The Guinea-Bissau national football team ( Portuguese: Seleção nacional de futebol da Guiné-Bissau) represents

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

in men's international

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and it is controlled by the Football Federation of Guinea-Bissau, The team has never qualified for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s but qualified for the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

four times, making their debut in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. The team is a member of both

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

(CAF).

History

World Cup qualifying

Guinea-Bissau entered their first FIFA World Cup qualification with the aim of reaching the 1998 World Cup in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The first round of African qualification required for them to play

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

in a two-legged match. The first leg was held at home in the Estadio 24 de Setembro in

Bissau Bissau () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administr ...

on 1 June 1996 with an attendance of 15,000. Guinea-Bissau went 2–0 up at half-time after strikes from Pereira Tavares in 11th and 36th minutes. Guinea's Titi Camara equalised with his own brace in the 53rd and 54th minutes. Guinea-Bissau's Co Cipriano won the game with a 60th-minute penalty to make it 3–2. The away leg was held at the Stade du 28 Septembre in

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

. Momo Soumah of Guinea scored to level the tie at half-time before Nando Có scored a bicycle kick for Guinea-Bissau to put his side 4–3 up on aggregate, however another goal from Momo Soumah and a winner from Tibou Bangoura won the match for Guinea, giving them a 5–4 lead on aggregate. Guinea-Bissau had never progressed beyond the first round of qualification until the 2022 qualifiers where they defeated

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

3–1 over two legs, thanks to three goals from Joseph Mendes.

Africa Cup of Nations

Guinea-Bissau first participated in AFCON qualification in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

where they defeated

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

over three legs, but failed to register a single point in the second round as their draw against

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

was annulled after Togo withdrew from the competition. In 1996 Guinea-Bissau withdrew from qualification after a draw and two losses to begin the campaign, leading to their ban for 1998 AFCON. Guinea-Bissau next entered qualification in 2006 where they lost 4–1 to

Mali national football team The Mali national football team ( Bambara: '' Mali jamana ntolatantɔn'', ) represents Mali in men's international football and is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The team's nickname is Les Aigles. They represent the country at tou ...

and were again banned in 2008 for unpaid debts to CAF. In 2012 they secured a single win (1–0 against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

) and five losses to finish last in Group J. The following year they were eliminated 2–0 by

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. In 2015, after beating

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

3–1, they lost to

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

by the same scoreline. For the 2017 qualifiers, Guinea-Bissau was drawn from Pot 4 into Group E and, despite being the lowest ranked nation in their group, achieved ten points and qualified for the 2017 tournament ahead of Congo,

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

. In their African Cup of Nations debut, Guinea-Bissau drew 1–1 with

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

with a 91st-minute equaliser by Juary Soares. This was the only point they collected at the tournament and they were eliminated in the group stage. Guinea-Bissau then also won their Group in the 2019 qualifiers to reach a second straight

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. They again managed one draw (0–0 against

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

) and two losses and failed to progress to the knock-out stages. On March 30, 2021, Guinea-Bissau went into their final qualifying match against Congo, needing a victory to qualify. They ended comfortable winners with goals from Piqueti, Frédéric Mendy and Jorginho to secure their third successive AFCON appearance.

Results and fixtures

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

2024

2025

Coaching history

* Guilherme Farinha (1990–1994) * Armando Antonio Miranda (2000) *

Baciro Candé Baciro Candé (born 6 April 1967) is a Bissau-Guinean professional association footballer, football player and association football manager, manager. Career Candé was born in Catió. He played professional football in Portugal's Segunda Liga a ...

(2001–2009) * Luís Norton de Matos (2010–2012) *

Carlos Manuel Carlos Manuel Correia dos Santos (; born 15 January 1958), known as Carlos Manuel, is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a manager. Best known for his spell at Benfica, for which he appeared i ...

(2012–2014) * Paulo Torres (2014–2016) *

(2016–2024) * Luís Boa Morte (2024–present)

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friedly matches against

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

and

on 6 and 9 June 2025, respectively. ''Caps and goals correct as of 9 June 2025, after the match against

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Guinea-Bissau 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.''
''^WD Withdrew from squad.''

Records

:''Players in bold are still active with Guinea Bissau.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competition records

FIFA World Cup

Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

* Amilcar Cabral Cup ** Runners-up (1):

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

References

External links

*
Official website
– Guinea-Bissau Football Federeation
O'Jogo: News on Portuguese speaking African football teams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinea-Bissau National Football Team African national association football teams