Mozambique national football team

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The Mozambique national football team (Template:Langx) represents Mozambique in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Mozambican Football Federation, the governing body for football in Mozambique. Mozambique have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, but they have qualified for six Africa Cup of Nations, in 1986, 1996, 1998, 2010, 2023, and most recently 2025, being eliminated in the first round in all five appearances so far. They have also appeared at the African Nations Championship on two occasions where, at the 2022 edition, they claimed their first ever victory and reached the knockout stage of an 11-aside CAF tournament for the first time history. In 1997, the Mozambique Football Federation became a founding member of COSAFA.

Mozambique's home ground is Estádio do Zimpeto in Zimpeto in the capital city Maputo, and can hold 42,000 spectators. The team's current head coach is former player Chiquinho Conde, who became manager in July 2019,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> replacing previous head coach and former Portugal international Abel Xavier, who had been in charge since February 2016.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

Beginnings

On the day of independence in 1975, Mozambique played its first ever match; a friendly against Zambia, winning 2–1. Two years later, Cuba became Mozambique's first non-African opponent when the two countries met in Mozambique, with Cuba winning 2–0.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Mozambique entered World Cup qualifying for the first time in the 1982 qualifying competition. Mozambique were defeated 7–3 over two legs by Zaire in the first round.

1986 Africa Cup of Nations

Mozambique qualified for its first Africa Cup of Nations in 1986. In the qualifying competition they beat Mauritius, Malawi (on penalties), and finally Libya, winning again on penalties.

At the final tournament in Egypt, Mozambique were placed in Group A along with Senegal, Ivory Coast and hosts Egypt. They lost all their games 3–0, 2–0 and 2–0, not scoring a single goal.

1996 Africa Cup of Nations

Mozambique had to wait 10 years to qualify for another Africa Cup of Nations, as they qualified for the 1996 tournament in South Africa. They were placed in Group D along with Ivory Coast, Ghana and Tunisia. Mozambique played their first game against Tunisia in Port Elizabeth, drawing 1–1 with Tico-Tico scoring their first ever goal at the finals in the 4th minute. They then went on to lose 1–0 to Ivory Coast and 2–0 to Ghana, thus eliminating them from the tournament.

1998 Africa Cup of Nations

Two years later, Mozambique qualified for their third Africa Cup of Nations held in Burkina Faso. They were again placed in group D along with Morocco, Egypt and Zambia. Mozambique lost their first game against eventual tournament winners Egypt 2–0, both goals coming from Hossam Hassan. In their second game they again lost to Morocco 3–0, therefore eliminating them from the tournament with one game still remaining. In their last game against Zambia, they drew 1–1, their first goal of the tournament. This would prove to be their last African Cup of Nations game for 12 years.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

The national football team of Mozambique before a game against Tunisia
Armando Sá played six games for Mozambique

Mozambique entered the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in the second round, and were placed in Group 7 with Botswana, Madagascar and African football giants Ivory Coast. They made a terrible start to qualifying, losing to Ivory Coast and minnows Botswana 1–0 and 2–1, and drawing 1–1 with Madagascar. Mozambique then went on to beat Madagascar 3–0 in Antananarivo with goals coming from Tico-Tico, Carlitos and Domingues. They then drew 1–1 with Ivory Coast and beat Botswana 1–0 in Gaborone to qualify for the third Round.

Mozambique were one of the lowest seeded teams in the third round, and were placed in Group B with Nigeria, Tunisia and Kenya. They went on to draw their first game against giants Nigeria 0–0 in Maputo. They then went on to lose their next to games against Tunisia and Kenya 2–0 and 2–1, now making it a struggle to qualify for their first FIFA World Cup. In the next game, they beat Kenya 1–0 with Tico-Tico scoring, but then a loss to Nigeria eliminated them from qualifying. In the last game they beat Tunisia 1–0 in a victory that stopped Tunisia from qualifying. Despite not qualifying for the World Cup, this win was enough to secure third place and qualification for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

2010 Africa Cup of Nations

After a 12-year absence from Africa Cup of Nations football, Mozambique were placed in Group C with Egypt, Nigeria and Benin. In their first game, they played Benin, drawing 2–2 after being 2–0 down, with goals coming from Miro and Fumo. They then went on to lose 2–0 to eventual tournament winners Egypt and 3–0 to Nigeria, thus eliminating them from the tournament. After the tournament, all-time top scorer and captain Tico-Tico retired from international football.

Recent years

Mozambique had several close misses when it came to reaching another AFCON Finals. During the 2013 qualifiers, they reached the final round and beat Morocco 2–0 in the first leg in Maputo. However, they were beaten 4–0 in Marrakech four days later. During the 2019 qualifiers the Mambas were only denied by a Guinea-Bissau equaliser in stoppage time at the end of their final Group K match.

Finally, in 2023, Mozambique qualified for the AFCON for the first time since 2010 after beating Benin 3-2 at home on the final day of qualification. They would finish bottom of their group at the finals, drawing 2-2 with both Egypt and Ghana in their first and last games respectively but losing 3-0 to Cape Verde in between.

Mozambique qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which is set to be their sixth appearance at the tournament.

Recent results and fixtures

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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2025

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Coaching history

Mart Nooij became the manager of Mozambique in 2007

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Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Morocco and Chad on 14 and 18 November 2025; respectively.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Caps and goals correct as of 14 November 2025, after the match against Morocco.

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Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Mozambique in the last 12 months. Template:Nat fs r start Template:Nat fs break 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 break Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
 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

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Players in bold are still active with Mozambique.

Most appearances

Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1. Domingues Pelembé 118 17 2004–present
2. Tico-Tico 94 30 1992–2010
3. Miró Lobo 84 8 2004–2015
4. Mexer 70 3 2007–present
5. Sérgio Faife 67 5 1992–2008
6. João Kapango 66 0 1996–2012
Nana Matola 66 5 1988–1999
8. Zainadine Júnior 64 1 2008–present
9. Momed Hagi 62 3 2005–2015
10. Telinho 61 4 2011–present

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1. Tico-Tico 30 94 {{#expr:30/94 round 2}} 1992–2010
2 Domingues Pelembé 17 118 {{#expr:17/118 round 2}} 2004–present
3. Dário Monteiro 16 48 {{#expr:16/48 round 2}} 1996–2011
4. Chiquinho Conde 12 43 {{#expr:12/43 round 2}} 1985–2001
5. Gil Guiamba 11 22 {{#expr:11/22 round 2}} 1980–1983
6. Geny Catamo 10 33 {{#expr:10/33 round 2}} 2019–present
Arnaldo Ouana 10 37 {{#expr:10/37 round 2}} 1987–1999
8 Stanley Ratifo 9 40 {{#expr:9/40 round 2}} 2017–present
Luís Miquissone 9 48 {{#expr:9/48 round 2}} 2015–present
Clésio 9 56 {{#expr:9/56 round 2}} 2011–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 1974 Part of Template:Fb Part of Template:Fb
Template:Flagicon 1978 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
Template:Flagicon 1982 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 3 7
1986 and 1990 Did not enter Declined participation
Template:Flagicon 1994 Did not qualify 4 0 1 3 3 11
Template:Flagicon 1998 2 0 1 1 1 3
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2002 2 1 0 1 2 2
Template:Flagicon 2006 2 0 0 2 3 5
Template:Flagicon 2010 12 4 3 5 10 10
Template:Flagicon 2014 8 2 3 3 7 11
Template:Flagicon 2018 2 1 0 1 1 1
Template:Flagicon 2022 8 3 1 4 5 8
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2026 10 6 0 4 14 17
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2030 To be determined To be determined
Template:Flagicon 2034
Total – Template:Tooltip – – – – – – 52 17 9 26 49 75

Africa Cup of Nations

African Cup of Nations record Qualification record
Appearances: 6 Appearances: 23
Year Round Position Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip* Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Squad Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Template:Flagicon 1957 Part of Template:Fb Part of Template:Fb
Template:Flagicon 1959
Template:Flagicon 1962
Template:Flagicon 1963
Template:Flagicon 1965
Template:Flagicon 1968
Template:Flagicon 1970
Template:Flagicon 1972
Template:Flagicon 1974
Template:Flagicon 1976 Not affiliated to CAF Not affiliated to CAF
Template:Flagicon 1978
Template:Flagicon 1980 Did not enter Did not enter
Template:Flagicon 1982 Did not qualify 4 1 1 2 11 8
Template:Flagicon 1984 2 1 0 1 3 4
Template:Flagicon 1986 Group stage 8th 3 0 0 3 0 7 Squad 6 2 3 1 8 5
Template:Flagicon 1988 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3 4
Template:Flagicon 1990 2 0 0 2 0 4
Template:Flagicon 1992 4 2 0 2 3 3
Template:Flagicon 1994 6 1 3 2 5 7
Template:Flagicon 1996 Group stage 14th 3 0 1 2 1 4 Squad 10 6 2 2 16 8
Template:Flagicon 1998 16th 3 0 0 3 1 8 Squad 6 3 1 2 10 7
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2000 Did not qualify 6 2 1 3 6 10
Template:Flagicon 2002 2 1 0 1 1 1
Template:Flagicon 2004 6 2 2 2 3 8
Template:Flagicon 2006 2 0 0 2 3 5
Template:Flagicon 2008 6 2 3 1 5 4
Template:Flagicon 2010 Group stage 15th 3 0 1 2 2 7 Squad 12 4 3 5 10 10
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2012 Did not qualify 6 2 1 3 4 6
Template:Flagicon 2013 4 1 2 1 4 6
Template:Flagicon 2015 10 3 5 2 13 7
Template:Flagicon 2017 6 2 1 3 5 7
Template:Flagicon 2019 6 2 2 2 7 7
Template:Flagicon 2021 6 1 1 4 5 10
Template:Flagicon 2023 Group stage 21st 3 0 2 1 4 7 Squad 6 3 1 2 8 9
Template:Flagicon 2025 Qualified 6 3 2 1 9 5
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2027 To be determined To be determined
Template:Flagicon 2029
Total Group stage 6/35 15 0 4 11 8 33 — 126 44 35 47 139 145

African Nations Championship

African Nations Championship record
Appearances: 2
Year Round Position Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip* Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
Template:Flagicon 2009 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 2011
Template:Flagicon 2014 Group stage 16th 3 0 0 3 4 9
Template:Flagicon 2016 Did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 2018
Template:Flagicon 2020
Template:Flagicon 2022 Quarter-finals 8th 4 1 1 2 4 6
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2024 Did not qualify
Total Quarter-finals 2/8 6 1 1 5 8 15

COSAFA Cup

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Honours

Regional

References

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|group2 = West Africa (WAFU) |list2 =

|group3 = East Africa (CECAFA) |list3 =

|group4 = Central Africa (UNIFFAC) |list4 =

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|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 Mozambique

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