Central African Republic national football team

The Central African Republic national football team (French: Équipe de République centrafricaine de football), nicknamed Les Fauves, is the national team of the Central African Republic and is controlled by the Central African Football Federation. They are a member of CAF. Despite being traditionally one of the weakest teams in Africa and the world, they have had some success. They won the 2009 CEMAC Cup by beating Gabon in the semi-finals and Equatorial Guinea in the final 3–0. Their FIFA ranking rose from 202nd in August 2010 to 89th by July 2011. On 10 October 2010, they earned a shock 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier win at home against Algeria 2–0, which put them top of their qualification group. The team won its first FIFA World Cup qualifier on 2 June 2012 after beating Botswana 2–0 at home.

History

Early years (1956–1989)

thumb|Central African Republic Team in 1972

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.

Sporadic matches (1990–2008)

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.

Promising victories (2009–2019)

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.

Missed opportunities (2020–present)

thumb|150px|right|[[Hugo Gambor played his first game for the Central African Republic in 2024]]

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.

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; however, the match ended in a 2–1 defeat and a drop to third place. 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.

FIFA Series tournament

In 2024, Central African Republic played their first ever tournament outside Africa where FIFA invited them to the 2024 FIFA Series matches on from 22 to 25 March 2024 held in Colombo in Sri Lanka where they would face Bhutan and Papua New Guinea.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

2026

Coaching history

:Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Evgeni Rogov (1973–1976)
Étienne Momokoamas (2004–2006)
Francois Yanguere (2006–2008)
Jules Accorsi (2010–2012)
Herve Lougoundji (2012–2014)
Raoul Savoy (2014–2015)
Blaise Kopogo (2015)
Herve Lougoundji (2015–2017)
Raoul Savoy (2017–2019)
François Zahoui (2019–2021)
Raoul Savoy (2021–2024)
Eloge Enza Yamissi (2024–25)
Rigobert Song (2025-)

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the friendly matches against Togo and Angola in June 2026.

Caps and goals as of 12 October 2025, after the match against Chad.

Recent call-ups

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

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.

Records

:Players in bold are still active with Central African Republic.

Most appearances

200px|right|thumb|Foxi Kéthévoama is Central African Republic's most-capped player with 48 appearances.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:175px;"|Player

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Goals

! style="width:100px;"|Career

| 1 ||align=left| Norman Bokanda || 56|| 0 || ?–2008

| 2 ||align=left| Foxi Kéthévoama || 49 || 8 || 2002–2021

| 3 ||align=left| Geoffrey Lembet || 42 || 0 || 2010–present

| 4 ||align=left| Flory Yangao || 39 || 0 || 2021–present

| 5 ||align=left| Franklin Anzité || 37 || 0 || 2010–2019

| rowspan=2|6 ||align=left| Sadock Ndobé || 36 || 0 || 2017–present

|align=left| Nicaise Zimbori-Auzingoni || 36 || 2 || 2011–2018

| rowspan=4|8 ||align=left| Louis Mafouta || 33 || 16 || 2017–present

|align=left| Hilaire Momi || 33 || 10 || 2007–2018

|align=left| Saint-Cyr Ngam Ngam || 33 || 0 || 2015–2022

|align=left| Trésor Toropité || 33 || 6 || 2013–present

Top goalscorers

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:175px;"|Player

!width=50px|Goals

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Ratio

! style="width:100px;"|Career

| 1 ||align=left| Louis Mafouta || 16 || 33 || || 2017–present

| 2 ||align=left| Hilaire Momi || 15|| 33 || || 2007–2018

| 3 ||align=left| Foxi Kéthévoama || 8 || 49 || || 2002–2021

| 4 ||align=left| Tresór Toropité || 6 || 33 || || 2014–present

| rowspan=2|5 ||align=left| Karl Namnganda || 5 || 27 || || 2021–present

|align=left| Vianney Mabidé || 5 || 30 || || 2010–2020

| rowspan=3|7 || align=left| Moussa Limane || 4 || 13 || || 2013–2017

|align=left| Vénuste Baboula || 4 || 20 || || 2023–present

|align=left| Junior Gourrier || 4 || 27 || || 2007–2021

|rowspan=4|10 ||align=left| Tieri Godame || 3 || 6 || || 2024–present

|align=left| Isaac Ngoma || 3 || 18 || || 2021–present

|align=left| Geoffrey Kondogbia || 3 || 22 || || 2018–present

|align=left| Salif Kéïta || 3 || 31 || || 2007–2021

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;" width="100%"

! colspan="9" style="color:white; background:#003082;" |FIFA World Cup record

! rowspan="50" style="width:1%;background:white" |

! colspan="6" style="color:white; background:#003082;" |FIFA World Cup qualification record

! width="15%" |Year

! width="15%" |Round

! width="5%" |Position

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |*

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |*

! width="5%" |

| 1930

| colspan="8" rowspan="7" |Not a FIFA member

| colspan="6" rowspan="7" |Not a FIFA member

| 1934

| 1938

| 1950

| 1954

| 1958

| 1962

| 1966

| colspan="8" rowspan="3" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" rowspan="3" |Did not enter

| 1970

| 1974

| 1978

|colspan=8|Withdrew

|colspan=6|Withdrew

| 1982

|colspan=8|Disqualified during qualifying

|colspan=6|Disqualified during qualifying

| 1986

| colspan="8" rowspan="4" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" rowspan="4" |Did not enter

| 1990

| 1994

| 1998

|colspan=8|Did not qualify

| 2006

|colspan=8 rowspan=2|Withdrew

|colspan=6 rowspan=2|Withdrew

| 2010

| 2014

| colspan="8" rowspan="4" |Did not qualify

|12

| 2018

| 2022

| 2026

|10

|11

|24

| 2030

| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |To be determined

| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |To be determined

| 2034

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |Total

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |–

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |–

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |26

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |4

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |18

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |23

!style="color:white; background:#003082;" |54

Africa Cup of Nations

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;" width="100%"

! colspan="9" style="color:white; background:#003082;" |Africa Cup of Nations record

! rowspan="41" style="width:1%;background:white" |

! colspan="6" style="color:white; background:#003082;" |Africa Cup of Nations qualification record

! width="15%" |Year

! width="15%" |Round

! width="5%" |Position

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |*

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |*

! width="5%" |

| 1957|| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |Part of France

| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |Part of France

| 1959

| 1962|| colspan="8" rowspan="4" |Not affiliated to CAF

| colspan="6" rowspan="4" |Not affiliated to CAF

| 1963

| 1965

| 1968

| 1970|| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |Did not enter

| 1972

| 1974|| colspan="8" |Did not qualify

|2||1||0||1||5||6

| 1976|| colspan="8" |Withdrew

| colspan="6" |Withdrew

| 1978|| colspan="8" rowspan="5" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" rowspan="5" |Did not enter

| 1980

| 1982

| 1984

| 1986

| 1988|| colspan="8" |Did not qualify

|2||0||0||2||2||7

| 1990|| colspan="8" rowspan="3" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" rowspan="3" |Did not enter

| 1992

| 1994

| 1996|| colspan="8" |Withdrew

| colspan="6" |Withdrew

| 1998|| colspan="8" |Disqualified

| colspan="6" |Disqualified

| 2000|| colspan="8" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" |Did not enter

| 2002|| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |Did not qualify

|2||0||1||1||1||3

| 2004

|6||0||2||4||3||9

| 2006|| colspan="8" |Withdrew

| colspan="6" |Withdrew

| 2008|| colspan="8" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" |Did not enter

| 2010|| colspan="8" |Withdrew

| colspan="6" |Withdrew

| 2012|| colspan="8" rowspan="8" |Did not qualify

|6||2||2||2||5||5

| 2013

|4||2||1||1||6||6

| 2015

|2||0||1||1||1||3

| 2017

|6||3||1||2||9||11

| 2019

|6||1||3||2||4||8

| 2021

|6||1||1||4||5||11

| 2023

|6||2||1||3||9||7

| 2025

|14

| 2027

| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |To be determined

| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |To be determined

| 2029

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |Total

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |–

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |–

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |54

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |13

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |28

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |53

! style="background:#003082; color:white;" |90

African Nations Championship

{| class="wikitable" width="100%" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

! colspan="9" style="color:white; background:#003082;" |African Nations Championship record

! rowspan="33" style="width:1%;background:white" |

! colspan="6" style="color:white; background:#003082;" |African Nations Championship qualification record

! width="15%" |Year

! width="15%" |Round

! width="5%" |Position

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |*

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |*

! width="5%" |

| 2009

| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |Did not enter

| 2011

| 2014

| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |Withdrew

| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |Withdrew

| 2016

| 2018

| colspan="8" |Disqualified

| colspan="6" |Disqualified

| 2020

| colspan="8" rowspan="2" |Did not qualify

| 2022

| 2024

|Group stage

|18th

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |Total

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |Group stage

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |4

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |0

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |1

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |3

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |2

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |7

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |6

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |2

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |0

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |4

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |5

! style="color:white; background:#003082;" |10

Head-to-head record

As of 12 October 2025 after match against Chad

{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align: center"

!width=220|Opponent

!width=100|Pld

!width=70|W

!width=70|D

!width=70|L

!width=100|GF

!width=100|GA

!width=120|GD

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 5 || −3

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 5 || 8 || −3

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 6 || 0 || +6

|- bgcolor=FFFACD

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 4 || 3 || +1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 6 || 1 || 1 || 4 || 6 || 13 || −7

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 4 || 2 || +2

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 9 || 2 || 1 || 6 || 14 || 26 || −12

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || −1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 10 || 6 || 1 || 3 || 16 || 12 || +4

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 6 || −4

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 14 || 1 || 1 || 12 || 12 || 33 || −21

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 9 || 1 || 1 || 7 || 8 || 30 || −22

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 6 || 11 || −5

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 4 || 3 || +1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 4 || −3

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 15 || 3 || 4 || 8 || 13 || 23 || −10

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 || −1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 0 || 1 || 3 || 5 || 12 || –7

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 5 || −2

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 3 || −2

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 5 || 1 || 1 || 3 || 5 || 19 || −14

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 2 || +1

|- bgcolor=FFFACD

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 3 || 2 || +1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 3 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 5 || −3

|- bgcolor=FFFACD

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 10 || 4 || 2 || 4 || 15 || 16 || –1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 5 || 8 || −3

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || −1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 1 || 6 || −5

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 7 || 0 || 2 || 5 || 1 || 19 || −18

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || −2

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 0 || +2

|- bgcolor=FFFACD

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || −1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 4 || 10 || −6

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 0 || +4

|- bgcolor=CCFFCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 5 || 1 || +4

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 3 || −3

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 5 || −5

|- bgcolor=FFFACD

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 4 || 6 || −2

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || −1

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 3 || −3

|- bgcolor=FFCCCC

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 4 || −3

|- class="sortbottom"

! Total || 159 || 34 || 33 || 94 || 173 || 313 || −140

FIFA ranking history

End of each year only

Honours

Regional

CEMAC Cup
Champions (1): 2009
Runners-up (1): 2003
UNIFAC Cup
Runners-up (1): 1999

Central African Republic national football team

History

Early years (1956–1989)

Sporadic matches (1990–2008)

Promising victories (2009–2019)

Missed opportunities (2020–present)

FIFA Series tournament

Results and fixtures

2025

2026

Coaching history

Players

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Records

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Africa Cup of Nations

African Nations Championship

Head-to-head record

FIFA ranking history

Honours

Regional

Friendly

Notes

References

External links