Niger national football team

Niger
Nickname(s) Ménas
Association Fédération Nigerienne de Football
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach François Zahoui
Captain Moussa Maâzou
Home stadium Stade Seyni Kountché
FIFA code NIG
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 128 Steady (24 November 2016)
Highest 68 (November 1994)
Lowest 196 (August 2002)
Elo ranking
Current 121
Highest 103 (July 1991)
Lowest 146 (December 1980)
First international
 Niger 2–2 Chad 
(Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 25 December 1961)
Biggest win
 Niger 7–1 Mauritania 
(Niamey, Niger; 12 October 1990)
Biggest defeat
 Congo 10–0 Niger Niger
(Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 27 December 1961)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances 2 (first in 2012)
Best result Group stage, 2012 and 2013

The Niger national football team, nicknamed the Menas,[1][2] represents Niger in international association football through the Fédération Nigerienne de Football (FNFB), a member of Confederation of African Football (CAF). Niger plays in the colors of the flag of Niger, white, green and orange. Their nickname comes from the Dama Gazelle, native to Niger, the Hausa name of which is Meyna or Ménas[3] The Dama appears on their badge in the colors of the national flag.

History

Although one of the weaker sides in the strong West Africa region, Niger has produced a couple of noteworthy runs in qualifying tournaments.

One of their best performances was in the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in which Niger eliminated Somalia and Togo on the away goals rule, but were beaten by Algeria in the third round where only eight teams were left. Notable players in this run included Jacques Komlan, Hassane Adamou and Moussa Kanfideni.

In 1990, they set a record by thrashing Mauritania 7–1 in continental qualifiers, the highest positive score margin for the Mena.

In the 2004 African Nations Cup qualifiers, Niger won all their home games (including a win over Guinea) to finish on nine points, just three short of qualification.

The Niger squad is also plagued by financial concerns, which have caused them to withdraw from international tournaments on more than one occasion. The Fédération Nigerienne de Football (FNFB) would have turned to fundraising to pay for their trip to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola, had they qualified.[4]

In June 2008, Romanian coach Dan Anghelescu[5] took over as team manager from Hamey Amadou, who was dismissed. Anghelescu had been coaching in Africa since 1999, training teams from Algeria, Tunisia and Burkina Faso. On 19 December 2008, Anghelescu was dismissed after a disastrous six-month spell. Former Niger U-17 coach Frederic Costa was appointed the new head coach of the Niger national side. Harouna Doula Gabde, a former Nigerien international, succeeded them in 2009.[6]

On 10 October 2010, Niger earned a shock 1–0 win over Egypt at home in the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualification.

Despite a failed run for ACON 2010, Niger hosted and won the UEMOA Tournament in November 2010, and followed up with their first ever qualification for the African Nations Championship in February 2011.[7]

After home wins—as well as away losses—over South Africa and Sierra Leone, on 8 October 2011 Niger qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in its history, despite losing 3–0 in Egypt.[8][9] Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone all ended with nine points, but Niger qualified thanks to their superior head-to-head record against their rivals.

At the 2012 African Cup of Nations, Niger was placed in Group C alongside co-hosts Gabon, Tunisia and Morocco. In their opening match, Niger lost 2–0 to Gabon, while against Tunisia in Libreville, Niger trailed 1–0 on an early goal from Youssef Msakni in which he dribbled his way through for a fine goal after just four minutes. William N'Gounou, however, then made history by scoring Niger's first ever goal at the African Cup of Nations. A 1–1 draw looked likely, but Issam Jemâa's goal would eliminate Niger from the tournament. In the final match, Niger faced Morocco in a match featuring two sides already eliminated from the tournament. Younès Belhanda scored on an assist from Marouane Chamakh just 11 minutes from time to give Morocco a 1–0 victory.[10]

Later in 2012, Niger repeated its success in African Nations Cup qualifiers by beating Guinea in a two-legged series to qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Guinea won the first match 1–0, but Niger won 2–0 in the second leg. Goalscorers Mohamed Chikoto and Issoufou Boubacar had sent Niger to another African Cup of Nations tournament.[11]

In their first match at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Niger lost to Mali (1–0) at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. Mali captain Seydou Keita handed his nation the hard-fought victory five minutes before the end of the encounter. Niger then earned their first point ever at the African Cup of nations after holding DR Congo to a 0–0 draw. In the third match, Ghana outclassed Niger 3–0 to reach the quarter-finals as Group B winners.[12] Niger finished bottom of the group.

On 22 May 2014, Niger played a friendly match against Ukraine, marking the first ever match against a European nation. Oumarou Bale scored in the 56th minute, cancelling out a 20th-minute goal from Ivan Ordets before Ukraine won on a goal from Taras Stepanenko as the match finished 2–1.[13][14]

Competition records

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1974 Did not enter
1978 to 1982 Did not qualify
Mexico 1986 Withdrew
Italy 1990 Did not enter
United States 1994 Did not qualify
France 1998 Withdrew
South Korea Japan 2002 Did not enter
2006 to 2018 Did not qualify
Qatar 2022 To be determined
Total 0/20

Africa Cup of Nations record

African Cup of Nations record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
1957 to 1968 Did not enter
1970 to 1972 Did not qualify
Egypt 1974 Withdrew
Ethiopia 1976 Did not qualify
1978 to 1980 Withdrew
Libya 1982 Did not enter
Ivory Coast 1984 Did not qualify
1986 to 1990 Did not enter
1992 to 1994 Did not qualify
South Africa 1996 Withdrew during qualifying
Burkina Faso 1998 Disqualified for withdrawing in 1996
2000 to 2010 Did not qualify
Gabon Equatorial Guinea 2012 Group Stage 15th 3 0 0 3 1 5
South Africa 2013 Group Stage 15th 3 0 1 2 0 4
Equatorial Guinea 2015 Did not qualify
Gabon 2017 Did not qualify
Cameroon2019 To be determined
Total 2 Group Stages 2/30 6 0 1 5 1 9
Niger national team against Morocco, February 09, 2011

Head-to-Head Records against other countries

As of 23 May 2014
Opponent Games Wins Draws Losses Goals For Goals Against Goal Differential
 Algeria 5 1 0 4 1 14 −13
 Angola 2 0 0 2 2 5 −3
 Benin 13 3 4 6 16 20 −4
 Botswana 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2
 Burkina Faso* 15 3 5 7 13 22 −9
 Cameroon 3 0 1 2 0 4 −4
 Chad 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
 Congo 4 0 1 3 3 10 −7
 DR Congo 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
 Ivory Coast 12 0 2 10 9 28 −19
 Egypt 4 1 0 3 1 7 −6
 Equatorial Guinea 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
 Ethiopia 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1
 Gabon 6 1 0 5 5 13 −8
 Gambia 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
 Ghana 11 0 1 10 4 38 −34
 Guinea 7 3 0 4 8 11 −3
 Lesotho 2 1 0 1 3 3 0
 Liberia 7 3 1 3 7 10 −3
 Libya* 4 0 3 1 4 8 −4
 Mali 8 1 2 5 4 10 −6
 Mauritania 5 3 2 0 10 3 +7
 Morocco 6 1 0 5 2 15 −13
 Namibia 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1
 Nigeria 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6
 Senegal 5 1 1 3 3 6 −3
 Sierra Leone 6 3 0 3 11 15 −4
 Somalia 2 0 2 0 1 1 0
 South Africa 2 1 0 1 2 3 −1
 Togo 9 3 3 3 13 14 −1
 Tunisia 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1
 Uganda 4 1 1 2 4 5 −1
 Ukraine 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1
 United Arab Emirates 1 0 0 1 0 4 −4
34 Countries 159 34 34 91 141 290 −149

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Template:Footballbox collapisble

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Senegal in March 2016.

Caps & goals as of 29 March 2016.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Kassaly Daouda (1983-08-19) August 19, 1983 60 0 Niger Nigelec
1GK Moussa Alzouma (1982-09-30) September 30, 1982 7 0 Niger GNN
1GK Issa Losseiny (1992-04-05) April 5, 1992 0 0 Niger AS FAN
2DF Koffi Dan Kowa (1989-09-19) September 19, 1989 58 3 Georgia (country) Dila Gori
2DF Mohamed Chikoto (1989-02-28) February 28, 1989 47 2 Algeria ASM Oran
2DF Mohamed Soumaïla (1994-10-30) October 30, 1994 34 0 France Noisy-le-Sec
2DF Kourouma Fatoukouma (1984-07-11) July 11, 1984 28 1 Finland Musan Salama
2DF Amadou Kader (1989-04-05) April 5, 1989 25 0 India Minerva
2DF Abdoulaye Katkoré (1993-03-26) March 26, 1993 21 0 Niger AS FAN
2DF Mahamadou Souley (1995-02-18) February 18, 1995 7 0 Niger GNN
3MF Karim Lancina (1987-03-20) March 20, 1987 52 1 France Thaon
3MF Souleymane Sacko (captain) (1987-08-01) August 1, 1987 37 3 Niger GNN
3MF Ali Mohamed (1995-08-07) August 7, 1995 24 0 Israel Maccabi Netanya
3MF Amadou Wonkoye (1994-05-19) May 19, 1994 12 1 Unattached
3MF Olivier Bonnes (1990-02-07) February 7, 1990 12 0 South Korea Gwangju FC
3MF Hassane Djibó (1992-06-06) June 6, 1992 0 0 Germany Strand 08
4FW Moussa Maâzou (1988-08-25) August 25, 1988 43 12 Denmark Randers
4FW Mahamane Cissé (1993-12-27) December 27, 1993 21 4 Republic of the Congo Léopards
4FW Amadou Moutari (1994-01-19) January 19, 1994 20 0 Russia Anzhi
4FW Adebayor Zakari Adje (1996-11-12) November 12, 1996 5 2 Niger

List of coaches

References

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