Gambia national football team

Gambia
Association	Gambia Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach	Sang Ndong
Captain	Abdou Jammeh
Home stadium	Independence Stadium
FIFA code	GAM
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	168 7 (5 November 2015)
Highest	65 (June 2009)
Lowest	169 (February 2015)
First international
	British Gambia 3–2 Senegal ; (Gambia; 5 December 1962)
Biggest win
	Gambia 6–0 Lesotho ; (Banjul, Gambia; 12 October 2002)
Biggest defeat
	Guinea 8–0 Gambia ; (Guinea; 14 May 1972)

The Gambia national football team, nicknamed The Scorpions, is the national team of the Gambia and is controlled by the Gambia Football Association. Until 1965, the team, and the country, were known as British Gambia. It has never qualified for the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

History

Under the name British Gambia, the team played their first ever game on 5 December 1962, beating neighbouring Senegal 3-2 at home in a friendly. In April 1963 the team entered the L'Amitié tournament in Senegal, a competition mainly for French-speaking nations. They were drawn in a group with France's amateur team, the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Gabon. Their first match was lost 5-1 to the French amateurs on 11 April. The Gambia drew 2-2 with the Upper Volta on 13 April, and had the same result the very next day versus Gabon. The Gambia did not advance to the next round.

After the tournament in Senegal, the Gambia did not play another match until 16 November 1968, when they travelled to Sierra Leone to play its team in a friendly and lost 2-1. They played again in Sierra Leone in the Gambia's next match on 24 April 1971 and the hosts won 3-1. On 2 May 1971 the Gambia travelled to Guinea for a friendly and lost 4-2. On 14 May 1972 the Gambia returned to Guinea for their first African Games qualifier and lost 8-0 and were knocked out.

In 1975 the Gambia entered its first qualification campaign for the football at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada. They were drawn in a qualifier against Guinea, and lost the first leg 1-0 at home on 27 April 1975. The second leg was lost 6-0 in Guinea on 1 June as Guinea advanced 7-0 on aggregate.

In August 1975, the Gambia entered their first qualification for the African Cup of Nations, with the aim of reaching the 1976 finals in Ethiopia. They were drawn in a two-legged qualifier against Morocco and lost the first leg 3-0 away on 10 August. They lost by the same score in their home leg on 24 August and Morocco advanced 6-0 on aggregate.

After the qualification campaign for the 1976 finals, the Gambia played their first match against a full European side, losing a home friendly 4-1 to Denmark on 30 January 1977.^[1]

The Gambia's most famous player is Biri Biri, who starred for Sevilla FC in the 1970s.

In May 2014, The Gambia was banned from all CAF completions for two years after deliberately falsifying players' ages.^[2]

Gambia Football Achievements

Amilcar Cabral Cup :

3 Times Runners-up

World Cup record

1930 to 1978 – Did not enter
1982 to 1986 – Did not qualify
1990 – Did not enter
1994 – Withdrew
1998 to 2018 – Did not qualify

Africa Cup of Nations record

1957 to 1974 – Did not enter
1976 – Did not qualify
1978 – Did not enter
1980 to 1988 – Did not qualify
1990 – Withdrew
1992 – Did not qualify
1994 – Did not enter
1996 – Withdrew during qualifying
1998 – Banned for withdrawing in 1996
2000 – Withdrew
2002 to 2013 – Did not qualify
2015 – Banned

Results and Fixtures

9 October 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Gambia	1-1	Namibia	Bakau, Gambia
17:00	Jammeh 78''	[1]	Staphanus 61''	Stadium: Independence Stadium Referee: Ousamame Karembe

Current squad

The Gambia's players were called for the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualification against South Africa on 6 September 2015.^[3]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Modou Jobe	(1988-10-27) October 27, 1988 (age 36)	2	0	Real de Banjul
	1GK	Sam Jammeh	(1991-11-18) November 18, 1991 (age 33)	0	0	FF Jaro
	1GK	Alhagie Nyabally	(1991-11-15) November 15, 1991 (age 33)	0	0	Tusker F.C.

4	2DF	Abdou Jammeh	(1986-02-13) February 13, 1986 (age 38)	46	4	RoPS
4	2DF	Bubacarr Sanneh	(1994-11-14) November 14, 1994 (age 30)	2	0	AC Horsens
6	2DF	Sulayman Marreh	(1994-07-18) July 18, 1994 (age 30)	5	0	Granada CF B
13	2DF	Matarr Nyan	(1989-10-23) October 23, 1989 (age 35)	2	0	Tusker F.C.
18	2DF	Omar Colley	(1992-10-24) October 24, 1992 (age 32)	5	0	Djurgårdens IF
17	2DF	Kebba Ceesay	(1987-11-14) November 14, 1987 (age 37)	6	0	Lech Poznań
	2DF	Pa Modou Jagne	(1989-12-26) December 26, 1989 (age 35)	13	0	FC Sion
8	2DF	Ousman Koli	(1988-10-18) October 18, 1988 (age 36)	12	0	Mladost Doboj Kakanj
	2DF	Mamadou Danso	(1983-04-27) April 27, 1983 (age 41)	8	1	Carolina Railhawks

	3MF	Dawda Ngum	(1990-09-02) September 2, 1990 (age 34)			FC Höllviken
	3MF	Modou Barrow	(1992-10-03) October 3, 1992 (age 32)	1	0	Swansea City
	3MF	Sainey Nyassi	(1989-01-31) January 31, 1989 (age 35)	5	2	FC Edmonton
	3MF	Omar Jagne	(1992-06-10) June 10, 1992 (age 32)	2	0	Dalkurd FF
14	3MF	Hamza Barry	(1994-10-15) October 15, 1994 (age 30)	4	0	Hapoel Tel Aviv
15	3MF	Ebrima Sohna	(1988-12-14) December 14, 1988 (age 36)	18	2	KuPS
10	3MF	Abdoulie Mansally	(1989-01-27) January 27, 1989 (age 35)	12	0	Real Salt Lake
	3MF	Sanna Nyassi	(1989-01-31) January 31, 1989 (age 35)	7	1	San Jose Earthquakes

	4FW	Bubacarr Trawally	(1994-11-10) November 10, 1994 (age 30)			Yanbian Funde
	4FW	Pa Amat Dibba	(1987-10-15) October 15, 1987 (age 37)	1	0	GIF Sundsvall
	4FW	Ebrahim "Ibou" Savaneh	(1986-09-07) September 7, 1986 (age 38)	6	0	Waasland-Beveren
9	4FW	Assan Ceesay	(1994-03-17) March 17, 1994 (age 30)	1	0	GAMTEL

Recent Call-Ups

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Pa Dembo Touray	(1980-03-30) March 30, 1980 (age 44)	24	0	Santos
	1GK	Modou Jobe	(1988-10-27) October 27, 1988 (age 36)	2	0	Real de Banjul
1	1GK	Bubacarr Sanyang	(1994-10-21) October 21, 1994 (age 30)	3	0	Armed Forces
16	1GK	Christopher Allen	(1989-12-19) December 19, 1989 (age 35)	7	0	Gambia Ports Authority

3	2DF	Saihou Omar Saho	(1994-06-18) June 18, 1994 (age 30)	0	0	Brikama United
	2DF	Ahmed Albassam	(1986-02-13) February 13, 1986 (age 38)	25	1	Steve Biko
	2DF	Lamin Samateh	(1992-06-26) June 26, 1992 (age 32)	3	0	KuPS
	2DF	Emmanuel Gómez	(1990-12-20) December 20, 1990 (age 34)	0	0	Samger FC
	2DF	Musa Yaffa	(1994-07-15) July 15, 1994 (age 30)	0	0	Bakau United
	2DF	Pa Saikou Kujabi	(1986-12-10) December 10, 1986 (age 38)	10	0	Whitehawk
	2DF	Antou Badjan	(1995-09-13) September 13, 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Gambia Ports Authority
24	2DF	Algie Amadou Ngum	(1988-10-18) October 18, 1988 (age 36)	7	0	GAMTEL

11	3MF	Saloum Faal	(1995-11-02) November 2, 1995 (age 29)	4	1	Casa Sports
12	3MF	Mustapha Jarju	(1986-07-18) July 18, 1986 (age 38)	24	5	Irtysh Pavlodar
5	3MF	Tijan Jaiteh	(1988-12-31) December 31, 1988 (age 36)	15	1	Koper
8	3MF	Demba Savage	(1988-06-17) June 17, 1988 (age 36)	9	1	HJK
	3MF	Modou Jallow	(1995-07-26) July 26, 1995 (age 29)	1	0	Real de Banjul
19	3MF	Gregory Sambou	(1994-10-25) October 25, 1994 (age 30)	0	0	Young Africans
20	3MF	Modou Jatta	(1994-08-15) August 15, 1994 (age 30)	1	0	Steve Biko
	3MF	Yusupha Bobb	(1996-06-22) June 22, 1996 (age 28)	0	0	Banjul Hawks
	3MF	Mustapha Carayol	(1988-09-04) September 4, 1988 (age 36)	0	0	Middlesbrough
	3MF	Saihou Gassama	(1993-12-11) December 11, 1993 (age 31)	5	1	Real Zaragoza B
	3MF	Yankuba Ceesay	(1984-06-26) June 26, 1984 (age 40)	5	0	AC Kajaani
	3MF	Mamut Saine	(1993-12-31) December 31, 1993 (age 31)	0	0	Seaview F.C.
	3MF	Baboucarr Sarr	(1983-08-30) August 30, 1983 (age 41)	0	0	Unattached

2	4FW	Nuha Barrow	(1993-10-10) October 10, 1993 (age 31)	0	0	GAMTEL
7	4FW	Ebou Kanteh	(1995-02-12) February 12, 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Brikama United
21	4FW	Momodou Ceesay	(1988-12-24) December 24, 1988 (age 36)	13	5	Maccabi Netanya
23	4FW	Haruna Jammeh	(1991-06-02) June 2, 1991 (age 33)	2	1	Lombard-Pápa
	4FW	Ali Sowe	(1994-06-14) June 14, 1994 (age 30)	5	0	Pescara
	4FW	Alieu Darbo	(1992-08-03) August 3, 1992 (age 32)	0	0	MC Oran
9	4FW	Ousman Jallow	(1988-10-21) October 21, 1988 (age 36)	12	2	HJK

References

^ "Gambia - List of International Matches". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
^ "The Gambia disqualified from all Caf competitions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
^ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34075473

External links

Gambia FA

[1] "Gambia - List of International Matches". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2012-04-20.

[2] "The Gambia disqualified from all Caf competitions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2014.

[3] ttp://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34075473

[1]

[2]

[3]

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