Gambia national football team

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The Gambia national football team (recognized as The Gambia by FIFA)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> represents The Gambia in men's international football and is controlled by the Gambia Football Federation. Until 1965, the team and the country were known as British Gambia.The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).Template:Citation needed



History

Under the name British Gambia, the team played their first ever game on 9 February 1953 against Sierra Leone, winning 2–1 at home in a friendly.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 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 of that same year, 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 13 October 2002, the team got their biggest ever victory in international competition, a 6–0 victory against Lesotho.<ref name=11v11>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In May 2014, the Gambia was banned from all CAF competitions for two years after deliberately falsifying players' ages.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The nation's fortunes improved in qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Although they failed to qualify, they took it to the final round of games, including drawing twice with African giants Algeria.

On 13 November, in their first Group D match of 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Gambia defeated Angola 1–3 in Luanda. This was the Scorpions' first away win in an AFCON or FIFA World Cup qualifier ever, at their 40th attempt. An impressive campaign saw them qualify for their first ever major tournament that year. As the lowest-ranked team in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the Gambia defied the odds by defeating favourites Tunisia in the group stage, finishing unbeaten in 2nd place in the group. A further win against Guinea in the Round of 16 saw them reach the quarter-finals at their first attempt, eventually going out to tournament hosts Cameroon.

Home stadium

The Independence Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Bakau, Gambia. It is currently used mostly for football matches, although it is also used for music concerts, political events, trade fairs and national celebrations. The stadium holds 30,000 people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Results and fixtures

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

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2024

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2025

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Coaching staff

Position Name
Head Coach Template:Flagicon Johnny McKinstry
Assistant Coaches Template:Flagicon Alagie Sarr
Template:Flagicon Abdou Jammeh
Goalkeeping Coach Template:Flagicon Alhagie Marong
Fitness Coach Template:Flagicon Mikael Igendia
Match Analyst Template:Flagicon Milad Samadi
Doctors Template:Flagicon Dr. Ousman Colley
Template:Flagicon Dr. Alhagie Jawara
Physiotherapists Template:Flagicon Ebrima Jallow
Template:Flagicon Modou Jarra
Template:Flagicon Alassan Fofanah
Template:Flagicon Hassan Darboe
Team Coordinator Template:Flagicon Ousman Drammeh
Technical Director Template:Flagicon Sang Ndong

Coaching history

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Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Kuwait on 18 November 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2025, after the match against Seychelles.

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Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Gambia squad within the last twelve months. Template:Nat fs r start Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
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. Template:Nat fs end

Records

Template:Updated<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Players in bold are still active with Gambia.

Most appearances

Omar Colley is Gambia's most capped player with 62 appearances.
Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Omar Colley 62 1 2012–present
2 Musa Barrow 52 14 2018-present
3 Pa Modou Jagne 43 2 2006–2022
4 Assan Ceesay 41 13 2013–present
5 Bubacarr Sanneh 40 1 2012–present
6 Ablie Jallow 38 8 2015–present
Ebrima Sohna 38 3 2007–2022
8 Sulayman Marreh 35 1 2011–present
9 Abdou Jammeh 33 2 2006–2015
10 Modou Jobe 31 0 2007–present

Top goalscorers

Musa Barrow is Gambia's top goalscorer with 14 goals.
Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Musa Barrow 14 52 {{#expr:14/52 round 2}} 2018–present
2 Assan Ceesay 13 41 {{#expr:13/41 round 2}} 2013–present
3 Ablie Jallow 8 38 {{#expr:8/38 round 2}} 2015–present
4 Adama Sidibeh 7 9 {{#expr:7/9 round 2}} 2024–present
Yankuba Minteh 7 19 {{#expr:7/19 round 2}} 2022–present
6 Momoudou Ceesay 6 16 {{#expr:6/16 round 2}} 2010–2015
7 Omar Samba 5 12 {{#expr:5/12 round 2}} 1994–2002
Jatto Ceesay 5 17 {{#expr:5/17 round 2}} 1994–2007
Mustapha Jarju 5 26 {{#expr:5/26 round 2}} 2006–2013
10 Muhammed Badamosi 4 26 {{#expr:4/26 round 2}} 2018–present

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip* Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
1930 to 1950 Part of Template:Flag Part of Template:Flag
1954 to 1966 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
1970 to 1978 Did not enter Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1982 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 1 2
Template:Flagicon 1986 2 1 0 1 3 6
Template:Flagicon 1990 Did not enter Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1994 Withdrew Withdrew
Template:Flagicon 1998 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 2 5
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2002 2 0 0 2 0 3
Template:Flagicon 2006 2 1 0 1 2 3
Template:Flagicon 2010 6 2 3 1 6 3
Template:Flagicon 2014 6 1 1 4 4 11
Template:Flagicon 2018 2 0 1 1 2 3
Template:Flagicon 2022 2 0 0 2 1 3
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2026 10 4 1 5 27 18
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2030 To be determined To be determined
Template:Flagicon 2034
Total – Template:Tooltip – – – – – – 36 10 7 19 48 57

Africa Cup of Nations

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Africa Cup of Nations record
Year Round Position Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip* Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Template:Flagicon 1957 to Template:Flagicon 1963 Part of United Kingdom
Template:Flagicon 1965 Not affiliated to CAF
Template:Flagicon 1968 to Template:Flagicon 1974 Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1976 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1978 Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1980 to Template:Flagicon 1988 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1990 Withdrew
Template:Flagicon 1992 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1994 Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1996 Withdrew during qualifying
Template:Flagicon 1998 Banned for withdrawing in 1996
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2000 Withdrew
Template:Flagicon 2002 to Template:Flagicon 2013 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 2015 Banned
Template:Flagicon 2017 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 2019
Template:Flagicon 2021 Quarter-finals 6th 5 3 1 1 4 3
Template:Flagicon 2023 Group stage 23rd 3 0 0 3 2 7
Template:Flagicon 2025 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2027 To be determined
Template:Flagicon 2029
Total Quarter-finals 2/35 8 3 1 4 6 10

Head-to-head record

As of match played 14 October 2025 after the match against Seychelles

Opponent Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
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Total

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Honours

Regional

Notes

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References

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Template:Gambia national football team Template:Football in the Gambia {{#invoke:navbox|navbox | name = CAF teams | title = National football teams of Africa (CAF) |listclass = hlist |group1 = North Africa (UNAF) |list1 =

|group2 = West Africa (WAFU) |list2 =

|group3 = East Africa (CECAFA) |list3 =

|group4 = Central Africa (UNIFFAC) |list4 =

|group5 = Southern Africa (COSAFA) |list5 =

|group6 = Non-regional Members |list6 =

|below= 1 Regional team, an associate member of CAF but not a member of FIFA

{{#invoke:portal-inline|main|size=tiny|Football in Africa}} }} Template:National sports teams of the Gambia

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