The Angola national football team () represents

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

in men's international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and is controlled by the Angolan Football Federation. Nicknamed ''Palancas Negras'' (Black Sable antelopes), 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 the

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). Angola reached its highest FIFA ranking of 45th in July 2000. Their greatest accomplishment was qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, their only World Cup to date.

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, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

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, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

on penalties in the first round before narrowly losing to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

3–2 on aggregate in the second round. Angola qualified for their first

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 ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. 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. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

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 ...

. 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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, 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 on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, and losing 5–2 to

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. 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 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 ...

, 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 Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and

. 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

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 Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. When picking the squad, Gonçalves sought advice from Chelsea manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

, whose wife was born in Angola. Angola's ''Golden Generation'' saw players like Akwá, João Ricardo, Paulo Figueiredo, Flávio Amado 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. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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. There was a very friendly environment in and around the stadium during this match because of the links and friendship between the countries of

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Angola drew 0–0 in their second game with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

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.

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

. 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, 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 ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It 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 ...

and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. 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 The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2 ...

, Angola were seeded in Group A along with

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, and

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. 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

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 staff

Coaching history

* József Szabó (1965 – 1966) * Zlatko Škorić (? – ?) * Rubén García (? –1988) * Carlos Queirós (1988–?) * Jesualdo Ferreira (1989) * Dušan Kondić (? –1993) * Branco Arlindo (1993–?) * Carlos Alhinho (1994–1995) * Professor Neca (1996–1998) * Carlos de Abreu (1998) * Veselin Jelušić (1998) * Djalma Cavalcante (1999) * Carlos Alhinho (2000) * Mário Calado (2000–2001) * Ismael Kurtz (2002–2003) * Luís Oliveira Gonçalves (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 head coach of Saudi Arabia. Renard has previously been the manager of Zambia national team, with whom he won the 2012 ...

(2010) * Zeca Amaral (2010) * Lito Vidigal (2011–2012) * Romeu Filemón (2012) * Gustavo Ferrín (2012–2013) * Romeu Filemón (2014–2015) * José Kilamba (2016–2017) * Beto Bianchi (2017–2018) * Srđan Vasiljević (2018–2019) * Pedro Gonçalves (2019–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2025 COSAFA Cup in June 2025. ''Caps and goals as of 15 June 2025, 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.''

Records

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

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

As of 2022, Angola has qualified once for a

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 ...

. Its first participation in the World Cup qualifiers was in 1986, 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 went to the third round and qualified for the 1986 World Cup in

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

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Africa Cup of Nations

African Nations Championship

COSAFA Cup

Honours

Major competitions

* African Nations Championship ** Runners-up:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Regional

* COSAFA Cup ** Winners:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

** Runners-up:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

** Third-place:

* Central African Games ** Silver medal:

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

Summary

References

External links

Federação Angolana de Futebol

Angola
at CAF
Angola
at

O'JOGO: News on Portuguese speaking African football teams

Angola match records

Angola team picture during World Cup in 2006
{{National sports teams of Angola African national association football teams National sports teams established in 1976