The Mauritania national football team ( ar, منتخب موريتانيا لكرة القدم), nicknamed Al-Murabitun in the reference to

Almoravid dynasty The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century tha ...

, represents

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

in men's international

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 popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

. It is controlled by the Fération de Football de la République Islamique de Mauritanie, and is a member of the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...

. They have not qualified for the

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 has ...

. However, in the Amílcar Cabral Cup, a regional tournament for West Africa, Mauritania came forth in 1980 on hosting the competition. The national football team of Mauritania later runners-up in 1995, losing on penalties to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

after the final finished 0–0. On 18 November 2018, Mauritania qualified for the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internat ...

for the first time in history, after they won 2–1 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 Kal ...

to seal a spot in the 2019 tournament.

History

1963–80

Mauritania played its first match after independence from France on 11 April 1963, against Congo Kinshasa (also making their debut) and lost 6–0. The match was held in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

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

as part of the L'Amitié tournament between African sides. It also saw the debuts of

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast� ...

and

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesCongo Brazzaville. Mauritania's first goal and avoidance of defeat came four years after their debut, in 1967 with a 1–1 draw away in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. This was their first match since the L'Amitié tournament in 1963. Mauritania entered their first

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (A ...

qualification campaign, in an aim to reach the 1973 finals in Nigeria. They were drawn in a group against

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. Ma ...

and

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

in Guinea. The first game was lost 11–0 to Mali, and on 20 May Mauritania lost 14–0 to Guinea. Mauritania did not qualify. In May 1976 Mauritania entered qualification for the

football at the 1976 Summer Olympics The football tournament at the 1976 Summer Olympics started on 18 July and ended on 31 July. Only one event, the men's tournament, was contested. 13 teams participated in the tournament, while three African teams took part in the boycott. Venu ...

in Canada. They were drawn against neighbouring Mali in a two-legged qualifier. The first leg was lost 6–0 away on 1 May, and the second leg was lost 1–0 at home on 18 May. Mali did not qualify for the finals. Mauritania's first entrance into World Cup qualification was an attempt to reach the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

in Argentina. In March 1976 they were one of four countries put into two preliminary matches at the start of the African qualification campaign. Mauritania's preliminary was a two-legged match against the Upper Volta (now

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana t ...

) and they drew the first match 1–1 away in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...

on 13 March. This was their first competitive avoidance of defeat, and their first avoidance of defeat since 1967. On 28 March, Mauritania lost their home leg in Nouakchott 2–0 and the Upper Volta advanced 3–1 on aggregate. On 12 October 1980, seventeen years after their first game, Mauritania won for the first time by beating Mali 2–1 at home in a qualifier for the

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internat ...

. Mali won 3–2 on aggregate having won the first leg 2–0.

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania entered qualification for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for t ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which was their first entry in twenty years and second overall. Again, they were drawn to face Burkina Faso in a two-legged preliminary. The first leg was played at home in Nouakchott in front of 15,000 people on 31 May 1996, one day before any other matches in the round. The match finished 0–0. The second leg was played at the Stade du 4-Aout in Ouagadougou on 16 June 1996 in front of 13,000 people. Burkina Faso won 2–0 to advance to the final group phase.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania entered the qualification for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and were placed in a preliminary against

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

, who had qualified for the previous tournament. On 7 April 2000 they hosted Tunisia at the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott. A crowd of 10,000 saw Tunisia win 2–1 with second-half goals from Radhi Jaidi and

Hassen Gabsi Hassen Gabsi ( ar, حسان القابسي) (born 23 February 1974) is a retired Tunisian Association football, football right winger and current manager. Career Born in Tunis, Gabsi played club football for local side Espérance Sportive de Tu ...

. In the second leg on 22 April 2000, Mauritania were beaten 3–0 at the Stade El Menzah in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. The match was watched by only 3,000, despite a capacity of 45,000 in the ground. Tunisia won 5–1 on aggregate and later qualified for the finals in South Korea and Japan.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania were drawn with

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

in the preliminary of the African section of the

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 ...

qualification. On 12 October 2003 they lost the away leg 3–0 at the National Sports Stadium in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

in front of 55,000 people. In the home return at the Stade Olympique on 14 November 2003, Mauritania scored twice in the opening ten minutes to win 2–1, their first victory in a World Cup match. However, Zimbabwe advanced 4–2 on aggregate.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

The African qualification process was altered for the

2010 FIFA 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 ...

. Only the six lowest-ranked nations played a preliminary, a selection which for the first time did not include Mauritania. Mauritania played in Group 8 of the second qualifying round against

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, and started with an away match at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo in

Kigali Kigali () is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwanda's economic, cult ...

on 31 May 2008. They lost 3–0 in front of 12,000 people. The first home match was on 7 June at the Stade Nacional in Nouakchott against Morocco. The Moroccans scored two in each half before a late penalty by Dominique da Silva of Mauritania made the game 4–1. On 13 June 2008 Mauritania hosted Ethiopia at the Stade Nacional and lost 1–0 after an injury-time winner from

Saladin Said Salah El Din Ahmed Said ( am, ሳላዲን ሰይድ; born 29 October 1988), also known as Salhadin Said or Saladin Said, is an Ethiopian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ethiopian Premier League club Sidama Coffee. His ener ...

. On 22 June Mauritania lost 6–1 in the away match versus Ethiopia at the Addis Ababa Stadium. The Ethiopian forwards Fikru Tefera and Andualem Nigussie scored two goals each in a match which also saw Ba Yaoub of Mauritania sent off after 37 minutes, conceding a penalty to Fikru. The game was 1–1 at half time. In September 2008 Ethiopia were expelled from the tournament due to government interferences in their football association and all of their results annulled. Only 1,000 people saw Mauritania's next game at the Stade Nacional as they were beaten 1–0 by Rwanda on 6 September with a late goal by Bobo Bola. Mauritania finished their group campaign at the

Stade Moulay Abdellah Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium ( ar, المجمع الرياضي الأمير مولاي عبد الله) is a multi-purpose stadium in Rabat, Morocco. It is named after Prince Moulay Abdellah of Morocco. It was built in 1983 and is the home gro ...

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populatio ...

. Like the home game against the Moroccans, Mauritania were 4–0 down but scored the last goal, this time by Dahmed Ould Teguedi. Although the Moroccan stadium had a capacity of 52,000, only 1,472 saw the match.

2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Mauritania beat

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 ...

1–0 in the first leg of a preliminary round qualifier for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Nouakchott. SC Bastia's midfielder

Adama Ba Adama Ba (Arabic: آدما با; born 27 August 1993) is a Mauritanian professional footballer who plays as a winger. Club career In August 2015, Ba joined AJ Auxerre, shortly after being released by SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co ...

scored the only goal midway through the first half. The return leg in

Curepipe Curepipe () also known as ''La Ville-Lumière'' (The City of Light), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Curepipe ...

ended 2–0 in favour of Mauritania. Scorers were

Demba Sow Demba Sow (born 3 July 1993) is a Mauritanian professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football ...

and Moulaye Ahmed Bessam. In the first round, first leg match, Mauritania beat visitors

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

1–0 in Nouakchott. The two sides headed into the break scoreless in their match played at Office du Complexe Olympique de Nouakchott. Hosts Mauritania broke the deadlock in the 76th minute through their Tunisian-based striker

Ismaël Diakité Ismaël is a given name or surname, and may refer to: * Ismaël Aaneba (born 1999), French footballer * Ismaël Alassane (born 1984), Nigerian football defender * Ismaël Ankobo (born 1997), Congolese footballer * Ismaël Bangoura (born 198 ...

. In the return match Equatorial Guinea beat Mauritania 3–0 in

Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly Santa Isabel) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea and the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko, ( bvb, Etulá, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a ...

. Equatorial Guinea won 3–1 on aggregate. However, on 3 July 2014, the CAF announced that Equatorial Guinea were disqualified for fielding the ineligible player Thierry Fidjeu in the tie, and as a result, Mauritania advanced to the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

. Equatorial Guinea later qualified for the final tournament as replacement hosts.

2019 Africa Cup of Nations

On 18 November 2018, Mauritania qualified to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history, after they won 2–1 against

, coming second in qualification Group I.

Team image

The Mauritania national team home kit is all green yellow red trim, and the away kit is all white with green trim.

Results and fixtures

2021

2022

2023

Coaches

* Mohamed Harouna (1982–1983) * Gerhard Schmidt (1985) *

Birama Gaye Birama Gaye (born 1964) is a Mauritanian football manager. Gaye has managed Mauritanean clubs ASC Nasr de Sebkha and ASC Tevragh-Zeïne. He has managed the Mauritania national football team The Mauritania national football team ( ar, منت� ...

(2000) * Noël Tosi (2003–2004) * Moustapha Sall (2006–2007) *

(2007) * Alain Moizan (2008) * Mohamed Harouna (2008) * Omar Hassan (2010) * Moustapha Sall (2010–2012) *

Patrice Neveu Patrice Neveu (born 29 March 1954) is a French football coach and former player who manages the national team of Gabon. Career Playing career Neveu enjoyed a short playing career in France with Angoulême CFC and ES La Rochelle. Coaching care ...

(2012–2014) * Corentin Martins (2014–2021) * Gérard Buscher (2021) *

Didier Gomes Da Rosa Didier Gomes Da Rosa (born 10 October 1969) is a French football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Ain FC. He is famous for making an impressive impact in all the clubs he has managed in his early year ...

(2021–2022) * Amir Abdou (2022–present)

Players

Current squad

* The following players were called up for the friendly match. * Match dates: 14 December 2022 * Opposition: * Caps and goals correct as of: 8 June 2022, after the match against .

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Mauritania in the last 12 months. ^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.

Records

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

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Olympic Games

*Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since the 1992 edition.

Africa Cup of Nations

African Games

* Prior to the Cairo 1991 campaign, the

Football at the All-Africa Games The men's Association football tournament has been held at every session of the African Games since 1965. Women's competition was added in 2003. Since 1991, age limit for men teams is under-23, same as the age limit in football competitions at ...

was open to full senior national teams.

African Nations Championship

WAFU Nations Cup

Amílcar Cabral Cup

CEDEAO Cup

FIFA Arab Cup

Pan Arab Games

Other records

References

External links

Mauritania
at National-Football-Teams.com.
Fédération de Football de Mauritanie

Mauritanie Football

National football team of Mauritania team picture
{{Navboxes , title=Mauritania squads , bg=#00A95C , fg=#FFD700 , bordercolor=#D01C1F , list1= {{Mauritania squad 2019 Africa Cup of Nations {{Mauritania squad 2021 Africa Cup of Nations African national association football teams