Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea played its first game on the 23rd of May, 1975 in China for a match in friendly game, losing by 6-2. They didn't play a second game until into the UDEAC Cup in December 1985. They were drawn in a group match against their hosts Congo along with the Central African Republic. They fell 5-0 to Congo on the 9th of December. They after that, they won their first draw after drawing 1-1 against Central African Republic on 14 December. On the 16th of December, they took part in the fifth position in a play-off against Chad who lost 3-1 on penalties following the draw was 1-1.

Equatorial Guinea would come in fourth place in the 1987 UDEAC Cup, losing on penalties in the third-place match against Gabon despite having just scored one point during the tournament, in the 1-1 draw with Chad. They also lost 0-0 to Cameroon. In their next game they finished sixth following a penalty defeat to Central African Republic. Central African Republic. The following time Equatorial Guinea faced against the Central African Republic, in 1999, they prevailed 4-2. It was the Equatorial Guinea's first victory.

In the latter part of 2000 In the latter part of 2000, during the latter part of 2000, the Equatoguinean Football Federation, along with the Gabonese Football Federation, announced plans for hosting the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in opposition to bids from other African nations such as Angola, Libya and Nigeria. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon won the permission to host the event as well as two stadiums constructed on the territory of Equatorial Guinea: Estadio de Bata in Bata and Estadio de Malabo in Malabo.

The opening game of the 2012 African Cup of Nations was Equatorial Guinea's debut in a major international event that resulted in an historic 1-0 victory against Libya on January 21st, 2012 in the first game in the competition. A goal in the 87th minute from the former Real Madrid winger Javier Balboa secured the win. In the following game, they qualified for the quarter-finals after defeating Senegal by 2-1. They finished 2nd in the group, despite losing 1-0 to Zambia. They advanced to the quarter-finals in which they were eliminated by the runners-up of the tournament Ivory Coast after losing to The Elephants 3-0 thanks to goals scored by Didier Drogba, and Yaya Toure. Many national players were praised for their performances during the tournament, such as Javier Balboa, Randy, Ben Konate and Rui, Rui, who was a member of the Team of the Tournament.

Three years later, Equatorial Guinea organized solely the 2015 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, but this time, it was replaced by Morocco which was the host in the first edition. In the opening game the game, they were drew 1-1 by Congo and Emilio Nsue scoring the first goal. In the second match they were able to play out a 0-0 draw against Burkina Faso, the runners-up in the previous tournament. With these two victories they Nzalang Nacional had to win against its traditional opponent Gabon in the third game to be able to advance to the quarterfinals. Equatorial Guinea won 2-0 with goals scored by Javier Balboa (a penalty kick) and Iban. The runner-up in Group A was Iban. it was the Equatoguinean national team defeated Tunisia 2 - 1 with two goals scored by Balboa The first was an injury-time penalty during the last moments of the regular time and the second came during extra time. In the semi-final they were defeated 0-3 by Ghana and, in the third place, they played the game 0-0 with DR Congo, ultimately losing 4-2 on penalties. The country ended the tournament fourth with the highest ever international participation and helping them reach an historic 49th place on the FIFA rankings.

Equatorial Guinea played its first game on the 23rd of May, 1975 in China for a match in friendly game, losing by 6-2. They didn't play a second game until into the UDEAC Cup in December 1985. They were drawn in a group match against their hosts Congo along with the Central African Republic. They fell 5-0 to Congo on the 9th of December. They after that, they won their first draw after drawing 1-1 against Central African Republic on 14 December. On the 16th of December, they took part in the fifth position in a play-off against Chad who lost 3-1 on penalties following the draw was 1-1.

Equatorial Guinea would come in fourth place in the 1987 UDEAC Cup, losing on penalties in the third-place match against Gabon despite having just scored one point during the tournament, in the 1-1 draw with Chad. They also lost 0-0 to Cameroon. In their next game they finished sixth following a penalty defeat to Central African Republic. Central African Republic. The following time Equatorial Guinea faced against the Central African Republic, in 1999, they prevailed 4-2. It was the Equatorial Guinea's first victory.

In the latter part of 2000 In the latter part of 2000, during the latter part of 2000, the Equatoguinean Football Federation, along with the Gabonese Football Federation, announced plans for hosting the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in opposition to bids from other African nations such as Angola, Libya and Nigeria. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon won the permission to host the event as well as two stadiums constructed on the territory of Equatorial Guinea: Estadio de Bata in Bata and Estadio de Malabo in Malabo.

The opening game of the 2012 African Cup of Nations was Equatorial Guinea's debut in a major international event that resulted in an historic 1-0 victory against Libya on January 21st, 2012 in the first game in the competition. A goal in the 87th minute from the former Real Madrid winger Javier Balboa secured the win. In the following game, they qualified for the quarter-finals after defeating Senegal by 2-1. They finished 2nd in the group, despite losing 1-0 to Zambia. They advanced to the quarter-finals in which they were eliminated by the runners-up of the tournament Ivory Coast after losing to The Elephants 3-0 thanks to goals scored by Didier Drogba, and Yaya Toure. Many national players were praised for their performances during the tournament, such as Javier Balboa, Randy, Ben Konate and Rui, Rui, who was a member of the Team of the Tournament.

Three years later, Equatorial Guinea organized solely the 2015 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, but this time, it was replaced by Morocco which was the host in the first edition. In the opening game the game, they were drew 1-1 by Congo and Emilio Nsue scoring the first goal. In the second match they were able to play out a 0-0 draw against Burkina Faso, the runners-up in the previous tournament. With these two victories they Nzalang Nacional had to win against its traditional opponent Gabon in the third game to be able to advance to the quarterfinals. Equatorial Guinea won 2-0 with goals scored by Javier Balboa (a penalty kick) and Iban. The runner-up in Group A was Iban. it was the Equatoguinean national team defeated Tunisia 2 - 1 with two goals scored by Balboa The first was an injury-time penalty during the last moments of the regular time and the second came during extra time. In the semi-final they were defeated 0-3 by Ghana and, in the third place, they played the game 0-0 with DR Congo, ultimately losing 4-2 on penalties. The country ended the tournament fourth with the highest ever international participation and helping them reach an historic 49th place on the FIFA rankings.

In recent times, Equatorial Guinea has courted controversy by attracting foreign players and granting them citizenship even though they have any connection in the state. The year 2009 was the first time South African journalist and FIFA Archivist Mark Gleeson wrote that it could undermine credibility of African football.

In the latter half of 2005, and upon the request by Ruslan Obiang Nsue who was a nephew of the President, Teodoro Obiang Brazilian head coach Antonio Dumas recruited several Brazilian players to represent Equatorial Guinea , but both the CAF and FIFA ignored the request despite complaints from other countries.

In 2012, after losing the opening leg of a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification round 4-0 to Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea recruited nine Brazilian players to assist in overcoming the deficit for the next phase. The team managed to beat the opposition with a score of 2-1. However, it wasn't enough to reverse the aggregate, and Equatorial Guinea were eliminated from the tournament. DR Congo head coach Claude Le Roy protested that Equatorial Guineans were playing like"the "United Nation of Football".

Before the arrival of the new director Andoni Goikoetxea to Malabo, in March 2013 the Equatoguinean board decided to make the squad to play in 2014. FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde and again called-up nine Brazilian players. They were in the May 2013 match when they were joined by Ecuadorian-born Colombian Jimmy Bermudez, to who was to give him EUR3,000 per game he played.

In the qualifiers, during the series against Mauritania The Nzalang Nacional lost 1-0 away and then won 3-1 in Malabo which allowed them to advance to the next round where they will face Uganda. However, the Mauritanian Soccer Federation filed a complaint with CAF regarding the presence of players ineligible from Equatorial Guinea (Some who had fake passports and fake names) which led to being expelled from players from the Equatorial Guinean team due to the specific circumstances of Thierry Fidjeu. Meanwhile, the instances for the rest of players were under an investigation.

Equatorial Guinea's home stadium is Estadio de Malabo in Malabo. It can accommodate up to 15,250 spectators. Equatorial Guinea played there when they hosted the 2012 African Cup of Nations In its participation at the event they played in the stadium against the eventual winner Zambia and runners-up Ivory Coast. When the national team participated during the 2012 African Cup of Nations They also played at the recently constructed Estadio de Bata, in which they took both of their matches in this stadium, with Libya as well as Senegal.

Equatorial Guinea wears a red and white uniform. The manufacturer of the uniform is Errea. If players play Equatorial Guinea the players wear an all-red jersey with shorts that are striped with white. They have the number on their chest, FEGUIFUT logo as well as the Errea logo are displayed at the top of the chest. The socks are white with red on top. If Equatorial Guinea is away, they wear a white shirt and blue stripes.

This is a listing of matches played in the past 12 months in addition to any forthcoming matches that are scheduled.

Managers of caretaker have been listed as italics.

•  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)
•  Henri Michel (2010)
•  Casto Nopo (2011)
•  Gílson Paulo (2012)
•  Andoni Goikoetxea (2013–2014)
•  Esteban Becker (2015–2017)
•  Casto Nopo (2017)
•  Franck Dumas (2017–2018)
•  Casto Nopo (2018)
•  Ángel López (2018–2019)
•  Casto Nopo (2019)
•  Dani Guindos (2019)
•  Sébastien Migné (2019–2020)
•  Juan Micha &  Casto Nopo (2020)
•  Juan Micha (2021–present)

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

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

The following players were called up to play against Libya on June 6 in 2022. 

Goals and caps updated in the 6th of June, 2022, following the game against Libya.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Jesús Owono	1 March 2001 (age 21)	17	0	Alavés B
12	GK	Manuel Sapunga	23 November 1992 (age 29)	1	0	Polokwane City
13	GK	Aitor Embela	17 April 1996 (aged 25)	7	0	Somozas
2	DF	Miguel Ángel Mayé	8 December 1995 (age 26)	12	0	Futuro Kings
3	DF	Marvin Anieboh	26 August 1997 (age 25)	9	0	Utsiktens BK
5	DF	Cosme Anvene	3 March 1990 (age 32)	14	0	Deportivo Unidad
11	DF	Basilio Ndong	17 January 1999 (age 23)	32	0	Start
14	DF	Néstor Senra	4 January 2002 (age 20)	4	0	Sevilla C
15	DF	Luis Enrique Nsue	16 January 1998 (age 24)	4	0	Cano Sport
19	DF	Javier Akapo	3 September 1996 (age 26)	2	0	Montijo
21	DF	Cristian Ebea	2 February 2001 (age 21)	1	0	Sporting de Gijón B
4	MF	Federico Bikoro	17 March 1996 (age 26)	38	3	Sandefjord
6	MF	Álex Balboa	6 March 2001 (age 21)	7	0	Alavés B
7	MF	Rubén Belima	11 February 1992 (age 30)	30	0	Unattached
17	MF	Josete Miranda	22 July 1998 (age 24)	31	2	Niki Volos
20	MF	Santiago Eneme	29 September 2000 (age 21)	14	0	Nantes B
22	MF	Pablo Ganet	4 November 1994 (age 27)	33	4	Murcia
8	FW	Armando Juan Mañé	19 September 1991 (age 30)	2	0	Cano Sport
9	FW	Salomón Obama	4 February 2000 (age 22)	12	1	Ethnikos Achna
10	FW	Emilio Nsue (captain)	30 September 1989 (age 32)	34	13	Intercity
16	FW	Dorian Jr.	12 May 2001 (age 21)	8	0	Leganés B
18	FW	Óscar Siafá	12 September 1997 (age 24)	9	0	Niki Volos

The following players were called up during the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Felipe Ovono	26 July 1993 (age 29)	41	0	Sidama Coffee	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
GK	Mariano Mba	3 August 1999 (age 23)	0	0	Deportivo Unidad	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
GK	Pascasio Ebea	22 February 1995 (age 27)	0	0	Leones Vegetarianos	v.  Mauritania; 7 September 2021
DF	Jorge Akapo	21 November 1992 (age 29)	2	0	Atlético Semu	v.  Angola, 29 March 2022
DF	Carlos Akapo INJ	12 March 1993 (age 29)	28	1	San Jose Earthquakes	v.  Guinea-Bissau; 23 March 2022 WD
DF	Luis Meseguer	7 September 1999 (age 22)	14	1	Unión Adarve	v.  Guinea-Bissau; 23 March 2022 WD
DF	Esteban Obiang SUS	7 May 1998 (age 24)	16	1	Chindia	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF	Saúl Coco INJ	9 February 1999 (age 23)	14	2	Las Palmas	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF	Rui da Gracia	28 May 1985 (age 37)	33	1	Collado Villalba	v.  Mauritania; 7 September 2021
MF	Jannick Buyla	6 October 1998 (age 23)	13	1	Unattached	v.  Tunisia, 2 June 2022
MF	Joanet Eló SUS	1 March 1999 (age 23)	5	0	Sabadell	v.  Tunisia, 2 June 2022
MF	Pedro Obiang INJ	27 March 1992 (age 30)	11	3	Sassuolo	v.  Tunisia, 2 June 2022 INJ
MF	Niko Kata	15 January 1993 (age 29)	14	0	Portugalete	v.  Angola, 29 March 2022
MF	Jimmi Ekua INJ	21 November 1999 (age 22)	2	0	Moncarapachense	v.  Angola, 29 March 2022
MF	Silvestre Mba		0	0	Leones Vegetarianos	v.  Angola, 29 March 2022
MF	Iban Edú INJ	11 December 1995 (age 26)	32	4	Fuenlabrada	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	José Machín	14 August 1996 (age 26)	20	0	Monza	2021 Africa Cup of Nations
FW	Celesdonio Abeso	15 August 1998 (age 24)	5	1	Gran Tarajal	v.  Angola, 29 March 2022
FW	Gael Joel	21 December 2003 (age 18)	2	0	Cano Sport	v.  Angola, 29 March 2022
FW	Wenceslao Afugu	16 September 1992 (age 29)	1	0	Leones Vegetarianos	v.  Angola, 29 March 2022
FW	Luis Nlavo INJ	30 November 2002 (age 19)	10	2	Braga B	v.  Guinea-Bissau; 23 March 2022 WD
FW	Pedro Oba	18 May 2000 (age 22)	12	4	Futuro Kings	2021 Africa Cup of Nations

Africa Cup of Nations

• 2012 Africa Cup of Nations squad
• 2015 Africa Cup of Nations squad
• 2021 Africa Cup of Nations squad

In the 6th June of 2022

The players highlighted in bold are in active contact in Equatorial Guinea.

As per detail below.

CEMAC Cup: 1

• 2006