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 Souleymane Sacko
Most caps Kassaly Daouda (65)
Top scorer Moussa Maâzou (13)
Home stadium Stade Seyni Kountché
FIFA code NIG
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 105 Decrease 2 (20 September 2018)
Highest 68 (November 1994)
Lowest 196 (August 2002)
Elo ranking
Current 133 Increase 1 (30 August 2018)
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[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

Head-to-Head Records against other countries

As of 4 July 2017
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 15 3 5 7 17 24 −7
 Botswana 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2
 Burundi 1 1 0 0 3 1 +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
35 Countries162353592145295−150
  • Niger beat Burkina Faso 1–0 in a match played on 27 July 2013, but because of losing the first match 1–0, this match went to extra time and then the penalties. Niger lost 6–5 on penalties, but under the FIFA rules, this match counts as a win.
  • Match versus Libya in November 2010 finished 1–1, after which Niger lost 4–1 in penalty shootout. Under the rules of association football and the official European Championship tournament regulations, a loss inflicted via a penalty shootout does not count as a defeat, but rather a tie which needed a final process to determine the team which advances.

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

2017

2018

2019

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the friendly match against Uganda.

Caps and goals updated as of 2 June 2018, after the game against Uganda.[15]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Losseny Doumbia (1992-04-05) 5 April 1992 2 0 Niger FAN
16 1GK Kassaly Daouda (1983-08-19) 19 August 1983 65 0 Niger Nigelec
4 2DF Mahamadou Souley (1995-02-18) 18 February 1995 10 0 Niger GNN
5 2DF Abdoul Garba (1991-12-23) 23 December 1991 3 0 Niger AS Douanes
8 2DF Kourouma Fatoukouma (1994-12-29) 29 December 1994 31 1 Finland MuSa
15 2DF Boureima Katakoré (1993-03-26) 26 March 1993 24 0 Lebanon safa
19 2DF Khaido Assadeh (1997-06-28) 28 June 1997 2 0 Niger AS Douanes
22 2DF Abdoulaye Doudou (1998-09-25) 25 September 1998 2 0 Portugal Leixões
11 3MF Amadou Wonkoye (1994-05-19) 19 May 1994 16 0 Guinea Horoya
12 3MF Souleymane Sacko (1987-08-01) 1 August 1987 45 3 Niger GNN
17 3MF Mahamane Cissé (1993-12-27) 27 December 1993 23 4 Greece Aiginiakos
18 3MF Ousmane Diabaté (1994-07-09) 9 July 1994 1 0 Saudi Arabia Al-Batin
23 3MF Boubacar Magid (1994-05-10) 10 May 1994 3 0 Sudan Al-Merrikh
2 4FW Moussa Maâzou (1988-08-25) 25 August 1988 47 12 France Ajaccio
6 4FW Youssouf Oumarou (1993-02-16) 16 February 1993 24 1 Niger FAN
7 4FW Modibo Sidibé (1992-06-03) 3 June 1992 18 4 Morocco MC Oudja
9 4FW Kamilou Daouda (1987-12-29) 29 December 1987 35 10 Cameroon Coton Sport
13 4FW Victorien Adebayor (1996-11-12) 12 November 1996 18 6 Ghana Inter Allies

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Niger in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
DF Koffi Dan Kowa (1989-09-19) 19 September 1989 61 3 v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017
DF Tijani Ganiyu (1991-09-08) 8 September 1991 5 0 Niger Olympic Niamey v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017
DF Ibrahim Mansour (1994-01-01) 1 January 1994 0 0 Niger AS Police v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017
MF Amadou Moutari (1994-01-19) 19 January 1994 22 0 Hungary Ferencvárosi v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017
MF Amadou Moussa Soumana (1989-03-02) 2 March 1989 0 0 Niger AS GNN v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017
FW Idrissa Halidou (1982-07-03) 3 July 1982 10 2 Niger AS GNN v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017
FW Hinsa Issoufou (1991-09-14) 14 September 1991 3 0 Niger Sahel SC v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017
FW Boubacar Hainikoye (1989-10-07) 7 October 1989 2 1 Niger US GN v.  Mauritania, 5 September 2017

DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
RET Player has retired from international football.
SUS Suspended from the national team.

List of coaches

References

  1. ↑ Orange 2012 Afcon qualifiers :130 Million FCFA for the Menas Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine.. 22/05/2011 StarAfrica sports.
  2. ↑ Menas to test Pharaohs form. Confederation of African Football. 10-09-2010
  3. ↑ Dama Gazelle Nanger dama. Sahara Conservation Fund, 2007, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Project MENA is dedicated to assisting MENA, the Niger national soccer team. The project aimed to raise enough money to send the team to compete for the 2010 African Cup in Angola". Archived from the original on 2008-04-26.
  5. ↑ "Announcement about Dan Anghelescu becoming the manager of Niger". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. (French)
  6. ↑ FACTBOX-Soccer-Factbox on African Nations Cup finalists Niger. 2012-01-18, Reuters.
  7. ↑ CHAN 2011 : Un Niger héroïque mais éliminé par le Soudan – Football/CHAN 2011 – RFI 2011-02-19
  8. ↑ "Niger in historic qualification despite Cairo loss". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  9. ↑ Fixtures, results and tables for the qualifiers for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. BBC Sport.
  10. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16803984
  11. ↑ http://www.mtnfootball.com/africa/african-tournaments/2013-afcon-qualifiers/
  12. ↑ http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=263428
  13. ↑ http://shakhtar.com/en/news/31806
  14. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/friendlies/season=2014/matches/round=2000374/match=2014301/index.html
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ "Martial named Niger coach". BBC News. 26 November 2002.
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