Sunday, November 24, 2024 - 11:20:26 AM

It is the Gabon nation's football team (French: Equipe de football du Gabon) is a representative for Gabon in the international soccer for men. The nickname of the team is The Panthers and it is controlled by the Gabonese Football Federation. They've never made it to their place in the FIFA World Cup, but have been able to qualify eight times (as as of the year 2021) at the Africa Cup of Nations. The team is a member of both FIFA as well as the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

1. History

Gabon national football team.

1.1. 1960s

Gabon began their journey on April 13 1960, when they participated in the first Friendship Games (Jeux de L'Amitie) tournament, designed to accommodate francophone African nations (a predecessor to current African Games) which was which was held at Antananarivo, Madagascar. In the first round, they played against Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) which was in their very first tournament and were defeated 5-4, although they led 3-2 at halftime. They didn't play a game for more than a decade and a half until the next tournament that was held in December of 1961 at Abidjan, Ivory Coast. They were selected in Pool 3 along with Cameroon along with Senegal. Gabon started the tournament with a loss of 3-2 in the face of Senegal during Christmas Day and was then beaten by 6-0 Cameroon at Boxing Day, finishing bottom of their group. After a few months of the tournament began, Gabon's Gabonese Football Federation (Federation Gabonaise de Football) was created to supervise their development as a national side as well as the local game. The new organization would not need to wait for long for their first victory, for the next game they played on July 14th, 1962, they beat their opponents in the Congo 3-1 during their debut match played on their home turf. They played two more matches in 1962, including a 1-1 draw at home against Cameroon on the 20th of August, an improvement of a significant amount over their previous encounter and a 3-1 away loss to the Congo on 16 September before they entered in the final Friendship Games held in April 1963 in Dakar, Senegal. They were in Group C along together with British Gambia, the France amateur team and Upper Volta. They started on April 12 by winning 4-0 against Upper Volta, but were well-beaten against the French amateurs two days after. They lost their final match 2-3 against British Gambia on 16 April and ended up finishing 2nd in their group, which was a significant improvement from their previous two games in the tournament. however , only the group winners were able to progress and Gabon was eliminated. In the following months, Gabon entered qualification for the 1966 FIFA World Cup held in England. On the 8th of October 1964, they pulled out of the tournament, as did all other African participants, protesting against FIFA's decision to give one finals spot to every country in Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Due to the decision to boycott the game, Gabon did not play another game for two years, until August 1965 and hosted an international double-header match against Nigeria with a draw on the 28th of August before losing 4-1 the following day. The 35th FIFA Congress held in London, England on 6 July 1966, Gabon were officially admitted as full members of FIFA. They played their first match on the 2nd of December in 1966, when they lost 4-3 in a match against Democratic Republic of the Congo after which they played the same match on January 4 1967 in their home stadium, winning by 1-0. They also played a friendlymatch, a 3-0 home loss to their home country of Ivory Coast on 28 March and then qualified to play in the 1998 Olympic football tournamentthat was that was played in Mexico. In the first round they were assigned to Guinea where they played the first match 0-0 at home on the 18th of June after which they were defeated in the subsequent leg by 6-1 on the 9th July. The year 1967 was the time they joined the full membership of the CAF. After the Olympic qualifying tournament, Gabon did not play another game for more than two years, until they went towards Dahomey (now Benin) on 24 August 1969, to play an informal match, which they lost 1-1.

1.2. 1970s

Gabon was then not playing for more than a year until they were able to qualify for Africa Cup of Nations for the first time. Their bid to be eligible for the 1972 tournament in Cameroon failed at the first obstacle however, when the team was drawn to Ivory Coast in the First Round. They lost the opening game at home, 2-1, on November 8, 1970 and were defeated by 1-0 away just two weeks later. Gabon began their qualification process to play in the 1972 Olympic football tournament that was held within West Germany. In the First Round , they faced Cameroon. After losing the first leg by a score of 3-2 in Libreville on May 30, 1971 Gabon had to forfeit the match because they didn't go to Yaounde to play the second match. After the humiliation, Gabon entered qualification for the 1974 FIFA World Cup held in West Germany, and were expected to take on Cameroon in the first round of play in the summer of 1972, but they resigned before games could begin. Due to the decision, they were unable to take part in another match for more than an entire year before they were able to participate in the football tournament of the 2002 Central African Cup (a precursor to the Central African Games) held in Brazzaville, Congo. The tournament was a round-robin competition with five teams that comprised, along with Gabon; Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo and Chad. They played their first game on July 16 against the Congo and lost by 3-0. A few days later, they lost 3-1 to The Central African Republic and on 20 July, they were firmly defeated by Cameroon 4-1. But they saved some pride when they beat Chad by 1-0 in their final game on 22 July in order to keep themselves from the bottom. Additionally, the tournament also served as a qualification in the 1973 All-Africa Games football tournament, and since Gabon didn't beat the group and did not qualify, they were not able to make it. The following year, they were in qualifying to play in the 1974 African Cup of Nations held in Egypt and were set to take on the Central African Republic in the summer of 1973. However, they pulled out again before the ball was played.

This meant that Gabon didn't play a single game for nearly four years, until they defeated Sao Tome as well as Principe 6-1 in a friendly match in May 1976. It occurred in May 1976, Sao Tome as well as Principe's debut international game. The following week, Gabon hosted the first Central African Games. The football tournament was held in Gabon. they were placed in Group B with Burundi, Cameroon and Rwanda. They played their opening game on the 28th of June, and scored the victory with a convincing 4-1 against Burundi. On 1 July they played a draw of 1-1 against Zaire who had traveled from Gabon to play all teams within Group B on a friendlier capacity, but not been able to participate in the actual competition. On the 5th of July, Gabon had another win of awe-inspiring and beat Rwanda 3-1. In their final game of the group on July 7, they played their neighbors Cameroon to a respectable draw, securing second spot (having just not been able to secure the top spot by goals difference) and qualifying for Semi-Finals. In their 9th July match, they took on Group A winners , the Congo and were only beaten by a 1-0 score. Then, two days later they were able to secure third place by winning 3-1 win over their opponents, the Central African Republic, to finish off an impressive performance at the tournament they played in. In the year following, Gabon entered qualification for the 1978 African Cup of Nations held in Ghana. After getting an early start in the First Round the team was drawn against Congo in the second. They lost the first game away by 3-2 on July 17, 1977, before drawing the next match at home 3-3 on July 31 and lost 6-5 in aggregate. The following year, they took part in an qualifying tournament for the football tournament at the 1998 All-Africa Games held in Algiers, Algeria. The qualifying tournament for their zone that was held in Cameroon it was divided into two groups and only the two top teams from each group going on through to Semi-Finals. The Gabon group (B) was Burundi and in the group (B) were Burundi, Congo along with Equatorial Guinea. They defeated Equatorial Guinea with a 2-0 win in their opening game on Christmas Eve. They then beat the Congo 1-1 in the Boxing Day and defeated Burundi by 2-0 just the next day. With three wins out of 3 they topped their group. They then played the Group A winners Chad during the semi-finals, to which the team lost 3-1 at New Year's Eve and thus failed to get into the tournament, as only the winner of the tournament went into the Finals. Then, in January 1978, the team played an international friendly against Nigeria and lost 1-1. In January 1979, they scored an away draw of 2-2 against Rwanda and then beat Ivory Coast 2-1 at home in April.

1.3. 2010s

At the time of the 2010, at the Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon defeated Cameroon by 1-0, and was in a decent position of making it to the quarter-finals following a draw that was scoreless against Tunisia. But, Gabon fell 2-1 against Zambia when it was eliminated from its group in a three-way tie Zambia as well as Cameroon. Gabon only scored twice during the group stage, and was eliminated on goals scored to break the tie. In 2012, at the Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon hosted the tournament with the other countries as it took home three group matches by 2-0 against Niger 3-1 against Morocco and 1-0 against Tunisia. The final match resulted in Gabon be able to make its first quarterfinal since 1996, in the most dramatic of circumstances. Gabon was able to lead 2-1, only to allow Morocco to draw the game in the early minutes of stoppage time. On the final kick of the match, Gabon made it 2-0 in eighth minutes stoppage time through a direct free kick. Then, Gabon lost 5-4 in penalties (1-1 a.e.t) in the quarterfinals against Mali following an error in the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had scored three goals during the tournament.

Gabon started it's 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign in the second round of Group E when it played alongside Niger, Burkina Faso, and Congo. Even though it started the campaign with a match with Niger, Gabon lost 3-0 because it fielded an unqualified players Charly Moussono. After four qualifying matches, Gabon scored only one goal, however because of an Aubameyang scoring a hat-trick on the 15th of June 13th, 2013 Gabon kept its hopes alive for an automatic play-off spot by winning 4-1 over Niger. But, Burkina Faso eliminated Gabon in the final qualifying match by a 1-0 score in which Gabon was 3rd in the group.

In this year's Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon is scheduled to play Togo. Despite the fact that Daniel Cousin scored in each game in the match against Togo, Gabon missed out at winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations as it was defeated 3-2 in aggregate. The following year, Gabon played six qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations as it was drawn alongside Burkina Faso, Angola and Lesotho. Despite a remarkable 1-1 win in Lesotho during the qualifying phase, Gabon finished ahead of Burkina Faso to top the group, as it was able to qualify for the tournament, with a game left in Angola. In January of 2015, Gabon was drawn along with Burkina Faso, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. However, Gabon's 2-0 win on the first game was everything Gabon earned in the tournament, even though it was shattered during the stage of group play.

2. Results and fixtures

Below is a list of the results of the matches played over the past 12 months, and any future games that are scheduled.

2.1. 2021

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 1 September  Libya 2-1  Gabon Benghazi, Libya
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 5 September  Gabon 1-1  Egypt Franceville, Gabon
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 8 October  Angola 3-1  Gabon Luanda, Angola
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 11 October  Gabon 2-0  Angola Franceville
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 12 November  Gabon 1-0  Libya Franceville
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 16 November  Egypt 2-1  Gabon Alexandria

2.2. 2022

Friendly 2 January  Burkina Faso 3-0  Gabon  
Friendly 4 January  Mauritania 1-1  Gabon Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2021 AFCON 10 January  Comoros 0-1  Gabon Yaoundé, Cameroon
2021 AFCON 14 January  Gabon 1-1  Ghana Yaoundé, Cameroon
2021 AFCON 18 January  Gabon 2-2  Morocco Yaoundé, Cameroon
2021 AFCON Round of 16 23 January  Burkina Faso 1-1  Gabon Limbe, Cameroon
2023 AFCON qualification 4 June  DR Congo 0-1  Gabon Kinshasa, DR Congo
2023 AFCON qualification 8 June  Gabon 0-0  Mauritania Franceville, Gabon
2023 AFCON qualification September  Gabon v  Sudan Gabon
2023 AFCON qualification September  Sudan v  Gabon Sudan
Friendly 14 November  Thailand v  Gabon TBD , Japan

3. Coaching history

Managers of caretaker are indicated in italics.

  • France Jean Prouff (1960)
  • France Robert Vicot (1979)
  • France Alain de Martigny (1985–1986)
  • Serbia Nedeljko Bulatović (1986–1987)
  • Gabon Alain Da Costa (1987–1989)
  • Germany Karl-Heinz Weigang (1989–1994)
  • Gabon Edouard Eroumbengani (1989–1991)
  • France Robert Pintenat (1991–1992)
  • Belgium Jean Thissen (1992–1994)
  • Gabon Alain Da Costa (1994–1997)
  • France Serge Devèze (1997–1998)
  • Brazil Antônio Dumas (1998–2000)
  • Gabon Claude Rayelomanan (2000)
  • Gabon Alain Da Costa (2000–2002)
  • Belgium Michel De Wolf (2002–2003)
  • Gabon Claude Albert Mbourounot (2003)
  • Brazil Jairzinho (2003–2005)
  • Gabon Raphaël Nzamba-Nzamba (2005–2006)
  • France Alain Giresse (2006–2010)
  • Germany Gernot Rohr (2010–2012)
  • Portugal Paulo Jorge Rebelo Duarte (2012–2013)
  • Gabon Stéphane Bounguendza (2014)
  • Portugal Jorge Costa (2014–2016)
  • Portugal José António Garrido (2016)
  • Spain José Antonio Camacho (2016–2018)
  • Gabon Daniel Cousin (2018–2019)
  • France Patrice Neveu (2019–present)

4. Players

As per detail below.

4.1. Current squad

  • These players have been selected to play in 2023's 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches.
  • Dates of matches: between 4 and June 8 in 2022.
  • Opposition DR Congo and Mauritania
  • Caps and goals are correct as of 8 . June 2022 just after the game in which played  Burkina Faso
  • No. Pos.   Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
      GK   Anthony Mfa Mezui 7 March 1991 (age 31) 19 0 Luxembourg Rodange 91
      GK   Jean-Noël Amonome 24 December 1997 (age 24) 11 0 South Africa AmaZulu
      GK   Donald Nzé 5 April 1992 (age 30) 3 0 Democratic Republic of the Congo Maniema Union

      DF   Bruno Ecuele Manga 16 July 1988 (age 34) 96 9 France Dijon
      DF   Lloyd Palun 28 November 1988 (age 33) 73 0 France Bastia
      DF   Aaron Appindangoyé 20 February 1992 (age 30) 56 2 Turkey Sivasspor
      DF   Johann Obiang 5 July 1993 (age 29) 44 0 France Rodez
      DF   Junior Assoumou 22 July 1995 (age 27) 16 0 France Aubagne
      DF   Anthony Oyono 12 April 2001 (age 21) 10 0 Italy Frosinone
      DF   Yoann Wachter 7 April 1992 (age 30) 10 0 France Saint-Malo
      DF   Alex Moucketou-Moussounda 10 October 2000 (age 21) 9 1 Cyprus Aris Limassol
      DF   David Sambissa 11 January 1996 (age 26) 5 0 Netherlands Cambuur
      DF   Yannis N'Gakoutou 30 September 1998 (age 24) 4 0 France Lyon La Duchère
      DF   Jacques Ekomie 19 August 2003 (age 19) 0 0 France Girondins de Bordeaux

      MF   André Biyogo Poko 1 January 1993 (age 29) 76 3 Turkey Altay
      MF   Guélor Kanga 1 August 1990 (age 32) 60 2 Serbia Crvena Zvezda
      MF   Louis Ameka 3 October 1996 (age 25) 26 0 Morocco Maghreb de Fès
      MF   Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali 23 January 1992 (age 30) 15 0 Norway Sarpsborg
      MF   Medwin Biteghé 1 September 1996 (age 26) 8 0 Libya Al-Hilal

      FW   Denis Bouanga 11 November 1994 (age 27) 32 7 United States Los Angeles FC
      FW   Axel Méyé 6 June 1995 (age 27) 32 2 Morocco Ittihad Tanger
      FW   Aaron Boupendza 7 August 1996 (age 26) 28 5 Qatar Al-Arabi
      FW   Jim Allevinah 27 February 1995 (age 27) 17 4 France Clermont
      FW   Kévin Mayi 14 January 1993 (age 29) 5 0 Turkey Denizlispor
      FW   Shavy Babicka 1 June 2000 (age 22) 1 1 Cyprus Aris Limassol
      FW   Alan Do Marcolino 19 March 2002 (age 20) 1 0 France Stade Rennais

4.2. table-responsive

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

DF Gilchrist Nguema 7 August 1996 (age 26) 6 0 Israel Maccabi Ahi Nazareth v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022
DF Sidney Obissa 4 May 2000 (age 22) 7 0 Belgium Olympic Charleroi v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022

MF Didier Ndong 17 May 1994 (age 28) 41 0 Turkey Yeni Malatyaspor v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022
MF Mario Lemina 1 September 1993 (age 29) 25 3 France Nice v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022RET
MF Nathanael Mbourou 24 August 1996 (age 26) 2 0 South Africa Maritzburg United v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022
MF Lévy Madinda 11 June 1992 (age 30) 56 6 Malaysia Sabah v.  Egypt, 16 November 2021

FW Gaëtan Missi Mezu 4 May 1996 (age 26) 9 0 Bulgaria Tsarsko Selo v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022
FW Fahd Ndzengue 7 July 2000 (age 22) 3 0 Slovenia Tabor Sežana v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022
FW Ulrick Eneme Ella 22 May 2001 (age 21) 4 0 England Brighton & Hove Albion v.  Burkina Faso, 23 January 2022
FW Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 18 June 1989 (age 33) 72 30 England Chelsea 2021 Africa Cup of NationsRET

5. Records

The players highlighted in bold are in active contact in Gabon.

5.1. Most appearances

Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Didier Ovono 112 0 2003–2019
2 François Amégasse 110 9 1984–2000
3 Bruno Ecuélé Manga 96 9 2007–present
4 Etienne Kassa-Ngoma 92 7 1985–1997
5 Cédric Moubamba 86 2 1998–2012
6 Valéry Ondo 80 12 1988–2001
7 Nzué Nguema 77 23 1995–2005
8 André Biyogo Poko 76 3 2010–present
9 Lloyd Palun 73 3 2011–present
10 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 72 30 2009–2022
Germain Mendome 72 0 1988–2000

5.2. Top goalscorers

Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 30 72 0.42 2009–2022
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–present
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 96 0.09 2007–present
François Amégasse 9 110 0.08 1984–2000

6. Competition records

As per detail below.

6.1. FIFA 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
Uruguay 1930 Part of  France Part of  France
Italy 1934
1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962
England 1966 Withdrew Withdrew
Mexico 1970 Did not enter Did not enter
Germany 1974 Withdrew Withdrew
Argentina 1978 Did not enter Did not enter
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990 Did not qualify 6 2 0 4 5 9
United States 1994 4 2 1 1 7 5
 1998 7 2 1 4 4 11
South Korea Japan 2002 2 1 0 1 1 2
Germany 2006 12 3 5 4 15 14
South Africa 2010 16 9 0 7 20 13
United States 2014 6 2 1 3 5 6
Russia 2018 8 2 3 3 3 8
Qatar 2022 6 2 1 3 7 8
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/22 67 25 12 30 67 76

6.2. Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations record   Africa Cup of Nations qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Sudan 1957 to United Arab Republic 1959 Part of  France Part of  France
Ethiopia 1962 to Ethiopia 1968 Not affiliated to CAF Not affiliated to CAF
Sudan 1970 Did not enter Did not enter
Cameroon 1972 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 3
Egypt 1974 Withdrew Withdrew
Ethiopia 1976 Did not enter Did not enter
Ghana 1978 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 5 6
Nigeria 1980 Did not enter Did not enter
Libya 1982 Withdrew Withdrew
Ivory Coast 1984 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 6
Egypt 1986 2 0 1 1 1 3
Morocco 1988 2 1 0 1 1 1
Algeria 1990 6 3 0 3 6 6
Senegal 1992 6 2 3 1 3 2
Tunisia 1994 Group stage 12th 2 0 0 2 0 4 6 4 2 0 10 2
South Africa 1996 Quarter-finals 7th 3 1 1 1 4 3 4 3 0 1 8 2
Burkina Faso 1998 Did not qualify 6 1 4 1 5 5
Ghana Nigeria 2000 Group stage 16th 3 0 1 2 2 6 8 5 1 2 15 10
Mali 2002 Did not qualify 8 3 3 2 13 10
Tunisia 2004 6 2 0 4 7 7
Egypt 2006 12 3 5 4 15 14
Ghana 2008 4 2 1 1 6 5
Angola 2010 Group stage 10th 3 1 1 1 2 2
Gabon Equatorial Guinea 2012 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 1 0 7 3
South Africa 2013 Did not qualify
Equatorial Guinea 2015 Group stage 12th 3 1 0 2 2 3
Gabon 2017 9th 3 0 3 0 2 2
Egypt 2019 Did not qualify
Cameroon 2021 Round of 16 12th 4 1 3 0 5 4
Ivory Coast 2023 To be determined
Guinea 2025
Total Quarter-finals 8/33 25 7 10 8 24 27

6.3. African Nations Championship record

  • 2009 – Did not qualify
  • 2011 – Group stage
  • 2014 – Quarter-finals
  • 2016 – Group stage
  • 2018 – Withdrew
  • 2020 – Banned
  • 2022 – Did not enter

7. Honours

UNIFAC Cup :

  • Champions: 1999

UDEAC Championship :

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

7.1. Minor

CEMAC Cup :

  • Champions: 2013
  • Runner-up: 2007

Share via:
Contact Us