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Nickname(s) | Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks)[1] Crioulos (Creoles) | |||
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Association | Cape Verdean Football Federation | |||
Confederation | CAF (Africa) | |||
Sub-confederation | WAFU (West Africa) | |||
Head coach | Bubista | |||
Captain | Stopira | |||
Most caps | Babanco (62) | |||
Top scorer | Héldon Ramos (15)[2] | |||
Home stadium | Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde | |||
FIFA code | CPV | |||
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FIFA ranking | ||||
Current | 71 ![]() | |||
Highest | 27 (February 2014) | |||
Lowest | 182 (April 2000) | |||
First international | ||||
![]() ![]() (Guinea-Bissau; 19 April 1978) | ||||
Biggest win | ||||
![]() ![]() (Praia, Cape Verde; 13 June 2015) ![]() ![]() (San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain; 25 March 2022) | ||||
Biggest defeat | ||||
![]() ![]() (Mali; 12 February 1981) ![]() ![]() (Praia, Cape Verde; 8 October 2005) ![]() ![]() (Conakry, Guinea; 9 September 2007) ![]() ![]() (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; 14 November 2017) | ||||
Africa Cup of Nations | ||||
Appearances | 3 (first in 2013) | |||
Best result | Quarter-finals, 2013 |
The Cape Verde national football team (Portuguese: Seleção nacional de futebol de Cabo Verde) represents Cape Verde in men's international association football and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team has never qualified for FIFA World Cups but has qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, in 2013, 2015 and 2021.
Cape Verde became independent from Portugal in 1975. The national team's first international was a 1–0 defeat to Guinea on 29 May 1978, in a tournament in Guinea-Bissau.[4] The Cape Verdean Football Federation was formed in 1982, and joined FIFA in 1986.[5]
Cape Verdeans abroad, who are more numerous than the population of the islands themselves, are a major source of players for the national team. Most of Cape Verde's current international footballers play outside Cape Verde (mainly in Europe, but also in Asia), and some were born outside the islands.[6]
Several players of Cape Verdean origin have chosen to play for other national teams. These include Eliseu, Nani, Oceano, Manuel Fernandes, Rolando, Nélson Marcos, Jorge Andrade, Miguel and Silvestre Varela, who all represent Portugal, as well as Mickaël Tavares, Jacques and Ricardo Faty (Senegal), Patrick Vieira (France), Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland), Henrik Larsson (Sweden), David Mendes da Silva, Lerin Duarte, Jerson Cabral (Netherlands) and Rui (Equatorial Guinea), among other examples.
Cape Verde has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but have qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations. Its first World Cup qualifying campaign was the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, in which Cape Verde was eliminated in the first round after one draw and one defeat against Algeria.[7]
In the qualification campaign for the 2006 World Cup and the 2006 African Nations Cup, Cape Verde advanced to the Final Round after its first victory in a World Cup qualifier, beating Swaziland. In the Final Round, the team made an impression with its first-ever away victory against Burkina Faso, but finished fifth in its group and failed to qualify for either finals.[7]
Old coach João de Deus from Portugal brought in several new players from European leagues for the 2010 World Cup/2010 African Nations Cup qualifiers.[6] Cape Verde finished second in its group in the Second round, ahead of Tanzania and Mauritius, but behind Cameroon, and did not advance to the Third round. Cape Verde's top goalscorer of the qualifying campaign was Dady.
Then, finally, Cape Verde qualified for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, after stunning Cameroon 3–2 on aggregate.
On 14 October 2012, Cape Verde managed to secure their first ever berth in the Finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, when they defeated Cameroon 3–2 on aggregate score, following a 2–1 defeat to Cameroon at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé, having won the home leg 2–0 in Praia just weeks prior to their qualification.
On 24 October 2012, Cape Verde were drawn into Group A of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, alongside Angola, Morocco and the host nation South Africa. Furthermore, Cape Verde played the opening match of the tournament at Soccer City in Johannesburg, Gauteng, against South Africa on 19 January 2013 – Soccer City being the host venue for the 2010 World Cup Final. Pulled from the fourth pot during the group stage drawing of the tournament, Cape Verde actually had the highest FIFA ranking of any team in their group at the time of the drawing, ranking at 51st overall, followed by Morocco (71st), South Africa (72nd) and Angola (83rd). Cape Verde also had the 10th highest FIFA ranking in the CAF zone at the time of the drawing as well.
Cape Verde drew with South Africa 0–0 in the tournament's first match, before drawing with Morocco 1–1. Platini scored Cape Verde's first ever goal at the AFCON, who were unfortunate to let an early lead slip. They however did win their first ever AFCON match against Angola, which they won 2–1 (despite an early own goal by captain Nando Maria Neves), through the late goals from Fernando Varela and Héldon Ramos, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals, and thus reaching the last eight in their maiden appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations.
On 2 February 2013, Cape Verde faced Ghana in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Cape Verde played a good match, with 16 shots on Ghana's goal to their eight, with seven shots on target to their two, Cape Verde proved to be especially dangerous from set-pieces, however Ghana's keeper Abdul Dauda managed to keep a clean sheet making some spectacular saves, and with Mubarak Wakaso scoring a penalty kick for Ghana in the 54' minute, and then scoring again in the closing minute of the game (90+5') on an open goal, Ghana would win the match 2–0, to move on to the semi-finals, and ending Cape Verde's exceptional 2013 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.[8]
On 15 October 2014, Cape Verde became the first of two nations to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations alongside Algeria, joining the host nation Equatorial Guinea after defeating Mozambique 1–0 at home.[9] The team, under newly appointed manager Rui Águas, picked up where Lúcio Antunes left off and managed to finish in the top two of the group stage with two matches remaining to play in the qualification process, having been drawn in a group together with Mozambique, Niger and Zambia.[10] On 15 November 2014, Cape Verde secured first place in their group, finishing as Group F winners by defeating Niger 3–1 at home, with one match remaining to play for qualification.[11]
Pooled from Pot 3 on 3 December 2014, Cape Verde were drawn into Group B of the final tournament, together with Zambia, Tunisia and DR Congo. On 18 January 2015 they played their first match against Tunisia at the Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Héldon leveling the score off a penalty kick in the 78-minute. Cape Verde then drew 0–0 against DR Congo four days later, with the advancement out of the group stage depending on the final match results of both teams.[12]
Facing off against Zambia on 26 January 2015, with both teams depending on the result of the other match between Tunisia and DR Congo and having to finish with a win themselves, the match ended in 0–0 draw, leaving both Cape Verde and Zambia eliminated from the Cup.[13] Contested during a tropical storm, with 26 mm of heavy rainfall, Cape Verde exited the tournament tied with DR Congo for points and undefeated, yet losing to DR Congo on goal difference. Exhibiting good form, poise and defensive prowess, the team were only able to score one goal, while exiting at the group stage of their second appearance in the finals of the tournament, while remaining unbeaten in any Cup of Nations group stage match.[14]
Cape Verde has two titles: It hosted and won the Amílcar Cabral Cup in 2000, and won the gold medal in the football tournament at the 2009 Lusophony Games. The team also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Lusophony Games. For the first time in its history, on 2 November 2002, it faced a non-African team, Luxembourg, in a friendly, resulting in a scoreless draw. On 4 September 2009, it faced Malta in a friendly, resulting in a 2–0 victory. On 24 May 2010, Cape Verde played out a 0–0 draw in a friendly match against a full-strength Portugal.[15] At the time, Portugal was third in the FIFA rankings and Cape Verde were 117th.[16] On 31 March 2015, a second friendly against Portugal resulted in a 2–0 victory in Portugal.[17]
The team used to play their games at Estádio da Várzea. It is located in the capital city, Praia, on the Santiago Island. The stadium opened in 2006 and holds 10,000 people.
In 2014 the new stadium Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde was opened, able to host a capacity of 15,000 people. On 15 October 2014 the team qualified for their second Africa Cup of Nations at the new stadium, in a 1–0 victory over Mozambique, making them the first of all teams in CAF to qualify for the tournament.
The following matches were played or are scheduled to be played by the national team in the current or upcoming seasons.
13 November 2022 World Cup qualification | Cape Verde ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() | Mindelo, Cape Verde |
15:00 UTC−1 |
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Report |
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Stadium: Estádio Municipal Adérito Sena Referee: Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea (Ghana) |
16 November 2022 World Cup qualification | Nigeria ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Lagos, Nigeria |
17:00 UTC+1 |
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Report |
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Stadium: Teslim Balogun Stadium Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria) |
9 January 2021 Africa Cup of Nations | Ethiopia ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() | Yaoundé, Cameroon |
Report |
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Stadium: Olembe Stadium Referee: Hélder Martins Rodrigues de Carvalho (Angola) |
13 January 2021 Africa Cup of Nations | Cape Verde ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() | Yaoundé, Cameroon |
20:00 | Report |
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Stadium: Olembe Stadium Referee: Amin Omar (Egypt) |
17 January 2021 Africa Cup of Nations | Cape Verde ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Yaoundé, Cameroon |
Report | Stadium: Olembe Stadium Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia) |
25 January 2021 AFCON R16 | Senegal ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() | Bafoussam, Cameroon |
17:00 UTC+1 | Report | Stadium: Kouekong Stadium Referee: Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria) |
23 March Friendly | Guadeloupe ![]() | 0–2 | ![]() | Orléans, France |
Report | Stadium: Stade de la Source |
25 March Friendly | Liechtenstein ![]() | 0–6 | ![]() | San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain |
20:45 | Report |
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Stadium: Pinatar Arena Referee: Dario Bel (Croatia) |
28 March Friendly | San Marino ![]() | 0–2 | ![]() | San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain |
Report |
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Stadium: Pinatar Arena Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández (Spain) |
3 June 2023 AFCON qualification | Burkina Faso ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() | Marrakesh, Morocco |
20:00 | Report | Stadium: Stade de Marrakech Referee: Daniel Nii Laryea (Ghana) |
7 June 2023 AFCON qualification | Cape Verde ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() | Marrakesh, Morocco |
17:00 UTC+1 |
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Report | Stadium: Stade de Marrakech Referee: Mehrez Melki (Tunisia) |
11 June Friendly | Ecuador ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() | Fort Lauderdale, United States |
19:30 UTC−4 |
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Report | Stadium: Drive Pink Stadium Referee: Moeth Gaymes (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) |
23 September Friendly | Bahrain ![]() | 1–2 | ![]() | Riffa, Bahrain |
19:00 UTC+3 |
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Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium |
September 2023 AFCON qualification | Cape Verde ![]() | v | ![]() | |
Report |
September 2023 AFCON qualification | Eswatini ![]() | v | ![]() | |
Report |
March 2023 AFCON qualification | Cape Verde ![]() | v | ![]() |
March 2023 AFCON qualification | Togo ![]() | v | ![]() |
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1GK | Márcio Rosa | (1997-02-23) 23 February 1997 (age 25) | 7 | 0 | ![]() | |
1GK | Sixten Mohlin | (1996-01-17) 17 January 1996 (age 26) | 4 | 0 | ![]() | |
1GK | Elber Binha | (1991-06-24) 24 June 1991 (age 31) | 1 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | Stopira | (1988-05-20) 20 May 1988 (age 34) | 54 | 3 | ![]() | |
2DF | Roberto Lopes | (1992-06-17) 17 June 1992 (age 30) | 15 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | Dylan Tavares | (1996-08-30) 30 August 1996 (age 26) | 15 | 1 | ![]() | |
2DF | Diney | (1995-01-17) 17 January 1995 (age 27) | 14 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | Steve Furtado | (1994-11-22) 22 November 1994 (age 27) | 12 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | Steven Pereira | (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 28) | 10 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | Logan Costa | (2001-04-01) 1 April 2001 (age 21) | 3 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | João Correia | (1996-09-05) 5 September 1996 (age 26) | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | Jamiro Monteiro | (1993-11-23) 23 November 1993 (age 28) | 24 | 2 | ![]() | |
3MF | Kenny Rocha Santos | (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 (age 22) | 20 | 1 | ![]() | |
3MF | João Paulo | (1998-05-26) 26 May 1998 (age 24) | 6 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | Deroy Duarte | (1999-07-04) 4 July 1999 (age 23) | 5 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | Nenass | (1995-07-05) 5 July 1995 (age 27) | 4 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | Kevin Pina | (1997-01-27) 27 January 1997 (age 25) | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
4FW | Ryan Mendes | (1990-01-08) 8 January 1990 (age 32) | 58 | 12 | ![]() | |
4FW | Júlio Tavares | (1988-11-19) 19 November 1988 (age 33) | 48 | 8 | ![]() | |
4FW | Garry Rodrigues | (1990-11-27) 27 November 1990 (age 31) | 41 | 7 | ![]() | |
4FW | Zé Luís | (1991-01-24) 24 January 1991 (age 31) | 19 | 3 | ![]() | |
4FW | Lisandro Semedo | (1996-03-12) 12 March 1996 (age 26) | 15 | 2 | ![]() | |
4FW | Bebé | (1990-07-12) 12 July 1990 (age 32) | 6 | 3 | ![]() | |
4FW | Jovane Cabral | (1998-06-14) 14 June 1998 (age 24) | 5 | 1 | ![]() | |
4FW | Gianni dos Santos | (1998-11-21) 21 November 1998 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
The following players have been called up for Cape Verde in the last 12 months.
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Vozinha | (1986-06-03) 3 June 1986 (age 36) | 59 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
GK | Kevin Sousa | (1994-06-06) 6 June 1994 (age 28) | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
GK | Dylan Silva | (1999-02-10) 10 February 1999 (age 23) | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
DF | Steven Fortès | (1992-04-17) 17 April 1992 (age 30) | 13 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
DF | Kelvin Pires | (2000-06-05) 5 June 2000 (age 22) | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
DF | Ludovic Soares | (1994-05-08) 8 May 1994 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
DF | Cláudio Tavares | (1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 25) | 3 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
DF | Jeffry Fortes | (1989-03-22) 22 March 1989 (age 33) | 26 | 0 | ![]() |
2021 Africa Cup of Nations |
DF | Carlos Ponck | (1995-01-13) 13 January 1995 (age 27) | 23 | 0 | ![]() |
2021 Africa Cup of Nations |
DF | Henrique Brito | (1997-04-21) 21 April 1997 (age 25) | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
DF | Lorenzo Fonseca | (1998-11-17) 17 November 1998 (age 23) | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
MF | Paulo Soares | (1999-12-01) 1 December 1999 (age 22) | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
MF | Patrick Andrade | (1993-02-09) 9 February 1993 (age 29) | 14 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
MF | Nuno Borges | (1988-03-31) 31 March 1988 (age 34) | 13 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
MF | Leandro Andrade | (1999-09-24) 24 September 1999 (age 23) | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
MF | Marco Soares | (1984-06-16) 16 June 1984 (age 38) | 52 | 3 | ![]() |
2021 Africa Cup of Nations |
MF | Hélder Tavares | (1989-12-26) 26 December 1989 (age 32) | 12 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
MF | Telmo Arcanjo | (2001-06-21) 21 June 2001 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
FW | Gilson Tavares | (2001-12-29) 29 December 2001 (age 20) | 7 | 3 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
FW | Papalélé | (1998-05-16) 16 May 1998 (age 24) | 4 | 2 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
FW | Vasco Lopes | (1999-09-02) 2 September 1999 (age 23) | 4 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
FW | Iuri Tavares | (2001-03-08) 8 March 2001 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
FW | Vagner Gonçalves | (1996-01-10) 10 January 1996 (age 26) | 10 | 1 | ![]() |
2021 Africa Cup of Nations |
FW | Willy Semedo | (1994-04-27) 27 April 1994 (age 28) | 10 | 0 | ![]() |
2021 Africa Cup of Nations |
FW | Willis Furtado | (1997-09-04) 4 September 1997 (age 25) | 8 | 0 | ![]() |
2021 Africa Cup of Nations |
FW | Ricardo Gomes | (1991-12-18) 18 December 1991 (age 30) | 14 | 4 | ![]() |
vs. ![]() |
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue. |
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FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup qualification record | |||||||||||||||
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Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | ||
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Part of ![]() |
Part of ![]() | ||||||||||||||
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Not a member of FIFA | Not a member of FIFA | ||||||||||||||
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Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
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12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 16 | ||||||||||
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6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||
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6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 7 | ||||||||||
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8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 14 | ||||||||||
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | ||||||||||
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To be determined | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
Total | — | 0/22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 16 | 5 | 19 | 41 | 53 |
Titles: 0 Appearances: 3 | |||||||||||
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Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad | ||
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![]() | Not a member of CAF | ||||||||||
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![]() | Did not qualify | ||||||||||
![]() | Withdrew | ||||||||||
![]() | Did not enter | ||||||||||
![]() ![]() | Did not qualify | ||||||||||
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![]() | Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | Squad | ||
![]() | Group stage | 11th | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Squad | ||
![]() | Did not qualify | ||||||||||
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![]() | Round of 16 | 15th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | Squad | ||
![]() | To be determined | ||||||||||
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Total | Quarter-finals | 3/33 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 | — |
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General | |
Venues | |
Statistics |
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Africa Cup of Nations |
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Lusophony Games |
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Amílcar Cabral Cup |
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Cape Verdean Football Federation | |||||
National teams |
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League system |
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National football teams of Africa (CAF) | |
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North Africa (UNAF) | |
West Africa (WAFU) | |
East Africa (CECAFA) | |
Central Africa (UNIFFAC) | |
Southern Africa (COSAFA) | |
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West African Football Union | |||||||
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2013 Africa Cup of Nations finalists | |
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Winner | |
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Eliminated in quarterfinals | |
Eliminated in group stage |
General | |
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National libraries |