The Angola national football team formed as recently as 1979. The team was quick to join both FIFA and the African Football Confederation in 1980. Despite its youth, the team has already appeared at a world cup finals.
The team’s first recorded game came a few years before official formation, a 1-0 over Cuba. Angola did not meet much success until the 1990’s, when it began to qualify for the African Cup of Nations. The team would later reach the quarter-finals of the cup in both 2008 and 2010.
The team had a strong qualifying performance in world cup 2010 qualifying. Wins in the opening two matches gave Angola a strong base but the team later faltered. With all matches played, the team stood just two points shy of qualification.
Ranked 93rd by FIFA, Angola are a team pushing forwards. A few more appearances in finals events will help the team attack the top fifty teams.
World cup 2006
Angola qualified for the 2006 world cup, hosted in Germany. The result was a surprise as Nigeria were favourites to make the finals. The first round group stage pitted Angola against Iran, Mexico and Portugal. Despite an opening 1-0 loss to Portugal, draws with Iran and Mexico were a respectable return for a début performance.
World cup 2018
Fixtures to be announced.
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