Central African Republic national football team

The team made its debut under the name of Ubangi-Shari in 1956 against French Cameroon. The Central African Football Federation was founded in 1961 and joined FIFA in 1964 and CAF in 1965.

Their first competitive match was in the 1961 Friendship Games in Ivory Coast where Central African Republic drew twice against Upper Volta and Liberia before losing to the hosts and failing to progress to the next round.

Central African Republic entered the 1974 African Cup of Nations qualification for the first time, progressing due to Gabon's withdrawal but were then eliminated 5–4 on aggregate by Ivory Coast, a tie which saw the second leg abandoned at half-time after arguments between players of both sides, forcing a replay in Lagos which Ivory Coast won 5–1.

They took part in 1984 UDEAC Cup where they qualified to the knock-out rounds on goal-difference over Equatorial Guinea but were then heavily beaten by Cameroon 7–1 before beating Gabon on penalties to finish third. However in the 1988 UDEAC Cup, Gabon would get their revenge, beating Central African Republic in the semi-finals. The following year Central African Republic would host the 1989 UDEAC Cup, making it to the finals, beating Gabon on the way, before losing 2–1 to Cameroon.

During the 1990s, Central African Republic played very few international games, withdrawing from the 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification without playing a match. They returned to competition in the UNIFAC Cup in 1999, winning three times and losing twice to finish second.

Central African Republic participated in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers for the first time, losing in the first round to Zimbabwe. They reached the final of the inaugural CEMAC Cup, losing to an amateur Cameroon team that they'd drawn with a week earlier in the tournament.

In 2009, Central African Republic hosted the 2009 CEMAC Cup where they defeated Equatorial Guinea 3–0 in the final, with goals from Salif Kéïta and a brace from Hilaire Momi to claim their first trophy.

During the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Central African Republic achieved a historic 2–0 home victory over the top seeded Algeria, a team that had recently competed at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In July 2011, they climbed to 89th place in the FIFA world rankings, having occupied 202nd place as recently as August 2010.

On 2 June 2012, they obtained their first victory in World Cup qualification, beating Botswana 2–0 at home. Despite that positive result, Central African Republic finished bottom of their group. On 15 June 2012, despite being reduced to ten men, they achieved another impressive victory, beating Egypt 3–2 in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, inflicting the first home defeat on the Egyptians in AFCON qualifiers since 1965. Thanks to a 1–1 draw at home in the second leg, Central African Republic eliminated the Egyptians, but in the second round they were defeated by Burkina Faso.

On 30 March 2021, in the last group stage match of the Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Central African Republic lost 1–0 at home against Mauritania to finish bottom of their group; hence, they missed the opportunity, had they won, to finish second which would have qualified them for the final tournament for the first time in their history.[5]

On 17 June 2023, Central African Republic needed a win at home against Angola on matchday 5 of the qualifications to secure their first ever participation in the Africa Cup of Nations;[6] however, the match ended in a 2–1 defeat and a drop to third place.[7] In the final group stage match, the national team lost 2–1 to Ghana, despite a 1–0 lead, which ended their last hope of qualification.[8]

The following players were selected for the 2023 AFCON qualification match against Ghana on 7 September 2023.[9]

Caps and goals as of 7 September 2023, after the match against Ghana.[10]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Geoffrey Lembet	(1988-09-03) 3 September 1988	37	0	Rennes
22	1GK	Marcellin Biandao	(1992-10-29) 29 October 1992	0	0	TP USCA
16	1GK	Saturnin Ngarsouna		0	0	Unknown
5	2DF	Sadock Ndobé	(1998-09-09) 9 September 1998	19	0	Tempête Mocaf
3	2DF	Flory Yangao	(2002-01-13) 13 January 2002	19	0	Olympic Real de Bangui
4	2DF	Freeman Niamathé	(1999-03-12) 12 March 1999	15	0	Red Star Bangui
21	2DF	Peter Guinari	(2001-06-02) 2 June 2001	14	0	Wiltz 71
12	2DF	Sidney Dambakizi	(1996-03-07) 7 March 1996	5	0	Anges de Fatima
13	2DF	Raphael Marc Yapende	(2002-08-20) 20 August 2002	4	0	Olympic Real de Bangui
14	2DF	Severin Tatolna	(2002-02-10) 10 February 2002	1	0	Umeå
7	3MF	Tresór Toropité	(1994-07-31) 31 July 1994	21	3	AS Otohô
6	3MF	Amos Youga	(1992-12-08) 8 December 1992	18	0	CSKA Sofia
24	3MF	Brad Pirioua	(2000-03-06) 6 March 2000	8	0	Istres
11	3MF	Vénuste Baboula	(1998-08-23) 23 August 1998	5	0	Quevilly-Rouen
23	3MF	Axel Urie	(1999-04-14) 14 April 1999	4	0	Concarneau
20	3MF	Goduine Koyalipou	(2000-02-15) 15 February 2000	1	0	Beveren
	3MF	Gabriel Oualengbe	(2004-05-21) 21 May 2004	0	0	Paris FC
	3MF	Privat Steve Bekain-Noudjoumadji		0	0	Olympic Real de Bangui
9	4FW	Louis Mafouta	(1994-07-02) 2 July 1994	21	11	Quevilly-Rouen
10	4FW	Karl Namnganda	(1996-02-08) 8 February 1996	12	2	La Roche Vendée
17	4FW	Lobi Manzoki	(1996-10-12) 12 October 1996	4	0	Dalian Pro
15	4FW	Eleoenai Tompte	(1999-01-18) 18 January 1999	4	0	Siegendorf
8	4FW	Marco Majouga	(2001-05-09) 9 May 2001	1	0	Botev Vratsa
19	4FW	Juste Koulou	(2000-11-28) 28 November 2000	0	0	TP USCA

The following players have also been called up to the Central African Republic squad within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Alladoum Kolimba	(1987-08-11) 11 August 1987	3	0	Katsina United	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
GK	Dominique Youfeigane	(2000-02-07) 7 February 2000	3	0	Guingamp	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
DF	Thibault Ban	(1996-08-13) 13 August 1996	17	0	Anges de Fatima	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
DF	Noah Ato-Zandanga	(2003-07-05) 5 July 2003	4	0	Santanyí	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
DF	Donald Guesset	(1996-01-11) 11 January 1996	3	0	Anges de Fatima	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
DF	Tony Biakolo	(2006-08-27) 27 August 2006	1	0	Toulouse	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
DF	Dylan Mboumbouni	(1996-02-20) 20 February 1996	8	0	Mioveni	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023 INJ
DF	Cyriaque Mayounga	(2000-10-04) 4 October 2000	2	0	Free agent	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023 PRE
DF	Riphat Pounayo	(1997-11-03) 3 November 1997	0	0	Anges de Fatima	v.  Madagascar, 28 March 2023
MF	Geoffrey Kondogbia	(1993-02-15) 15 February 1993	13	2	Marseille	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
MF	Samuel Nlend	(1995-03-15) 15 March 1995	6	1	Bisha	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
MF	Jacob Youmbi	(1994-04-01) 1 April 1994	5	0	Naft Al-Basra	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
MF	Yassan Ouatching	(1998-11-28) 28 November 1998	3	0	Hearts of Oak	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023
MF	Isaac Ngoma	(2002-12-09) 9 December 2002	11	3	Prison Leopards	v.  Madagascar, 28 March 2023
MF	Donald Benamna	(1996-09-14) 14 September 1996	3	0	NCHFC	v.  Madagascar, 28 March 2023
FW	Georgino M'Vondo	(1997-08-12) 12 August 1997	11	0	Biesheim	v.  Angola, 17 June 2023 PRE
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.