The Angola national football team

The Angola national football team (Portuguese: Selecao nacional de futebol de Angola) represents Angola in men's international football and is controlled by the Angolan Football Federation. The team made its first appearance in 2006 FIFA World Cup, the team's nickname is Palancas Negras, The team is governing body of Football in Angola in the country, The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Angola reached its highest FIFA ranking, 45th place, in July 2000. Their greatest accomplishment was qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, as this was their first appearance on the World Cup finals stage.

History

Angola played their first game against Congo on 8 February 1976, losing 3–2. On 26 June 1977, Cuba became Angola's first non-African opponent when the two countries met in Angola, with Angola winning 1–0. Angola entered World Cup qualifying for the first time in the 1986 qualifying competition. Angola defeated Senegal on penalties in the first round before narrowly losing to Algeria 3–2 on aggregate in the second round.

Angola qualified for their first Africa Cup of Nations in 1996. They were drawn in Group A with South Africa, Egypt and Cameroon. They lost their first two games to Egypt and South Africa, but managed a 3–3 draw against Cameroon. They finished bottom of the group and did not reach the second round. Angola then qualified for their second successive African Cup of Nations in 1998, but again failed to reach the second round, drawing 0–0 with South Africa and 3–3 with Namibia, and losing 5–2 to Ivory Coast.

After missing the last 3 tournaments, they qualified for the 2006 African Nations Cup. They recorded their first African Cup of Nations win against Togo, winning 3–2, two goals coming from Flavio and the other coming from Maurito. They also drew 0–0 against Congo DR and lost 3–1 against Cameroon. Angola's best performance then came in the 2008 African Nations Cup. They were drawn in Group D with Tunisia, South Africa and Senegal. They d