Gabon national football team

Gabon

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Les Panthères (The Panthers)
Association	Fédération Gabonaise de Football
Sub-confederation	UNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Jorge Costa
Captain	Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Home stadium	Stade Omar Bongo
FIFA code	GAB
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	73 8 (5 November 2015)
Highest	30 (July 2009)
Lowest	125 (April 2005)
First international
Upper Volta 5–4 Gabon (Madagascar; 13 April 1960)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	6 (First in 1994)
Best result	Quarter-finals: 1996 & 2012

The Gabon national football team, nicknamed Les Panthères (The Panthers), is the national team of Gabon and is controlled by the Fédération Gabonaise de Football. They have never qualified for the World Cup finals, but have qualified five times for the Africa Cup of Nations.

History

Gabon made its debut in April 1960 by entering the L'Amitié tournament for French-speaking countries, held in Madagascar. They played in the first round on 13 April against the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), who were also making their debut, and lost 5-4. They did not play another match until the next time the tournament was staged, in April 1963 in Senegal. and were drawn in a group with the Upper Volta, France's amateur team, and the Gambia. They opened on 11 April by defeating the Upper Volta 4-0, and then lost 3-0 to the French team two days later. On 15 April, Gabon drew 2-2 against the Gambia and was knocked out.

After the 1962 tournament in Senegal, Gabon did not play a match until August 1965, when they hosted two friendlies against Nigeria, drawing 2-2 on 28 August and losing 4-1 the next day. In 1967, Gabon entered qualification for the football at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Japan, and was drawn in a two-legged qualifier versus Guinea. They drew the first leg 0-0 at home on 18 June but lost 6-1 away on 9 July and were knocked out.

Following the Olympic qualifiers, Gabon played a friendly in Dahomey (now Benin) on 24 August 1969 and lost 1-0. In November 1970 they entered their first African Cup of Nations qualifier for the 1972 tournament in Ethiopia and were put into a two-legged qualifier versus the Ivory Coast. Gabon lost their home leg 2-1 on 8 November, and after losing 1-0 on 22 November in the Ivory Coast were knocked out. On 19 June 1971, Gabon hosted a qualifier for the football at the 1972 Summer Olympics in West Germany, and were knocked out after losing 3-2 to Cameroon.

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 Tunisia to tie the match in early in stoppage time. However, on the final play of the game, Gabon scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time. 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

CEMAC Cup :

• Champions: 2013
• Runner-up: 2007

Competition records

World Cup record

• 1930 to 1962 - Did not enter
• 1966 – Withdrew
• 1970 – Did not enter
• 1974 – Withdrew
• 1978 to 1986 – Did not enter
• 1990 to 2014 – Did not qualify

Africa Cup of Nations record

• 1957 to 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
• 1996 – Quarter-finals
• 1998 – Did not qualify
• 2000 – Group Stage
• 2002 to 2008 – Did not qualify
• 2010 – Group Stage
• 2012 – Quarter-finals
• 2013 – Did not qualify
• 2015 – Group Stage
• 2017 – Qualified

Current squad

The final squad for the Friendly Matches against Niger and Ivory Coast on June 6 and 14, 2015. Caps and goals updated as 25 March 2015 after match against Mali.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club 1GK Didier Ovono (1983-01-23) 23 January 1983 84 0 Oostende 1GK Anthony Mfa Mezui (1991-03-07) 7 March 1991 6 0 Seraing United 1GK Yves Bitséki (1983-04-23) 23 April 1983 11 0 Bitam 2DF Bruno Ecuele Manga (1988-07-16) 16 July 1988 54 6 Cardiff City 2DF Lloyd Palun (1988-11-28) 28 November 1988 31 0 Nice 2DF Aaron Appindangoyé (1992-02-02) 2 February 1992 24 1 Boavista 2DF Johann Obiang (1993-07-05) 5 July 1993 11 0 Châteauroux 2DF Benjamin Zé Ondo (1987-06-18) 18 June 1987 11 0 ES Sétif 2DF Randal Oto’o (1994-05-23) 23 May 1994 8 0 Braga 3MF André Poko (1993-03-07) 7 March 1993 35 1 Bordeaux 3MF Lévy Madinda (1992-06-11) 11 June 1992 33 4 Celta 3MF Guélor Kanga (1990-09-01) 1 September 1990 20 0 Rostov 3MF Samson Mbingui (1992-02-09) 9 February 1992 18 2 MC El Eulma 3MF Ibrahim N'Dong (1994-06-17) 17 June 1994 16 0 Lorient 3MF Franck Engonga (1993-07-26) 26 July 1993 15 0 Olympique Khouribga 3MF Merlin Tandjigora (1990-04-06) 6 April 1990 12 1 Meizhou Hakka F.C. 4FW Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (1989-06-18) 18 June 1989 44 17 Borussia Dortmund 4FW Malick Evouna (1992-11-28) 28 November 1992 17 7 Al Ahly 4FW Frédéric Bulot (1990-09-27) 27 September 1990 15 0 Reims 4FW Johann Lengoualama (1992-09-29) 29 September 1992 15 1 RS Berkane 4FW Romuald Ntsitsigui (1991-04-08) 8 April 1991 12 0 Mangasport

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Gabon squad within the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Yrondu Musavu-King	(1992-01-08) 8 January 1992	9	0	Granada	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
DF	Henri Junior Ndong	(1992-08-23) 23 August 1992	9	0	Auxerre	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	Alexander N'Doumbou	(1992-01-04) 4 January 1992	8	0	Marseille	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	Bonaventure Sokambi	(1992-01-01) 1 January 1992	10	2	ASO Chlef	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
MF	Mario Lemina	(1993-09-01) 1 September 1993	0	0	Juventus	2015 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary squad
FW	Romaric Rogombé	(1990-11-25) 25 November 1990	17	0	Léopards	2015 Africa Cup of Nations

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External links

• Homepage of the national team
• Gabon at FIFA.com