The Angola national football team ( pt, Seleção nacional de futebol de Angola) represents

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

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 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, the team's nickname is Palancas Negras, The team is governing body of

Football in Angola Football is the most popular sport in Angola, The national team (m) qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and many Angolan footballers play internationally, particularly in Portugal and France. Organized games of women's football t ...

in the country, The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF). Angola reached its highest

FIFA ranking The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

, 45th place, in July 2000. Their greatest accomplishment was qualifying for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, as this was their first appearance on the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

finals stage.

History

Angola played their first game against Congo on 8 February 1976, losing 3–2. On 26 June 1977,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

became Angola's first non-African opponent when the two countries met in Angola, with Angola winning 1–0. Angola entered World Cup qualifying for the first time in the 1986 qualifying competition. Angola defeated

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

on penalties in the first round before narrowly losing to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. 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 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, but again failed to reach the second round, drawing 0–0 with South Africa and 3–3 with

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, and losing 5–2 to Ivory Coast. After missing the last 3 tournaments, they qualified for the

2006 African Nations Cup The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt won ...

. They recorded their first African Cup of Nations win against

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, winning 3–2, two goals coming from

Flávio Flávio is a Portuguese language given name, equivalent of Latin Flavius, and Italian and Spanish Flavio. The Portuguese diminutive form is Flavinho. People * Flávio da Silva Amado (1979), better known as Flávio, Angolan footballer *Antônio Flá ...

and the other coming from Maurito. They also drew 0–0 against

Congo DR The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and lost 3–1 against Cameroon. Angola's best performance then came in the

2008 African Nations Cup The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confede ...

. They were drawn in Group D with

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

. They drew 1–1 and 0–0 with South Africa and Tunisia, then defeated Senegal 3–1, two goals coming from

Manucho Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves (born 7 March 1983), commonly known as Manucho, is an Angolan former professional footballer who played as a striker. Manucho moved from Petro Atletico to Manchester United in January 2008. Before playing ...

. In the quarter-finals they were beaten by eventual winners

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

after only losing one game in the qualifiers ahead of favourites

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. When picking the squad, Gonçalves sought advice from

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

manager José Mourinho, whose wife was born in Angola. Angola's ''Golden Generation'' saw players like

Akwá Fabrice Alcebiades Maieco (born 30 May 1977 in Benguela), commonly known as Akwá, is an Angolan former football player who played as a forward for the Angolan national team. From his international debut in 1995, Akwá represented Angola 78 ...

, João Ricardo, Paulo Figueiredo,

Flávio Amado Flávio da Silva Amado (born 30 December 1979), better known as Flávio, is an Angolan former professional footballer striker. He is the assistant of Angolan side Petro Atlético. Club career Flávio helped his team Al Ahly to participate in ...

and Jamba selected to go to the World Cup. Angola played six warm-up games against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

, Lesotho,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Angola played their first World Cup finals game against the Portuguese side, who won the match 1–0, the only goal coming from

Pauleta Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes (born 28 April 1973), known as Pauleta (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During 18 years as a senior he never played in the Primeira Liga, having spent 12 of those c ...

. 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 , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Angola drew 0–0 in their second game with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and still had a chance of qualifying for the second round had they beaten

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in their final group game, but the match finished 1–1 after goals by

and Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh. Angola were eliminated from the tournament only losing one game.

2010 World Cup failure

After the

, many of Angola's most experienced players such as

and João Ricardo retired from the international game, but the expectation was still high for the team to qualify for the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. 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 Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages2010 Africa Cup of Nations, Angola were seeded in Group A along with

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

. 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.

Kit history

Kit manufacturer

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.

2022

2023

Players

Current squad

The following players have been pre-selected for the friendlies against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

and

in November 2022. ''Caps and goals as of 20 November 2022, after the match against

.''

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. ''^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 The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

* 2006 FIFA World Cup squads – Angola Africa Cup of Nations * 2019 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola * 2013 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola * 2012 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola * 2010 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola * 2008 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola * 2006 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola * 1998 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola * 1996 Africa Cup of Nations squads – Angola

Records

:''Players in bold are still active with Angola.''

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Managerial history

József Szabó József Szabó (born 10 March 1969) is a retired Hungarian swimmer. He competed in three individual events at the 1988 Olympics and won a gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke; he placed fourth in the 400 m and 24th in the 200 m medley eve ...

(1965 – 1966) *

Zlatko Škorić Zlatko Škorić (27 July 1941 – 23 May 2019) was a Croatian football goalkeeper. He got eight caps for the Yugoslavia national team. Club career He played a total of 221 matches for Dinamo Zagreb and won the he won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ...

(? – ?) * Rubén García (? –1988) * Carlos Queirós (1988–?) *

Jesualdo Ferreira Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese football manager. He is currently the manager of Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League. In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all of his country's Big Thre ...

(1989) * Dušan Kondić (? –1993) * Branco Arlindo (1993–?) * Carlos Alhinho (1994–1995) * Professor Neca (1996–1998) * Carlos de Abreu (1998) * Veselin Jelušić (1998) *

Djalma Cavalcante Djalma Cavalcante (born 1957 in Brazil) was a Brazilian football player and coach. Cavalcante died of a heart attack on August 11, 2014. Coaching career During his coaching career, Djalma Cavalcante has managed one of the top South African club ...

(1999) * Carlos Alhinho (2000) *

Mário Calado Mario is the Italian, French, Croatian, Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Greek, and English form of the Latin Roman name Marius. In Croatia, the name Mario was among the most common masculine given names in the decades between 1970 and 1999, and ...

(2000–2001) * Ismael Kurtz (2002–2003) *

Luís Oliveira Gonçalves Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

(2003–2008) * Mabi de Almeida (2008–2009) * Manuel José (2009–2010) *

Hervé Renard Hervé Jean-Marie Roger Renard (born 30 September 1968) is a French professional football coach and former player who is the manager of the Saudi Arabia national team. Renard has previously been the manager of Zambia national team, with whom ...

(2010) *

Zeca Amaral José Jorge Fernandes do Amaral, best known as Zeca Amaral is a former manager of the Angolan national team, a job he took up in October 2010 following the resignation of Hervé Renard Hervé Jean-Marie Roger Renard (born 30 September 1968) ...

(2010) *

Lito Vidigal José Carlos Fernandes Vidigal (born 11 July 1969), commonly known as Lito, is an Angolan professional football manager and former player who played as a defender. He spent his entire playing career in Portugal, mainly with Belenenses in the P ...

(2011–2012) *

Romeu Filemón Romeu Katatu Filemón is an Angolan football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most ...

(2012) * Gustavo Ferrín (2012–2013) *

(2014–2015) * José Kilamba (2016–2017) * Beto Bianchi (2017–2018) * Srđan Vasiljević (2018–2019) * Pedro Gonçalves (2019–)

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

As of 2022, Angola has qualified once for a

. Its first participation in the World Cup qualifiers was in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, where they won in the first round, beating

4−3 on penalty kicks. They later lost in the second round of the 1986 World Cup qualifiers to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. Algeria went to the third round and qualified for the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

. Angola's first participation in the World Cup was in the

, in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. ;Notes

Africa Cup of Nations

;Notes

COSAFA Cup

Honours

* COSAFA Cup **Winners (3): 1999, 2001, 2004 * Central African Games **Runners-up (1): 1987 *

African Nations Championship The African Nations Championship (french: Championnat d'Afrique des Nations; abbreviated as CHAN), known as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a biennial African national association football tourname ...

**Runners-up (1): 2011

References

External links

Federação Angolana de FutebolAngola match recordsAngola team picture during World Cup in 2006
{{Navboxes, , title= Angola Squads , list1= {{Angola squad 1996 African Cup of Nations {{Angola squad 1998 African Cup of Nations {{Angola squad 2006 Africa Cup of Nations {{Angola squad 2006 FIFA World Cup {{Angola squad 2008 Africa Cup of Nations {{Angola squad 2010 Africa Cup of Nations {{Angola squad 2012 Africa Cup of Nations {{Angola squad 2013 Africa Cup of Nations {{Angola squad 2019 Africa Cup of Nations African national association football teams National sports teams established in 1976

History

2006 FIFA World Cup

2010 World Cup failure

Kit history

Kit manufacturer

Recent schedule and results

2022

2023

Players

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Previous squads

Records

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Managerial history

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Africa Cup of Nations

COSAFA Cup

Honours

See also

References

External links