Gabon national football team
 |
|
| Nickname(s) |
Les Panthères (The Panthers) Les Brésiliens (The Brazilians) |
|---|---|
| Association | Fédération Gabonaise de Football |
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) |
| Sub-confederation | UNIFFAC (Central Africa) |
| Head coach | José Antonio Camacho |
| Captain | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang |
| Most caps | Didier Ovono (100) |
| Top scorer | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (23) |
| Home stadium | Stade Omar Bongo |
| FIFA code | GAB |
| FIFA ranking | |
| Current | 87  21 (9 February 2017)
|
| Highest | 30 (July 2009) |
| Lowest | 125 (April–May 2003) |
| Elo ranking | |
| Current | 92  (24 February 2017)
|
| Highest | 63 (November 1996) |
| Lowest | 123 (June 2004) |
| First international | |
 Upper Volta 5–4 Gabon  (Madagascar; 13 April 1960) |
|
| Biggest win | |
 Gabon 7–0 Benin  (Libreville, Gabon; 2 April 1995) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
 Cameroon 6–0 Gabon (Abidjan, Ivory Coast; 26 December 1961)  Morocco 6–0 Gabon (Rabat, Morocco; 15 November 2006) |
|
| Africa Cup of Nations | |
| Appearances | 7 (first in 1994) |
| Best result | Quarter-finals, 1996 and 2012 |
The Gabon national football team, nicknamed Les Panthères (The Panthers) or Les Brésiliens (The Brazilians), is the national team of Gabon and is controlled by the Fédération Gabonaise de Football. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have qualified five times for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Gabon made their debut in April 1960 by entering the first Friendship Games (Jeux de L'Amitié) tournament, created for French-speaking African countries (a precursor to the modern African Games), held in Antananarivo, Madagascar. In the First Round they were drawn against Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), who were also making their debut, and lost 5–4, despite leading 3–2 at half-time. They did not play another match for over a year and a half, until the next time the tournament was staged, in December 1961 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. They were drawn in Pool 3 alongside Cameroon and Senegal. Gabon began the tournament with a 3–2 defeat to Senegal on Christmas Day, before being thrashed 6–0 by Cameroon on Boxing Day, finishing bottom of their group. A few months after the tournament, the Gabonese Football Federation (Federation Gabonaise de Football) was formed to officially oversee the development of the national team and the domestic game. The new association would not have to wait long for their first win, as in their very next match on 14 July 1962 they defeated the Congo 3–1 in their first match on home soil. They played 2 more matches in 1962, a 1–1 home draw with Cameroon in August, a vast improvement over their previous meeting, and a 3–1 away defeat to the Congo in September, before entering the third and final Friendship Games held in April 1963 in Dakar, Senegal. They were drawn in Group C, along with British Gambia, the French amateur team, and Upper Volta. They opened on 12 April with a strong 4–0 win over Upper Volta, but were comfortably beaten 3–0 by the French amateurs 2 days later. They drew their final game 2–2 with British Gambia on 16 April and finished 2nd in the group, a marked improvement over their previous 2 appearances at the tournament; however only the group winners progressed and therefore Gabon were eliminated. A few months later, Gabon entered qualification for the 1966 FIFA World Cup held in England. However, on 8 October 1964 they withdrew from the competition, along with all the other African entrants, in protest at FIFA's decision to only award 1 finals place to all of Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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