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.
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 debut performance.
The Angola national football team entered world cup qualifying in the second round where they were drawn alongside heavyweights South Africa. A 3-1 defeat in the first leg was followed by a 1-0 loss in the second to eliminate the side 4-1 on aggregate.
