Mauritania national football team

Mauritania

Nickname(s)	Les Mourabitones
Association	Fédération de Football de la République Islamique de Mauritanie
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Corentin Martins
Home stadium	Stade Olympique
FIFA code	MTN
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	109 6 (5 May 2016)
Highest	85 (December 1995)
Lowest	206 (November–December 2012)
Elo ranking
Current	157
Highest	135 (23 July 1983)
Lowest	175 (27 November 1993)
First international
Malagasy Republic 5–1 Mauritania (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 25 December 1961)
Biggest win
Mauritania 8–2 Somalia  (Beirut, Lebanon; 27 December 2006)
Biggest defeat
Somalia 5–2 Mauritania (Mogadishu, Somalia; 7 August 1985)

The Mauritania national football team (French: Équipe de Mauritanie de football; Arabic: منتخب موريتانيا لكرة القدم‎) nicknamed Les Mourabitones, is the national team of Mauritania and is controlled by the Fédération de Football de la République Islamique de Mauritanie and is a member of the Confederation of African Football. They have not qualified for the FIFA World Cup or Africa Cup of Nations. However, in the Amilcar Cabral Cup, a regional tournament for West Africa, Mauritania came fourth in 1980 on hosting the competition. They were later runners-up in 1995, losing on penalties to Sierra Leone after the final finished 0–0.

History

1963–80

Mauritania played its first match after independence from France on 11 April 1963, against Congo Kinshasa (also making their debut) and lost 6–0.^[1] The match was held in Dakar, Senegal as part of the L'Amitié tournament between African sides. It also saw the debuts of Chad, Liberia and Niger. Mauritania lost its three other matches in the tournament: 2–0 to the Ivory Coast, 4–0 to Tunisia and 7–0 to Congo Brazzaville.

Mauritania's first goal and avoidance of defeat came four years after their debut, in 1967 with a 1–1 draw away in Tanzania. This was their first match since the L'Amitié tournament in 1963.

Mauritania entered their first African Games qualification campaign, in an aim to reach the 1973 finals in Nigeria. They were drawn in a group against Mali and Guinea in Guinea. The first game was lost 11–0 to Mali, and on 20 May Mauritania lost 14–0 to Guinea. Mauritania did not qualify.

In May 1976 Mauritania entered qualification for the football at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada. They were drawn against neighbouring Mali in a two-legged qualifier. The first leg was lost 6–0 away on 1 May, and the second leg was lost 1–0 at home on 18 May. Mali did not qualify for the finals.

Mauritania's first entrance into World Cup qualification was an attempt to reach the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. In March 1976 they were one of four countries put into two preliminary matches at the start of the African qualification campaign. Mauritania's preliminary was a two-legged match against the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and they drew the first match 1–1 away in Ouagadougou on 13 March. This was their first competitive avoidance of defeat, and their first avoidance of defeat since 1967. On 28 March, Mauritania lost their home leg in Nouakchott 2–0 and the Upper Volta advanced 3–1 on aggregate.

On 12 October 1980, seventeen years after their first game, Mauritania won for the first time by beating Mali 2–1 at home in a qualifier for the African Cup of Nations.^[2] Mali won 3–2 on aggregate having won the first leg 2–0.

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania entered qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, which was their first entry in twenty years and second overall. Again, they were drawn to face Burkina Faso in a two-legged preliminary. The first leg was played at home in Nouakchott in front of 15,000 people on 31 May 1996, one day before any other matches in the round. The match finished 0–0.^[3] The second leg was played at the Stade du 4-Aout in Ouagadougou on 16 June 1996 in front of 13,000 people. Burkina Faso won 2–0 to advance to the final group phase.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania entered the qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and were placed in a preliminary against Tunisia, who had qualified for the previous tournament. On 7 April 2000 they hosted Tunisia at the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott. A crowd of 10,000 saw Tunisia win 2–1 with second-half goals from Radhi Jaidi and Hassen Gabsi.^[4] In the second leg on 22 April 2000, Mauritania were beaten 3–0 at the Stade El Menzah in Tunis. The match was watched by only 3,000, despite a capacity of 45,000 in the ground.^[5] Tunisia won 5–1 on aggregate and later qualified for the finals in South Korea and Japan.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

Mauritania were drawn with Zimbabwe in the preliminary of the African section of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 12 October 2003 they lost the away leg 3–0 at the National Sports Stadium in Harare in front of 55,000 people.^[6] In the home return at the Stade Olympique on 14 November 2003, Mauritania scored twice in the opening ten minutes to win 2–1, their first victory in a World Cup match. However, Zimbabwe advanced 4–2 on aggregate.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

The African qualification process was altered for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Only the six lowest-ranked nations played a preliminary, a selection which for the first time did not include Mauritania. Mauritania played in Group 8 of the second qualifying round against Rwanda, Morocco and Ethiopia, and started with an away match at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo in Kigali, Rwanda on 31 May 2008. They lost 3–0 in front of 12,000 people.^[7] The first home match was on 7 June at the Stade Nacional in Nouakchott against Morocco. The Moroccans scored two in each half before a late penalty by Dominique da Silva of Mauritania made the game 4–1.

On 13 June 2008 Mauritania hosted Ethiopia at the Stade Nacional and lost 1–0 after an injury-time winner from Saladin Said. On 22 June Mauritania lost 6–1 in the away match versus Ethiopia at the Addis Ababa Stadium. The Ethiopian forwards Fikru Tefera and Andualem Nigussie scored two goals each in a match which also saw Ba Yaoub of Mauritania sent off after 37 minutes, conceding a penalty to Fikru. The game was 1–1 at half time.^[8] In September 2008 Ethiopia were expelled from the tournament due to government interferences in their football association and all of their results annulled.

Only 1,000 people saw Mauritania's next game at the Stade Nacional as they were beaten 1–0 by Rwanda on 6 September with a late goal by Bobo Bola. Mauritania finished their group campaign at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, Morocco. Like the home game against the Moroccans, Mauritania were 4–0 down but scored the last goal, this time by Dahmed Ould Teguedi. Although the Moroccan stadium had a capacity of 52,000, only 1,472 saw the match. ^[9]

2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Mauritania beat Mauritius 1–0 in the first leg of a preliminary round qualifier for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Nouakchott. SC Bastia's midfielder Adama Ba scored the only goal midway through the first half.^[10] The return leg in Curepipe ended 2–0 in favour of Mauritania. Scorers were Demba Sow and Moulaye Ahmed Bessam.^[11]

In the first round, first leg match, Mauritania beat visitors Equatorial Guinea 1–0 in Nouakchott. The two sides headed into the break scoreless in their match played at Office du Complexe Olympique de Nouakchott. Hosts Mauritania broke the deadlock in the 76th minute through their Tunisian-based striker Ismaël Diakité. In the return match Equatorial Guinea beat Mauritania 3–0 in Malabo.^[12] Equatorial Guinea won 3–1 on aggregate. However, on 3 July 2014, the CAF announced that Equatorial Guinea were disqualified for fielding the ineligible player Thierry Fidjeu in the tie, and as a result, Mauritania advanced to the second round.^[13] Equatorial Guinea later qualified for the final tournament as replacement hosts.

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

The draw put Mauritania in group M with South Africa, Cameroon and Gambia. The team lost their first match against Cameroon 0–1 thanks to a last minute goal by Vincent Aboubakar. They won their next game home in a 3–1 victory against the South African team in Nouakchott.

In the 26th of March 2016, Mauritania won 2-1 against Gambia in Nouakchott before drawing 0-0 against the same team four days late in Banjul, the Gambian capital. Mauritania will next face Cameroon in Nouakchott in June 2016 before playing their last qualification match away against South Africa in September of the same year.

Competitive record

World Cup record FIFA World Cup Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1930 Part of  France 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 Did not enter 1966 1970 1974 1978 Did not qualify 1982 Did not enter 1986 1990 1994 1998 Did not qualify 2002 2006 2010 2014 Did not enter 2018 Did not qualify 2022 To be determined Total 0/20

Olympic Games record Olympic Games Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1896 – 1960 Part of  France (FRA) 1964 Did not enter 1968 1972 1976 Did not qualify 1980 Did not enter 1984 Did not qualify 1988 Did not enter 1992 Did not qualify 1996 Did not enter 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Did not qualify 2020 To be determined Total 0/25 Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since the 1992 edition.

Africa Cup of Nations Record Africa Cup of Nations Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1957 Part of  France 1959 1962 Did not enter 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 Did not qualify 1982 1984 Did not enter 1986 Did not qualify 1988 Did not enter 1990 Withdrew 1992 Did not qualify 1994 Withdrew 1996 Did not qualify 1998 2000 Withdrew 2002 Did not qualify 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 Withdrew 2013 Did not enter 2015 Did not qualify 2017 To be determined 2019 2021 2023 Total 0/29

All-Africa Games Record All-Africa Games Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1965 Did not enter 1973 Did not qualify 1978 Did not enter 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 Withdrew 2007 Did not enter 2011 2015 2019 To be determined All Total 0/10 Prior to the Cairo 1991 campaign, the Football at the All-Africa Games was open to full senior national teams.

African Nations Championship record African Nations Championship Appearances: 1 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 2009 Did not qualify 2011 Withdrew 2014 Group Stage 14th 3 0 0 3 4 8 2016 To be determined 2018 Total Group Stage 1/3 3 0 0 3 4 8

WAFU Nations Cup record WAFU Nations Cup Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 2010 Did not enter 2011 2013 Total 0/3

Amílcar Cabral Cup Amílcar Cabral Cup Appearances: 16 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1979 Group Stage 7th 3 0 0 3 4 11 1980 Fourth Place 4th 4 1 1 2 4 6 1981 Group Stage 5th 3 1 0 2 2 4 1982 8th 3 1 0 2 3 8 1983 Fourth Place 4th 5 2 0 3 4 4 1984 Group Stage 8th 3 0 0 3 1 9 1985 8th 3 0 0 3 0 6 1986 7th 3 0 0 3 1 5 1987 6th 3 0 1 2 1 3 1988 7th 3 0 2 1 5 6 1989 7th 2 0 0 2 2 5 1991 Did not enter 1993 Group Stage 7th 3 0 1 2 0 5 1995 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 2 0 7 3 1997 Group Stage 6th 3 0 2 1 4 5 2000 7th 3 0 2 1 3 4 2001 6th 2 0 0 2 2 4 2005 Did not enter 2007 Withdrew Total Runners-up 16/19 51 8 11 32 38 88

CEDEAO Cup record CEDEAO Cup Appearances: 1 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1977 Unknown 1983 Did not qualify 1985 Did not enter 1987 1990 1991 Total Group Stage 1/3 3 0 0 3 4 8

Arab Nations Cup record Arab Nations Cup Appearances: 1 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1963 Did not enter 1964 1966 1985 Group Stage 5th 2 0 0 2 0 4 1988 Did not qualify 1992 Withdrew 1998 Did not enter 2002 2012 Total Group Stage 1/9 2 0 0 2 0 4

Pan Arab Games record Pan Arab Games Appearances: 3 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1953 Part of  France (FRA) 1957 1961 Did not enter 1965 1976 Group Stage 7th 6 0 0 6 2 13 1985 11th 3 0 0 3 2 12 1992 Did not enter 1997 Group Stage 8th 3 0 0 3 2 6 1999 Did not enter 2004 No tournament 2007 Did not enter 2011 Total Group Stage 3/11 12 0 0 12 6 31

Recent and forthcoming matches

2013

Canada  v  Mauritania

8 September 2013 Friendly	Canada	0–0	Mauritania	Oliva Nova Beach & Golf Resort Campo 1, Oliva (Spain)
17:30		Report		Attendance: 300 Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

Canada  v  Mauritania

10 September 2013 Friendly	Canada	0–1	Mauritania	Oliva Nova Beach & Golf Resort Campo 1, Oliva (Spain)
17:30		Report	Ba  53'	Attendance: 200 Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Oman  v  Mauritania

9 October 2013 Friendly	Oman	0–0	Mauritania	Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat (Oman)
18:30 UTC+4		Report

2014

Mauritania  v  Niger

5 March 2014 Friendly	Mauritania	1–1	Niger	Stade Olympique, Nouakchott (Mauritania)
17:00	Boureima  3' (o.g.)	Report	Daouda  86'	Referee: Daouda Guèye (Senegal)

Mauritania  v  Mauritius

12 April 2014 2015 ACN Q	Mauritania	1–0	Mauritius	Stade Olympique, Nouakchott (Mauritania)
17:00	Ba  23'	Report		Referee: Maguette N'Diaye (Senegal)

Mauritius  v  Mauritania

20 April 2014 2015 ACN Q	Mauritius	0–2	Mauritania	Stade George V, Curepipe (Mauritius)
		Report	Sow  38' Bessam  90+2'	Referee: Samuel Chirindza (Mozambique)

Uganda  v  Mauritania

19 July 2014 2015 ACN Q	Uganda	2–0	Mauritania	Mandela National Stadium, Kampala
17:00	Majwega  48' Massa  70'	Report		Referee: Hudu Munyemana (Rwanda)

Mauritania  v  Uganda

3 August 2014 2015 ACN Q	Mauritania	0–1	Uganda	Stade Olympique, Nouakchott
17:00		Report	Ssentongo  90+2'	Referee: Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria)

2015

Cameroon  v  Mauritania

14 June 2015 2017 ACN Q	Cameroon	1–0	Mauritania	Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé
15:00	Aboubakar  90'	Report		Referee: Yakhouba Keita (Guinea)

Mauritania  v  South Africa

5 September 2015 2017 ACN Q	Mauritania	3–1	South Africa	Stade Olympique, Nouakchott
	Aly Abeid  5' Beyguili  78' Moulaye Ahmed  86'		Thamsanqa Gabuza  69'	Referee: Daouda Guèye (Senegal)

South Sudan  v  Mauritania

7 October 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification First Round	South Sudan	1–1	Mauritania	Juba, South Sudan
	Abui  5'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Bagili  3'	Stadium: Juba Stadium, Juba Referee: Rajab Bakasambe (Uganda)

Mauritania  v  South Sudan

13 October 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification First Round	Mauritania	4–0	South Sudan	Stade Olympique, Nouakchott
17:00 UTC±0	Ahmed  4' Bagili  62' M. Samba  85' Diakité  90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)		Stadium: Stade Olympique, Nouakchott Referee: Fidel Gomes (Guinea-Bissau)

Mauritania  v  Tunisia

13 November 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification Second Round	Mauritania	1–2	Tunisia	Stade Olympique, Nouakchott
17:00 UTC±0	N'Diaye  22'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Khazri  62' Chikhaoui  68'	Referee: Eric Otogo-Castane (Gabon)

Tunisia  v  Mauritania

17 November 2015 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification Second Round	Tunisia	2–1	Mauritania	Stade Olympique de Radès, Radès
18:00 UTC+1	Ben Youssef  51' Bguir  84'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Bessam  71'	Referee: Denis Batte (Uganda)

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against South Sudan on 7 and 13 October.^[14]
Caps and goals updated as 5 September 2015 after the match against South Africa.^[15]

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Mohamed Salahdine Saleck	31 December 1997	1	0	Tevragh-Zeina
	GK	Brahim Souleimane	30 December 1986	0	0	ACS Ksar
	GK	Mohamed Abdellahi Jeddou	10 April 1990	0	0	ASC Tidjikja
	DF	Oumar N'Diaye	22 July 1985	13	0	Mantes
	DF	Aly Abeid	11 December 1997	6	2	ASAC Concorde
	DF	Moustapha Diaw	31 December 1996	6	0	ASAC Concorde
	DF	Cheikhna Varajou	6 February 1985	6	0	ASC Tidjikja
	DF	Oumar Ly	28 October 1992	2	0	Tevragh-Zeina
	DF	Mohamed Wade	31 December 1985	1	0	FC Nouadhibou
	MF	Moussa Baghayoko	31 December 1983	17	0	ASAC Concorde
	MF	Abdoulaye Sileye Gaye	13 September 1991	16	0	Tevragh-Zeina
	MF	Taghiyoulla Denna	15 June 1986	15	3	Tevragh-Zeina
	MF	Dialo Guidileye	30 December 1989	7	0	Nancy
	MF	Moussa Samba	30 December 1988	7	0	Tevragh-Zeina
	MF	Mohamed Dellahi Yali	1 November 1997	3	1	Tevragh-Zeina
	FW	Moulaye Ahmed	5 December 1987	19	5	CS Constantine
	FW	Ismaël Diakité	13 December 1991	19	1	Al-Feiha
	FW	Ely Cheikh Voulany	31 December 1988	15	2	Al-Nahda
	FW	Amadou Niass	31 December 1994	8	1	ASAC Concorde
	FW	Boubacar Bagili	7 December 1994	4	2	ACS Ksar
	FW	Abdellahi Yatma	10 August 1989	0	0	ASC Tidjikja

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Mauritania within the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Babacar Touré	18 January 1988	1	0	ASAC Concorde	v.  South Africa, 5 September 2015
GK	Souleymane Diallo	22 May 1990	35	0	ACS Ksar	v.  Cameroon, 14 June 2015
DF	Abdoul Ba	8 February 1994	11	0	Lens	v.  South Sudan, 7 October 2015 ^INJ
DF	Abou Sy	31 October 1991	2	0	Sidi Bouzid	v.  South Africa, 5 September 2015
DF	Ousmane Samba	16 October 1988	0	0	Aubervilliers	v.  South Africa, 5 September 2015
DF	Demba Sow	3 July 1993	9	1	Gonfreville	v.  Cameroon, 14 June 2015
DF	Sallé Traoré		0	0	FC Nouadhibou	v.  Cameroon, 14 June 2015
DF	Abdoulahy Sangaré	14 January 1984	7	0	Poissy	v.  Niger, 31 March 2015
DF	Ahmed Ahmedou	27 August 1993	1	0	Three Bridges	v.  Niger, 31 March 2015
MF	Moctar Sidi El Hacen	31 December 1997	16	0	ASAC Concorde	v.  South Africa, 5 September 2015
MF	Khassa Camara	22 October 1992	12	0	Ergotelis	v.  South Africa, 5 September 2015
FW	Adama Ba	27 August 1993	13	3	Auxerre	v.  South Sudan, 7 October 2015 ^INJ
FW	Chegrane Tahmane		1	0	ASC Tidjikja	v.  South Africa, 5 September 2015

Notes

^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury

References

1. "DR Congo (Zaire, Congo-Kinshasa) – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
2. "Mauritania – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
3. "CAF – 1998 FIFA WORLD CUP PRELIMINARIES". Allworldcup.narod.ru. 1996-05-31. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
4. "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan ™". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
5. "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan ™". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
6. "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
7. "2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
8. "2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
9. "2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
10. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26976664
11. http://en.starafrica.com/football/mauritania-pass-mauritius-test.html
12. http://africanfootball.com/match-report/20655/Equatorial-Guinea-vs-Mauritania
13. "Equatorial Guinea disqualified from Orange Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2015". Cafonline.com. 3 July 2014.
14. "Sud-Soudan vs Mauritanie : le Sélectionneur National rend publique sa liste". ffrim.org. Retrieved 11 October 2015.

External sources

• Mauritania at National-Football-Teams.com.