Angola reached its highestFIFA ranking of 45th in July 2000. Their greatest accomplishment was qualifying for the2006 World Cup, their only World Cup to date.
Angola played their first game againstCongo on 8 February 1976, losing 3–2. On 26 June 1977,Cuba became Angola's first non-African opponent when the two countries met in Angola, with Angola winning 1–0.[3] Angola entered World Cup qualifying for the first time in the1986 qualifying competition. Angola defeatedSenegal on penalties in the first round before narrowly losing toAlgeria 3–2 on aggregate in the second round.
Angola qualified for their firstAfrica Cup of Nations in1996. They were drawn in Group A withSouth Africa,Egypt andCameroon. 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 in1998, but again failed to reach the second round, drawing 0–0 with South Africa and 3–3 withNamibia, and losing 5–2 toIvory Coast.
After missing the last 3 tournaments, they qualified for the2006 African Nations Cup. They recorded their first African Cup of Nations win againstTogo, winning 3–2, two goals coming fromFlávio and the other coming fromMaurito. They also drew 0–0 againstCongo DR and lost 3–1 against Cameroon. Angola's best performance then came in the2008 African Nations Cup. They were drawn in Group D withTunisia,South Africa andSenegal. They drew 1–1 and 0–0 with South Africa and Tunisia, then defeated Senegal 3–1, two goals coming fromManucho. In the quarter-finals they were beaten by eventual winnersEgypt 2–1, but Manucho scored again, finishing with four goals in total.
Angola also won theCOSAFA Cup in 1999, 2001 and 2004.[4]
Angola played their first World Cup finals game against thePortuguese side, who won the match 1–0, the only goal coming fromPauleta.[5] There was a very friendly environment in and around the stadium during this match because of the links and friendship between the countries ofAngola andPortugal. Angola drew 0–0 in their second game withMexico, and still had a chance of qualifying for the second round had they beatenIran in their final group game, but the match finished 1–1 after goals byFlávio andSohrab Bakhtiarizadeh. Angola were eliminated from the tournament only losing one game.[6][7]
Fans of the Angola national football team in Cologne, Germany.Iran versus Angola during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
After the2006 World Cup, many of Angola's most experienced players such asAkwá andJoão Ricardo retired from the international game, but the expectation was still high for the team to qualify for the2010 World Cup inSouth Africa. The team had a bye through the first round of qualification and in the second round they were drawn in Group 3 along withBenin,Uganda andNiger. Despite winning their first two matches, Angola failed to proceed to the third round, missing out by two points.
As hosts of the2010 Africa Cup of Nations, Angola were seeded in Group A along withMali,Algeria, andMalawi. Coached byManuel 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.
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.
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