History
Gabon made its debut in April 1960 by entering the L'Amitié tournament for French-speaking countries, held in Madagascar. They played in the first round on 13 April against the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), who were also making their debut, and lost 5-4. They did not play another match until the next time the tournament was staged, in April 1963 in Senegal. and were drawn in a group with the Upper Volta, France's amateur team, and the Gambia. They opened on 11 April by defeating the Upper Volta 4-0, and then lost 3-0 to the French team two days later. On 15 April, Gabon drew 2-2 against the Gambia and was knocked out.
After the 1962 tournament in Senegal, Gabon did not play a match until August 1965, when they hosted two friendlies against Nigeria, drawing 2-2 on 28 August and losing 4-1 the next day. In 1967, Gabon entered qualification for the football at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Japan, and was drawn in a two-legged qualifier versus Guinea. They drew the first leg 0-0 at home on 18 June but lost 6-1 away on 9 July and were knocked out.
Following the Olympic qualifiers, Gabon played a friendly in Dahomey (now Benin) on 24 August 1969 and lost 1-0. In November 1970 they entered their first African Cup of Nations qualifier for the 1972 tournament in Ethiopia and were put into a two-legged qualifier versus the Ivory Coast. Gabon lost their home leg 2-1 on 8 November, and after losing 1-0 on 22 November in the Ivory Coast were knocked out. On 19 June 1971, Gabon hosted a qualifier for the football at the 1972 Summer Olympics in West Germany, and were knocked out after losing 3-2 to Cameroon.
In 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon shocked Cameroon 1-0, but failed to progress after a loss to Zambia. In 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, they won all their group matches: 2-0 against Niger, 3-2 against Morocco, and 1-0 against Tunisia. Eventually they lost 5-4 in penalties (1-1 a.e.t) in the quarterfinal against Mali, after a penalty missed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese team participate in the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers with Niger, Burkina Faso, and Congo. For the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Gabon has been drawn to qualify against Togo.
Read more about this topic: Gabon National Football Team
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