bujumbura, Burundi
15:00 UTC+2
Stadium: Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium
Referee: David Molise (Lesotho)

2021
22 March 2021 AFCONQ Mauritania  v  Morocco Mauritania
--:-- UTC±0
30 March 2021 AFCONQ Central African Republic  v  Mauritania Central African Republic
--:-- UTC+1

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected for a friendly match against Sierra Leone on 9 October 2020.

Caps and goals updated as of 9 October 2020 after the game against Sierra Leone.[15]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Namori Diaw (1994-12-30) 30 December 1994 11 0 Kédia
1GK Babacar Diop (1995-09-17) 17 September 1995 2 0 Police
1GK M'Backé N'diaye (1994-12-19) 19 December 1994 0 0 Nouakchott Kings
2DF Abdoul Bâ (1994-02-08) 8 February 1994 39 0 Auxerre B
2DF Moustapha Diaw (1996-12-31) 31 December 1996 38 1 Nouadhibou
2DF Bakary N'Diaye (1998-11-26) 26 November 1998 27 0 Difaâ El Jadidi
2DF Diadié Diarra (1993-01-23) 23 January 1993 7 0 Canet RFC
2DF Abdoulkader Thiam (1998-10-03) 3 October 1998 7 0 US Orléans
2DF Lemrabott El Hacen (1997-03-24) 24 March 1997 7 0 Nouadhibou
2DF Houssen Abderrahmane (1995-02-03) 3 February 1995 6 0 RWDM47
2DF Abdoulaye Ousmane (2000-02-22) 22 February 2000 0 0 RC Strasbourg
3MF Hacen El Ide (1997-12-31) 31 December 1997 45 9 CD Lugo
3MF Mohamed Yali (1997-11-01) 1 November 1997 39 2 NA Hussein Dey
3MF Alassane Diop (1997-09-22) 22 September 1997 12 0 Zakho
3MF Abdallahi Mahmoud (2000-05-04) 4 May 2000 4 0 Alavés
3MF Yacoub Sidi (1995-01-01) 1 January 1995 3 0 Nouadhibou
3MF Almike N'Diaye (1996-10-26) 26 October 1996 1 0 Vaulx-en-Velin
3MF Idrissa Thiam (2000-09-02) 2 September 2000 1 0 ASAC Concorde
4FW Cheikh Moulaye Ahmed (1987-12-05) 5 December 1987 54 12 Khaleej FC
4FW Ndioko Niass (1994-06-04) 4 June 1994 28 3 El Entag El Harby SC
4FW Hemeya Tanjy (1998-05-01) 1 May 1998 14 1 Tidjikja
4FW Bekaye Wade (1996-04-13) 13 April 1996 0 0 Nouadhibou

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Mauritania in the last 12 months.[16]

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.

Records
As of 15 October 2019
Players in bold text are still active with Mauritania.

Competitive record

Other records
Year Position
7th November Cup 19953rd
Total 0 title

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. "DR Congo (Zaire, Congo-Kinshasa) – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  3. "Mauritania – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  4. "CAF – 1998 FIFA WORLD CUP PRELIMINARIES". Allworldcup.narod.ru. 31 May 1996. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  5. "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan ™". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  6. "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan ™". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  7. "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  8. "2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  9. "2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  10. "2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa". FIFA.com. FIFA. 11 October 2008. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  11. "Mauritania beat Mauritius in first leg of 2015 qualifier". bbc.com. BBC. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  12. "Mauritania pass Mauritius' test". starafrica.com. Star Africa. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  13. "Equatorial Guinea eject Mauritania". africanfootball.com. African Football. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  14. "Equatorial Guinea disqualified from Orange Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2015". cafonline.com. Confédération Africaine de Football. 3 July 2014.
  15. "Mauritania".
  16. "Q CHAN 2020 : LES 23 CONTRE LE MALI" (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2019.
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