São Tomé and Príncipe national football team

The São Tomé and Príncipe national football team is the national association football team of São Tomé and Príncipe and is controlled by the São Toméan Football Federation. It is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA.[2]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see São Tomé and Príncipe women's national football team.
São Tomé and Príncipe
Nickname(s)Seleção dos Falcões e Papagaios
(The Falcons and True Parrots Team)
AssociationSão Toméan Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationUNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coachAdriano Eusébio
CaptainLuís Leal
Most capsJoazhifel Soares (27)
Top scorerLuís Leal (6)
Home stadiumEstádio Nacional 12 de Julho
FIFA codeSTP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
CurrentNR (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest115 (March 2012)
Lowest200 (September – October 2007)
First international
 Gabon 6–1 São Tomé and Príncipe 
(Gabon; May 2, 1976)
Biggest win
 São Tomé and Príncipe 2–0 Equatorial Guinea 
(Libreville, Gabon; November 14, 1999)
 São Tomé and Príncipe 2–0 Sierra Leone 
(São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe; April 8, 2000)
 Mauritius 1–3 São Tomé and Príncipe 
(Belle Vue Harel, Mauritius; October 9, 2019)
Biggest defeat
 Congo 11–0 São Tomé and Príncipe 
(Gabon; July 7, 1976)

History

São Tomé and Príncipe's first ever match was a friendly against Gabon in May 1976. They lost by a score of 6–1. Their next game, during the 1976 Central African Games, was a horrendous 11–0 loss to Congo, São Tomé's largest loss to date. São Tomé rounded off the competition with a 2–1 loss to Central African Republic and a 5–0 loss to Chad.

The following year, São Tomé picked up their first win, in a friendly versus Rwanda. In both 1978 and 1987 they achieved a draw at home to Angola.

The Green and Yellows took an eleven year break, before a string of matches including their first entry to a FIFA sanctioned tournament. At the UNIFAC Cup in 1999, they achieved their second win, 2–0 against Equatorial Guinea. They won the next game after that, against Sierra Leone, 2–0. This two-in-a-row streak accompanied with a draw a few matches later placed them at their highest FIFA ranking to date, 179.

In 2003, São Tomé lost to Libya 1–0 and 8–0, which was a major blow to their previous success.[3] São Tomé did not participate in the qualification for the 2010 World Cup, withdrawing before their first match, leaving them unranked in the FIFA rankings because they did not play any matches for four years.

On 11 November 2011, after an eight-year hiatus, São Tomé and Príncipe participated in the qualification for the 2014 World Cup, losing to Congo 5–0, then drawing 1–1 with the same team four days later. São Tomé were reinstated in the FIFA rankings on 23 November 2011, entering at number 192.

In January 2012, in the preliminary round of 2013 AFCON Qualifiers, São Tomé achieved their first ever aggregate win, defeating Lesotho 1–0 at home then successfully defending a 0–0 draw in Maseru seven days later. In the next round, São Tomé only narrowly lost 5–4 on aggregate to Sierra Leone. In the following years, São Tomé continued to show promise with impressive wins at home to Ethiopia and Libya but poor away results prevented them from advancing again.

On 9 October 2019, São Tomé defeated Mauritius 1–3 away from home in the first leg of their preliminary round tie of 2021 AFCON Qualifiers. This was São Tomé and Príncipe's first away win in a competitive match ever. Four days later, São Tomé won 2–1 at home to advance 5–2 on aggregate and enter Group C where they will face Ghana, South Africa and Sudan.

Competition records

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
1930 to 1990 Did not enter Did not enter
1994 Withdrew Withdrew
1998 Did not enter Did not enter
2002 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 2 4
2006 2 0 0 2 0 9
2010 Withdrew Withdrew
2014 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 1 6
2018 2 1 0 1 1 3
2022 2 0 0 2 1 3
2026 To be determined
Total - 0/22 - - - - - - 10 2 1 7 5 25

Africa Cup of Nations record
Africa Cup of Nations record
Host nation(s) / Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
1957 to 1974 Part of  Portugal
1976 to 1986Not affiliated to CAF
1988 to 1998 Did not enter
2000 to 2002Did not qualify
2004 Withdrew
2006 Did not qualify
2008 Did not enter
2010 Withdrew
2012 Did not enter
2013 to 2021Did not qualify
2023 To be determined
Total - 0/33 - - - - - -

All-time record against other nations

As of 18 November 2019 after match against  Ghana[4]

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponent
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Angola402279−2
 Benin200204−4
 Cameroon200204−4
 Cape Verde200229−7
 Central African Republic200215−4
 Chad2002010−10
 Congo5014321−18
 Equatorial Guinea411267−1
 Ethiopia210113−2
 Gabon4013312−9
 Ghana100101−1
 Guinea-Bissau300315−4
 Lesotho211010+1
 Libya4103214−12
 Madagascar200224−2
 Mauritius220052+3
 Morocco200205−5
 Rwanda211010+1
 Sierra Leone420269−3
 Sudan100104−4
 Togo200206−6
 Uganda100113−2
Total55973942137−95

Results and fixtures
13 November 2019 (2019-11-13) 2021 AFCONQ Sudan  4–0  São Tomé and Príncipe Omdurman, Sudan
21:00 UTC+2
Stadium: Al-Hilal Stadium
18 November 2019 (2019-11-18) 2021 AFCONQ São Tomé and Príncipe  0–1  Ghana São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
16:00 UTC±0
Stadium: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group C match against South Africa on 13 November 2020.[5]

Caps and goals are correct as of 13 November 2020, after the game against South Africa.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Primo (1989-09-09) 9 September 1989 8 0 Praia Cruz
12 1GK Nilson (1987-11-15) 15 November 1987 5 0 UDRA
2 2DF Ivonaldo (1993-05-05) 5 May 1993 17 0 UDRA
3 2DF Vavá Pequeno (1994-02-05) 5 February 1994 6 0 Praia Cruz
4 2DF Trauré (1995-02-16) 16 February 1995 0 0 Aliança Pantufo
5 2DF Jardel (1995-05-16) 16 May 1995 3 0 Saburtalo Tbilisi
13 2DF Dilson (1999-09-16) 16 September 1999 9 0 UDRA
6 3MF Lúcio (1992-11-26) 26 November 1992 2 0 Ferreiras
7 3MF Joel (1996-05-01) 1 May 1996 1 0 Loures
8 3MF Jocy (captain) (1991-01-19) 19 January 1991 28 1 UDRA
11 3MF Harramiz (1990-08-03) 3 August 1990 14 1 Estoril Praia
16 3MF Maú (2000-07-13) 13 July 2000 1 0 Cova da Piedade
17 3MF Tinho (1992-09-08) 8 September 1992 3 0 Porto Real
18 3MF Iniesta (1992-10-21) 21 October 1992 5 1 UDRA
19 3MF Pogba (2000-07-16) 16 July 2000 5 0 Porto Real
9 4FW Edmílson Viegas (1996-10-29) 29 October 1996 1 0 Resende
10 4FW Luís Leal (1987-05-29) 29 May 1987 15 6 Tijuana
14 4FW Ronaldo (2001-07-11) 11 July 2001 3 0 GRAP
15 4FW Vando (1992-07-24) 24 July 1992 5 0 UDRA
20 4FW Zé (1991-12-22) 22 December 1991 21 3 Santana

Recent call ups
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Tavinho (1995-03-03) 3 March 1995 2 0 Trindade v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 PRE
DF Junior (1994-11-05) 5 November 1994 0 0 Vitória Riboque v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 PRE
MF Marcos (1995-07-29) 29 July 1995 8 1 Real v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 PRE
MF Bobó (1990-06-08) 8 June 1990 1 0 Monte Café v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 PRE
MF Dany (2000-04-02) 2 April 2000 0 0 6 de Setembro v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 PRE
FW Gilson (1998-08-24) 24 August 1998 1 0 Inter Bom-Bom v.  South Africa, 13 November 2020 PRE

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. "BBC Sport − São Tomé e Príncipe rocket up Fifa rankings". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  3. "São Tomé e Príncipe spring an unlikely surprise − World Soccer". worldsoccer.com. Time Inc. UK. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  4. "World Football Elo Ratings: São Tomé e Príncipe". eloratings.net. World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
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