The Togo national football team formed in in 1960. The team affiliated to FIFA in 1962 and joined the Confederation of African Football in 1963. Many people’s knowledge of Togo stems from the tragic lethal attack on their team bus in 2010.
Togo played its first game as French Togoland in 1956, drawing 1-1 with Gold Coast (now Ghana). The team renamed to simply Togo after gaining independence in 1960. Togo’s record win is a 6-0 defeat of Swaziland in 2008. The team has lost 7-0 twice; against Morocco in 1979 and Tunisia in 2000.
In 2010 the team endured a fatal terrorist attack on their team bus. Whilst travelling through Angola to the Africa Cup of Nations, the team’s bus came under machine gun fire and then suffered a thirty minute siege. The attack killed the bus driver, and two others, preventing any escape. Many players and staff were also injured, with the more able team-mates carrying them to hospital. The team pulled out of the competition.
World cup 2006
The Togo national football team qualified for the first world cup finals in 2006. The team faced a first round group of France, South Korea and Switzerland. Togo took the lead in their first world cup game but eventually lost 2-1 to South Korea after having a man sent off. The team next faced Switzerland, with controversy erupting before the game. The squad and manager, Otto Pfitser, were demanding extra payment from the Togo Football Federation and threatening to strike. The team was persuaded to play the game, losing 2-0, and was later fined for their behaviour. In their last game, Togo lost 2-0 to France and finished the group with no points.
Ranked 88th by FIFA, the Togo national football team needs more tournament success to climb any higher.
World cup 2018
Fixtures to be announced.
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