Gabon national football team
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| Nickname(s) | Les Panthères (The Panthers) Les Brésiliens (The Brazilians) |
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| Association | Fédération Gabonaise de Football | ||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
| Sub-confederation | UNIFFAC (Central Africa) | ||
| Head coach | José Antonio Camacho | ||
| Captain | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | ||
| Most caps | Didier Ovono (88) | ||
| Top scorer | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (20) | ||
| Home stadium | Stade Omar Bongo | ||
| FIFA code | GAB | ||
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| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 110  1 (22 December 2016) |
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| Highest | 30 (July 2009) | ||
| Lowest | 125 (April–May 2003) | ||
| Elo ranking | |||
| Current | 92 (21 December 2016) | ||
| Highest | 63 (November 1996) | ||
| Lowest | 123 (June 2004) | ||
| First international | |||
 Upper Volta 5–4 Gabon  (Madagascar; 13 April 1960) |
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| Biggest win | |||
 Gabon 7–0 Benin  (Libreville, Gabon; 2 April 1995) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
 Cameroon 6–0 Gabon (Abidjan, Ivory Coast; 26 December 1961)  Morocco 6–0 Gabon (Rabat, Morocco; 15 November 2006) |
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| Africa Cup of Nations | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in 1994) | ||
| Best result | Quarter-finals, 1996 and 2012 | ||
The Gabon national football team, nicknamed Les Panthères (The Panthers) or Les Brésiliens (The Brazilians), 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.[1]
Contents
History[edit]
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,[2] 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.[3]
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[edit]
- Champions: 1999
- Champions: 1985, 1988
- Runner-up: 1989
- Champions: 2013
- Runner-up: 2007
Competition records[edit]
World Cup record[edit]
- 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[edit]
- 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
Players[edit]
Current squad[edit]
The following players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Morocco on 8 October.
Caps and goals updated as of 8 October 2016 after the game against Morocco.[4]
Recent call-ups[edit]
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 | Ulysse Ndong | 24 November 1992 | 0 | 0 |  Lokomotiv GO |
v.  Cameroon, 6 September 2016 |
| DF | Henri Junior Ndong | 23 August 1992 | 12 | 0 |  Auxerre |
v.  Ivory Coast, 4 June 2016 |
| DF | Randal Oto'o | 23 May 1994 | 12 | 0 |  KVC Westerlo |
v. Ivory Coast, 4 June 2016 |
| DF | Edmond Mouele | 18 February 1982 | 32 | 0 | Mangasport |
v.  Mozambique, 14 November 2015 |
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| FW | Johann Lengoualama | 29 September 1992 | 18 | 1 | Raja Casablanca |
v. Cameroon, 6 September 2016 |
| FW | Frédéric Bulot | 27 September 1990 | 18 | 0 | Reims |
v. Ivory Coast, 4 June 2016 |
| FW | Denis Bouanga | 11 November 1994 | 0 | 0 | Strasbourg |
v. Ivory Coast, 4 June 2016 |
| FW | Gaëtan Missi Mezu | 4 May 1996 | 0 | 0 | Paris |
v. Ivory Coast, 4 June 2016 |
| FW | Romuald Ntsitsigui | 8 April 1991 | 15 | 0 |  Tirana |
v. Mozambique, 14 November 2015 |
- Notes
DEC Player declined the call-up to the national team
References[edit]
- ^ 2. "Gabon make an impact by Firdose Moonda". Espn Fc. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ^ "Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) – List of International Matches". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ^ [1] Archived February 20, 2003, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Gabon".
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gabon national football team. |
- Homepage of the national team
- Gabon at FIFA.com
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