Angola national football team

The Angola national football team (Portuguese: Seleção nacional de futebol de Angola) represents Angola in men's international football and is controlled by the Angolan Football Federation. The team made its first appearance in 2006 FIFA World Cup, the team's nickname is Palancas Negras, The team is governing body of Football in Angola in the country, The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Angola women's national football team.

Angola
Nickname(s)Palancas Negras
(Giant sable antelopes)
AssociationAngolan Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationCOSAFA (Southern Africa)
Head coachPedro Gonçalves
CaptainDjalma Campos
Most capsFlávio (91)
Top scorerAkwá (39)
Home stadiumEstádio 11 de Novembro
FIFA codeANG
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 125 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest45 (July 2000)
Lowest147 (March 2017)
First international
 Congo 3–2 Angola
(Brazzaville, Congo; 8 February 1976)
Biggest win
Angola 7–1 Swaziland 
(Luanda, Angola; 23 April 2000)
Biggest defeat
 Portugal 6–0 Angola
(Lisbon, Portugal; 23 March 1989)
World Cup
Appearances1 (first in 2006)
Best resultGroup stage, 2006
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances8 (first in 1996)
Best resultQuarter-finals (2008, 2010)

Angola reached its highest FIFA ranking, 45th place, in July 2000. Their greatest accomplishment was qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, as this was their first appearance on the World Cup finals stage.

History

Angola played their first game against Congo on 8 February 1976, losing 3–2. On 26 June 1977, Cuba became Angola's first non-African opponent when the two countries met in Angola, with Angola winning 1–0.[2] Angola entered World Cup qualifying for the first time in the 1986 qualifying competition. Angola defeated Senegal on penalties in the first round before narrowly losing to Algeria 3–2 on aggregate in the second round.

Angola qualified for their first Africa Cup of Nations in 1996. They were drawn in Group A with South Africa, Egypt and Cameroon. They lost their first two games to Egypt and South Africa, but managed a 3–3 draw against Cameroon. They finished bottom of the group and did not reach the second round. Angola then qualified for their second successive African Cup of Nations in 1998, but again failed to reach the second round, drawing 0–0 with South Africa and 3–3 with Namibia, and losing 5–2 to Ivory Coast.

After missing the last 3 tournaments, they qualified for the 2006 African Nations Cup. They recorded their first African Cup of Nations win against Togo, winning 3–2, two goals coming from Flávio and the other coming from Maurito. They also drew 0–0 against Congo DR and lost 3–1 against Cameroon. Angola's best performance then came in the 2008 African Nations Cup. They were drawn in Group D with Tunisia, South Africa and Senegal. They drew 1–1 and 0–0 with South Africa and Tunisia, then defeated Senegal 3–1, two goals coming from Manucho. In the quarter-finals they were beaten by eventual winners Egypt 2–1, but Manucho scored again, finishing with four goals in total.

Angola also won the COSAFA Cup in 1999, 2001 and 2004.

2006 FIFA World Cup

Angola qualified for the 2006 World Cup after only losing one game in the qualifiers ahead of favourites Nigeria.

When picking the squad, Gonçalves sought advice from Chelsea manager José Mourinho, whose wife was born in Angola. Angola's Golden Generation saw players like Akwá, João Ricardo, Paulo Figueiredo and Jamba selected to go to the World Cup. Angola played six warm-up games against South Korea, Mauritius, Lesotho, Argentina, Turkey and USA.

Angola played their first World Cup finals game against the Portuguese side, who won the match 1–0, the only goal coming from Pauleta.[3] There was a very friendly environment in and around the stadium during this match because of the links and friendship between the countries of Angola and Portugal. Angola drew 0–0 in their second game with Mexico, and still had a chance of qualifying for the second round had they beaten Iran in their final group game, but the match finished 1–1 after goals by Flávio and Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh. Angola were eliminated from the tournament only losing one game.[4][5]

Fans of the Angolan national football team in Cologne, Germany.

2010 World Cup failure

After the 2006 World Cup, many of Angola's most experienced players such as Akwá and João Ricardo retired from the international game, but the expectation was still high for the team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The team had a bye through the first round of qualification and in the second round they were drawn in Group 3 along with Benin, Uganda and Niger. Despite winning their first two matches, Angola failed to proceed to the third round, missing out by two points.

2010 Africa Cup of Nations

As hosts of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, Angola were seeded in Group A along with Mali, Algeria, and Malawi. Coached by Manuel José, in their first game they drew 4–4 with Mali, after letting a 4–0 lead slip in the last 11 minutes (including three goals in stoppage time). They recovered from this by beating Malawi 2–0 in the second match, and topped the group by drawing 0–0 with Algeria. They were knocked out in the quarter final after a 1–0 defeat by eventual finalists Ghana.

Achievements
Angola lining-up before a friendly match in 2014
1999, 2001, 2004
1987
2011

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup
See also: Angola at the FIFA World Cup

As of 2018, Angola has qualified once for a FIFA World Cup. Its first participation in the World Cup qualifiers was in 1986, where they won in the first round, beating Senegal 4−3 on penalty kicks. They later lost in the second round of the 1986 World Cup qualifiers to Algeria. Algeria went to the third round and qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Angola's first participation in the World Cup was in the 2006 World Cup, in Germany.

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 Part of  Portugal Part of  Portugal
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978 Did not enter Declined participation
1982
1986 Did not qualify 4 1 1 2 3 4
1990 8 2 3 3 8 8
1994 5 1 2 2 3 4
1998 8 4 4 0 12 5
2002 10 5 4 1 19 10
2006 Group stage 23rd 3 0 2 1 1 2 12 7 3 2 15 9
2010 Did not qualify 6 3 1 2 11 8
2014 6 1 4 1 7 5
2018 2 0 0 2 1 4
2022 To be determined To be determined
2026 To be determined To be determined
Total Group stage 1/21 3 0 2 1 1 2 61 24 22 15 79 57

Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
1957Part of  Portugal
1959
1962
1963
1965
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976Not affiliated to CAF
1978
1980
1982Did not qualify
1984
1986Did not enter
1988Did not qualify
1990
1992
1994
1996Group stage13th301246
1998Group stage13th302158
2000Did not qualify
2002
2004
2006Group stage9th311145
2008Quarter-finals6th412154
2010Quarter-finals5th412165
2012Group stage11th311145
2013Group stage14th301214
2015Did not qualify
2017
2019Group stage18th302112
2021To be determined
2023
2025
Total Quarter-finals 8/32 26 4 12 10 30 39

African Nations Championship
African Nations Championship record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
2009Did not qualify
2011Runners-up2nd614146
2014Did not qualify
2016Group stage11th310246
2018Quarter-finals8th412122
2020Did not qualify
2022To be determined
Total Runners-up 3/6 13 3 6 4 10 14

COSAFA Cup
Main article: COSAFA Cup
COSAFA Cup record
Year Rank Pld W D L GF GA
1997 0000000
1998 0000000
1999 0000000
2000 0000000
2001 0000000
2002 0000000
2003 0000000
2004 0000000
2005 0000000
2006 0000000
2007 0000000
2008 0000000
2009 0000000
2013 0000000
2015 0000000
2016 0000000
2017 0000000
2018 0000000
2019 0000000
Total 0/19 ------

Managerial history

Recent schedule and results

The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

2020
9 June 2021 AFCONQ Gambia  Postponed  Angola
8 September 2021 AFCONQ Angola  Postponed  Gabon
11 October Friendly Angola  Nulled  Guinea-Bissau Lisbon, Portugal
Report
13 October Friendly Angola  3–0  Mozambique Rio Maior, Portugal
 Report Stadium: Estadio Comunal de Rio Maior
Note: NON FIFA friendly (result will not be applied to ranking points as per exceeding number of substitutions)
14 November 2021 AFCONQ DR Congo  0–0  Angola Kinshasa, DR Congo
20:00 UTC+1 Report Stadium: Stade des Martyrs
Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia)
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches of matchdays 3 and 4 scheduled for March 2020 had been postponed to November 2020.[6]
17 November 2021 AFCONQ Angola  0–1  DR Congo Luanda, Angola
17:00 UTC+1 Report Kebano  64' Stadium: Estádio 11 de Novembro
Referee: Victor Gomes (South Africa)
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches of matchdays 3 and 4 scheduled for March 2020 had been postponed to November 2020.[7]

2021
22 March 2021 (2021-03-22) 2021 AFCONQ Gambia  v  Angola TBD, Gambia
--:-- UTC±0
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches of matchdays 5 and 6 scheduled for June 2020 had been postponed to March 2021.[8]
30 March 2021 (2021-03-30) 2021 AFCONQ Angola  v  Gabon TBD, Angola
--:-- UTC+1
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all matches of matchdays 5 and 6 scheduled for June 2020 had been postponed to March 2021.[9]

Kit history

Kit manufacturer
Kit providers Period
Olympic 1994–1998
Adidas 1998–2002
Devis Sport 2002–2006
Puma 2006–2012
Adidas 2012–2018
Puma 2018–2019
Lacatoni 2019–present

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Congo DR on 14 and 17 November.[10]
Caps and goals as of 17 November 2020 after the second match against Congo DR.[11]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK António (1994-07-25) 25 July 1994 10 0 Petro de Luanda
1GK Hugo Marques (1986-01-15) 15 January 1986 7 0 Farense
1GK Neblú (1993-12-07) 7 December 1993 7 0 1° de Agosto
1GK Kadú (1994-11-30) 30 November 1994 0 0 Espinho
2DF Bastos (1991-11-23) 23 November 1991 51 2 Al-Ain
2DF Jonathan Buatu (1993-09-27) 27 September 1993 16 0 Sint Truiden
2DF Paízo (1992-05-10) 10 May 1992 15 0 Unattached
2DF Diógenes João (1997-01-01) 1 January 1997 9 0 Petro de Luanda
2DF Wilson (1990-09-29) 29 September 1990 7 1 Petro de Luanda
2DF Núrio Fortuna (1995-03-24) 24 March 1995 5 0 Gent
2DF Bruno Gaspar (1993-04-21) 21 April 1993 5 0 Sporting CP
2DF Jò (1991-09-20) 20 September 1991 3 0 Petro de Luanda
2DF Anderson Lucoqui (1997-07-06) 6 July 1997 1 0 Arminia Bielefeld
2DF Inácio Miguel (1995-12-12) 12 December 1995 1 0 U Cluj
2DF Jonás Ramalho (1993-06-10) 10 June 1993 1 0 Girona
3MF Herenilson (1996-08-26) 26 August 1996 32 0 1° de Agosto
3MF Fredy (1990-03-27) 27 March 1990 28 2 Antalyaspor
3MF Show (1999-03-06) 6 March 1999 19 0 Boavista
3MF Edgar André (1991-06-28) 28 June 1991 1 0 Sion
3MF Estrela (1995-09-22) 22 September 1995 1 0 Unattached
4FW Mateus (1984-06-19) 19 June 1984 69 14 Penafiel
4FW Ary Papel (1994-03-03) 3 March 1994 38 5 Unattached
4FW Gelson Dala (1996-07-13) 13 July 1996 30 12 Rio Ave
4FW Geraldo (1991-11-23) 23 November 1991 28 2 Al Ahly
4FW Vladimiro Vá (1998-04-24) 24 April 1998 27 2 Pafos
4FW Mabululu (1989-09-10) 10 September 1989 15 5 1° de Agosto
4FW Fábio Abreu (1993-01-29) 29 January 1993 6 1 Al-Batin
4FW Milson (1999-10-12) 12 October 1999 2 0 Maritimo B
4FW Zini (2002-07-03) 3 July 2002 0 0 1° de Agosto

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Angola squad within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
DF William Salomão (1997-04-25) 25 April 1997 0 0 Pedras Rubras v.  Mozambique, 13 October 2020
MF Panzu Ernesto (1999-04-03) 3 April 1999 1 0 Hertha Berlin II v.  Mozambique, 13 October 2020
FW Zito Luvumbo (2002-03-09) 9 March 2002 3 0 Cagliari v.  Mozambique, 13 October 2020
FW Jérémie Bela (1993-08-04) 4 August 1993 1 0 Birmingham City v.  Mozambique, 13 October 2020
FW Elliot Simões (1999-12-20) 20 December 1999 1 0 Barnsley v.  Mozambique, 13 October 2020
FW Capita (2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 0 0 Excel Mouscron v.  Mozambique, 13 October 2020

DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
 INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
 PRE Preliminary squad.
 RET Player has retired from international football.
 SUS Suspended from the national team.

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup

Africa Cup of Nations

Records

See also

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. "Angola - List of International Matches". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  3. Brodkin, Jon (12 June 2006). "Figo sparkles as Ronaldo's tricks lead to the bench". Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  4. "Mexico 0–0 Angola". BBC. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  5. "Iran 1–1 Angola". BBC. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. "Total AFCON 2021 qualifiers postponed". CAF. 13 March 2020.
  7. "Total AFCON 2021 qualifiers postponed". CAF. 13 March 2020.
  8. "Total AFCON 2021 qualifiers postponed". CAF. 13 March 2020.
  9. "Total AFCON 2021 qualifiers postponed". CAF. 13 March 2020.
  10. https://faf.co.ao/can-2021-anunciada-a-convocatoria-da-seleccao-nacional-aa/
  11. https://africa.espn.com/football/lineups?gameId=588017
  12. Roberto Mamrud. "Angola – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
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