São Tomé and Príncipe national football team

The São Tomé and Príncipe national football team is the national association football team of São Tomé and Príncipe and is controlled by the São Toméan Football Federation. It is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA.[2]

São Tomé and Príncipe

Nickname(s)	Seleção dos Falcões e Papagaios (The Falcons and True Parrots Team)
Association	São Toméan Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coach	Adriano Eusébio
Captain	Luís Leal
Most caps	Joazhifel Soares (27)
Top scorer	Luís Leal (6)
Home stadium	Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho
FIFA code	STP
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	NR (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest	115 (March 2012)
Lowest	200 (September – October 2007)
First international
Gabon 6–1 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Gabon; May 2, 1976)
Biggest win
São Tomé and Príncipe 2–0 Equatorial Guinea  (Libreville, Gabon; November 14, 1999)  São Tomé and Príncipe 2–0 Sierra Leone  (São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe; April 8, 2000)  Mauritius 1–3 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Belle Vue Harel, Mauritius; October 9, 2019)
Biggest defeat
Congo 11–0 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Gabon; July 7, 1976)

History

São Tomé and Príncipe's first ever match was a friendly against Gabon in May 1976. They lost by a score of 6–1. Their next game, during the 1976 Central African Games, was a horrendous 11–0 loss to Congo, São Tomé's largest loss to date. São Tomé rounded off the competition with a 2–1 loss to Central African Republic and a 5–0 loss to Chad.

The following year, São Tomé picked up their first win, in a friendly versus Rwanda. In both 1978 and 1987 they achieved a draw at home to Angola.

The Green and Yellows took an eleven year break, before a string of matches including their first entry to a FIFA sanctioned tournament. At the UNIFAC Cup in 1999, they achieved their second win, 2–0 against Equatorial Guinea. They won the next game after that, against Sierra Leone, 2–0. This two-in-a-row streak accompanied with a draw a few matches later placed them at their highest FIFA ranking to date, 179.

In 2003, São Tomé lost to Libya 1–0 and 8–0, which was a major blow to their previous success.[3] São Tomé did not participate in the qualification for the 2010 World Cup, withdrawing before their first match, leaving them unranked in the FIFA rankings because they did not play any matches for four years.

On 11 November 2011, after an eight-year hiatus, São Tomé and Príncipe participated in the qualification for the 2014 World Cup, losing to Congo 5–0, then drawing 1–1 with the same team four days later. São Tomé were reinstated in the FIFA rankings on 23 November 2011, entering at number 192.

In January 2012, in the preliminary round of 2013 AFCON Qualifiers, São Tomé achieved their first ever aggregate win, defeating Lesotho 1–0 at home then successfully defending a 0–0 draw in Maseru seven days later. In the next round, São Tomé only narrowly lost 5–4 on aggregate to Sierra Leone. In the following years, São Tomé continued to show promise with impressive wins at home to Ethiopia and Libya but poor away results prevented them from advancing again.

On 9 October 2019, São Tomé defeated Mauritius 1–3 away from home in the first leg of their preliminary round tie of 2021 AFCON Qualifiers. This was São Tomé and Príncipe's first away win in a competitive match ever. Four days later, São Tomé won 2–1 at home to advance 5–2 on aggregate and enter Group C where they will face Ghana, South Africa and Sudan.

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 to 1990	Did not enter									Did not enter
1994	Withdrew									Withdrew
1998	Did not enter									Did not enter
2002	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	2	4
2006										2	0	0	2	0	9
2010	Withdrew									Withdrew
2014	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	1	6
2018										2	1	0	1	1	3
2022										2	0	0	2	1	3
2026	To be determined
Total	-	0/22	-	-	-	-	-	-		10	2	1	7	5	25

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations record
Host nation(s) / Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1957 to 1974	Part of  Portugal
1976 to 1986	Not affiliated to CAF
1988 to 1998	Did not enter
2000 to 2002	Did not qualify
2004	Withdrew
2006	Did not qualify
2008	Did not enter
2010	Withdrew
2012	Did not enter
2013 to 2021	Did not qualify
2023	To be determined
Total	-	0/33	-	-	-	-	-	-

All-time record against other nations

As of 18 November 2019 after match against  Ghana[4]

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Angola	4	0	2	2	7	9	−2
Benin	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
Cameroon	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
Cape Verde	2	0	0	2	2	9	−7
Central African Republic	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4
Chad	2	0	0	2	0	10	−10
Congo	5	0	1	4	3	21	−18
Equatorial Guinea	4	1	1	2	6	7	−1
Ethiopia	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2
Gabon	4	0	1	3	3	12	−9
Ghana	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Guinea-Bissau	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4
Lesotho	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1
Libya	4	1	0	3	2	14	−12
Madagascar	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2
Mauritius	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3
Morocco	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5
Rwanda	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1
Sierra Leone	4	2	0	2	6	9	−3
Sudan	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4
Togo	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6
Uganda	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2
Total	55	9	7	39	42	137	−95

Results and fixtures

13 November 2019 2021 AFCONQ	Sudan	4–0	São Tomé and Príncipe	Omdurman, Sudan
21:00 UTC+2	Agab  7' Hamid  44' Diogo  62' (o.g.) El-Rasheed  77'			Stadium: Al-Hilal Stadium

18 November 2019 2021 AFCONQ	São Tomé and Príncipe	0–1	Ghana	São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
16:00 UTC±0			Ayew  50' (pen.)	Stadium: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group C match against South Africa on 13 November 2020.[5]

Caps and goals are correct as of 13 November 2020, after the game against South Africa.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Primo	9 September 1989	8	0	Praia Cruz
12	GK	Nilson	15 November 1987	5	0	UDRA
2	DF	Ivonaldo	5 May 1993	17	0	UDRA
3	DF	Vavá Pequeno	5 February 1994	6	0	Praia Cruz
4	DF	Trauré	16 February 1995	0	0	Aliança Pantufo
5	DF	Jardel	16 May 1995	3	0	Saburtalo Tbilisi
13	DF	Dilson	16 September 1999	9	0	UDRA
6	MF	Lúcio	26 November 1992	2	0	Ferreiras
7	MF	Joel	1 May 1996	1	0	Loures
8	MF	Jocy (captain)	19 January 1991	28	1	UDRA
11	MF	Harramiz	3 August 1990	14	1	Estoril Praia
16	MF	Maú	13 July 2000	1	0	Cova da Piedade
17	MF	Tinho	8 September 1992	3	0	Porto Real
18	MF	Iniesta	21 October 1992	5	1	UDRA
19	MF	Pogba	16 July 2000	5	0	Porto Real
9	FW	Edmílson Viegas	29 October 1996	1	0	Resende
10	FW	Luís Leal	29 May 1987	15	6	Tijuana
14	FW	Ronaldo	11 July 2001	3	0	GRAP
15	FW	Vando	24 July 1992	5	0	UDRA
20	FW	Zé	22 December 1991	21	3	Santana

Recent call ups

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Tavinho	3 March 1995	2	0	Trindade	v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 ^PRE
DF	Junior	5 November 1994	0	0	Vitória Riboque	v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 ^PRE
MF	Marcos	29 July 1995	8	1	Real	v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 ^PRE
MF	Bobó	8 June 1990	1	0	Monte Café	v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 ^PRE
MF	Dany	2 April 2000	0	0	6 de Setembro	v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 ^PRE
FW	Gilson	24 August 1998	1	0	Inter Bom-Bom	v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 ^PRE

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
2. "BBC Sport − São Tomé e Príncipe rocket up Fifa rankings". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
3. "São Tomé e Príncipe spring an unlikely surprise − World Soccer". worldsoccer.com. Time Inc. UK. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
4. "World Football Elo Ratings: São Tomé e Príncipe". eloratings.net. World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 21 August 2017.

External links

• National Federation website