São Tomé and Príncipe national football team

São Tomé and Príncipe

Nickname(s)	Seleção dos Falcões e Papagaios (The Falcons and True Parrots Team)
Association	São Toméan Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coach	Adriano Eusébio
Captain	Luís Leal
Most caps	Joazhifel Soares (27)
Top scorer	Luís Leal (6)
Home stadium	Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho
FIFA code	STP
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	189 (23 December 2021)[1]
Highest	115 (March 2012)
Lowest	200 (September – October 2007)
First international
Gabon 6–1 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Libreville, Gabon; May 2, 1976)
Biggest win
Mauritius 1–3 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Belle Vue Harel, Mauritius; October 9, 2019)  São Tomé and Príncipe 2–0 Equatorial Guinea  (Libreville, Gabon; November 14, 1999)  São Tomé and Príncipe 2–0 Sierra Leone  (São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe; April 8, 2000)
Biggest defeat
Congo 11–0 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Libreville, Gabon; July 7, 1976)

The São Tomé and Príncipe national football team is the national association football team of São Tomé and Príncipe and is controlled by the São Toméan Football Federation. It is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA.^[3]

History[]

São Tomé and Príncipe's first ever match was a friendly against Gabon in May 1976. They lost by a score of 6–1. Their next game, during the 1976 Central African Games, was a horrendous 11–0 loss to Congo, São Tomé's largest loss to date. São Tomé rounded off the competition with a 2–1 loss to Central African Republic and a 5–0 loss to Chad.

The following year, São Tomé picked up their first win, in a friendly versus Rwanda. In both 1978 and 1987 they achieved a draw at home to Angola.

The Green and Yellows took an eleven year break, before a string of matches including their first entry to a FIFA sanctioned tournament. At the UNIFAC Cup in 1999, they achieved their second win, 2–0 against Equatorial Guinea. They won the next game after that, against Sierra Leone, 2–0. This two-in-a-row streak accompanied with a draw a few matches later placed them at their highest FIFA ranking to date, 179.

In 2003, São Tomé lost to Libya 1–0 and 8–0, which was a major blow to their previous success.^[4] São Tomé did not participate in the qualification for the 2010 World Cup, withdrawing before their first match, leaving them unranked in the FIFA rankings because they did not play any matches for four years.

On 11 November 2011, after an eight-year hiatus, São Tomé and Príncipe participated in the qualification for the 2014 World Cup, losing to Congo 5–0, then drawing 1–1 with the same team four days later. São Tomé were reinstated in the FIFA rankings on 23 November 2011, entering at number 192.

In January 2012, in the preliminary round of 2013 AFCON Qualifiers, São Tomé achieved their first ever aggregate win, defeating Lesotho 1–0 at home then successfully defending a 0–0 draw in Maseru seven days later. In the next round, São Tomé only narrowly lost 5–4 on aggregate to Sierra Leone. In the following years, São Tomé continued to show promise with impressive wins at home to Ethiopia and Libya but poor away results prevented them from advancing again.

On 9 October 2019, São Tomé defeated Mauritius 1–3 away from home in the first leg of their preliminary round tie of 2021 AFCON Qualifiers. This was São Tomé and Príncipe's first away win in a competitive match ever. Four days later, São Tomé won 2–1 at home to advance 5–2 on aggregate and enter Group C where they will face Ghana, South Africa and Sudan.

Results and fixtures[]

2022[]

São Tomé and Príncipe  v  Mauritius

21-29 March 2023 AFCON Q preliminary round	São Tomé and Príncipe	v	Mauritius	São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe
				Stadium: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho

Mauritius  v  São Tomé and Príncipe

21-29 March 2023 AFCON Q preliminary round	Mauritius	v	São Tomé and Príncipe	Belle Vue Harel, Mauritius
				Stadium: Anjalay Stadium

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following players were selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Group C match against South Africa on 13 November 2020.^[5]

Caps and goals are correct as of 13 November 2020, after the game against South Africa.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Primo	(1989-09-09) 9 September 1989 (age 32)	8	0	Praia Cruz
12	1GK	Nilson	(1987-11-15) 15 November 1987 (age 34)	5	0	UDRA
2	2DF	Ivonaldo	(1993-05-05) 5 May 1993 (age 28)	17	0	UDRA
3	2DF	Vavá Pequeno	(1994-02-05) 5 February 1994 (age 27)	6	0	Praia Cruz
4	2DF	Trauré	(1995-02-16) 16 February 1995 (age 26)	0	0	Aliança Pantufo
5	2DF	Jardel Nazaré	(1995-05-16) 16 May 1995 (age 26)	3	0	Saburtalo Tbilisi
13	2DF	Dilson	(1999-09-16) 16 September 1999 (age 22)	9	0	UDRA
6	3MF	Lúcio Oliveira	(1992-11-26) 26 November 1992 (age 29)	2	0	Ferreiras
7	3MF	Joel Neves	(1996-05-01) 1 May 1996 (age 25)	1	0	Loures
8	3MF	Jocy (captain)	(1991-01-19) 19 January 1991 (age 31)	28	1	UDRA
11	3MF	Harramiz	(1990-08-03) 3 August 1990 (age 31)	14	1	Estoril Praia
16	3MF	Maú	(2000-07-13) 13 July 2000 (age 21)	1	0	Fabril
17	3MF	Tinho	(1992-09-08) 8 September 1992 (age 29)	3	0	Porto Real
18	3MF	Iniesta	(1992-10-21) 21 October 1992 (age 29)	5	1	UDRA
19	3MF	Pogba	(2000-07-16) 16 July 2000 (age 21)	5	0	Porto Real
9	4FW	Edmílson Viegas	(1996-10-29) 29 October 1996 (age 25)	1	0	Paniliakos
10	4FW	Luís Leal	(1987-05-29) 29 May 1987 (age 34)	15	6	Sol de América
14	4FW	Ronaldo	(2001-07-11) 11 July 2001 (age 20)	3	0	Loures
15	4FW	Vando	(1992-07-24) 24 July 1992 (age 29)	5	0	UDRA
20	4FW	Zé	(1991-12-22) 22 December 1991 (age 30)	21	3	Santana

Recent call ups[]

Player records[]

As of 24 March 2021

Players in bold are still active with São Tomé and Príncipe.

Competition records[]

World Cup record[]

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Part of  Portugal									Part of  Portugal
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978	Not affiliated to CAF									Not affiliated to CAF
1982
1986
1990	Did not enter									Declined participation
1994	Withdrew									Withdrew
1998	Did not enter									Did not enter
2002	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	2	4
2006										2	0	0	2	0	9
2010	Withdrew									Withdrew
2014	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	1	6
2018										2	1	0	1	1	3
2022										2	0	0	2	1	3
2026	To be determined
Total	-	0/22	-	-	-	-	-	-		10	2	1	7	5	25

Africa Cup of Nations record[]

Africa Cup of Nations record
Host nation(s) / Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1957 to 1974	Part of  Portugal
1976 to 1986	Not affiliated to CAF
1988 to 1998	Did not enter
2000 to 2002	Did not qualify
2004	Withdrew
2006	Did not qualify
2008	Did not enter
2010	Withdrew
2012	Did not enter
2013 to 2021	Did not qualify
2023	To be determined
2025
Total	-	0/33	-	-	-	-	-	-

Head-to-head record[]

Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
Angola	4	0	1	3	6	12	−6	0.00
Benin	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	0.00
Cape Verde	2	0	0	2	2	9	−7	0.00
Central African Republic	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	0.00
Chad	2	0	0	2	0	10	−10	0.00
Congo	4	0	1	3	1	18	−17	0.00
Equatorial Guinea	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	33.33
Ethiopia	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2	50.00
Gabon	4	0	1	3	3	12	−9	0.00
Ghana	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0.00
Guinea-Bissau	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0.00
Lesotho	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	50.00
Libya	4	1	0	3	2	14	−12	25.00
Madagascar	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2	0.00
Mauritius	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3	100.00
Morocco	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0.00
Rwanda	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	50.00
Sierra Leone	4	2	0	2	5	8	−3	50.00
South Africa	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	0.00
Sudan	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	0.00
Togo	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	0.00
Uganda	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	0.00
Total	55	9	6	40	39	139	−100	16.36

References[]

External links[]

• National Federation website