Niger national football team

Niger

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Ménas
Association	Fédération Nigerienne de Football
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	François Zahoui
Captain	Moussa Maâzou
Home stadium	Stade Seyni Kountché
FIFA code	NIG
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	105 15 (5 November 2015)
Highest	68 (November 1994)
Lowest	196 (August 2002)
First international
Niger 2–2 Chad (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 25 December 1961)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	2 (First in 2012)
Best result	Group Stage

The Niger national football team, nicknamed the Menas, is overseen by the Fédération Nigerienne de Football and a member of CAF. Niger plays in the colors of the Flag of Niger, white, green, and orange. Their nickname comes from the Dama Gazelle, native to Niger, the Hausa name of which is Meyna or Ménas The Dama appears on their badge in the colors of the national flag.

History

Although one of the weaker sides in the strong West Africa region, Niger has produced a couple of noteworthy runs in qualifying tournaments.

One of their best performances was in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, in which Niger eliminated Somalia and Togo on away goals, but were beaten by Algeria in the third round where only eight teams were left. Notable players in this run included Jacques Komlan, Hassane Adamou and Moussa Kanfideni.

In 1990 they set one record – they trashed Mauritania 7–1 in continental qualifiers, which is for now the highest win for the Mena.

In the 2004 African Nations Cup qualifiers, Niger won all their home games (including a win over Guinea) to finish on 9 points, just 3 short of qualification.

The Niger squad is also plagued by financial concerns, which have caused them to withdraw from international tournaments on more than one occasion. The Niger FA would have turned to fundraising to pay for their trip to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola, had they qualified.

In June 2008, Romanian coach Dan Anghelescu took over as team manager from Hamey Amadou, who was dismissed. Anghelescu had been coaching in Africa since 1999, training teams from Algeria, Tunisia and Burkina Faso. On 19 December 2008, Anghelescu was dismissed after a disastrous six-month spell. Former Niger U-17 coach Frederic Costa was appointed the new head coach of the Niger national side. Harouna Doula Gabde, a former Nigerien international, succeeded them in 2009.

On 10 October 2010, Niger earned a shock 1–0 win over Egypt at home in the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualification.

Despite a failed run for ACON 2010, Niger hosted and won the UEMOA Tournament in November 2010, and followed up with their first ever qualification for the African Nations Championship in February 2011.

After home wins—but away losses—over South Africa and Sierra Leone, on 8 October 2011 Niger qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in its history, despite losing 3-0 in Egypt. Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone all ended with nine points, but Niger qualified thanks to their superior head-to-head record against their rivals.

At the 2012 African Cup of Nations, Niger was placed in Group C along with co-hosts Gabon, Tunisia and Morocco. In their opening match Gabon made a comfortable 2-0 win against debutants. Against Tunisia in Libreville, Niger trailed 1-0 on an early goal from Youssef Msakni in which he dribbled his way through for a fine goal after just four minutes. But William Tonji Ngounou made history when his goal was Niger's first ever goal at the African Cup of Nations. The 1-1 draw looked likely, but Issam Jemaa's goal would eliminate Niger from the tournament. In the final match, Niger faced Morocco in a match featuring two teams eliminated from the tournament.Younes Belhanda scored on the assist of Marouane Chamakh just 11 minutes from time to give Morocco a 1-0 victory.

Later in 2012, Niger repeated its success in African Nations Cup qualifiers by beating Guinea in a two-legged series to qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Guinea won the first match 1-0, but Niger won 2-0 in the second leg. Goalscorers Chicoto Mohamed and Issoufou Boubacar Garba had sent Niger to another African Cup of Nations tournament.

In their first match on 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Niger lost to Mali 1-0, at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The Eagles captain Seydou Keita handed Mali the hard-fought victory five minutes before the end of the encounter. Niger earned their first point ever at the African Cup of nations after holding DR Congo to a 0-0 draw. In the third match Ghana outclassed Niger 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup as Group B winners. Niger finished bottom of the group.

On 22 May 2014, Niger played a friendly match against Ukraine, marking the first ever match against a European nation. Oumarou Bale scored in the 56th minute, cancelling out a 20th-minute goal from Ivan Ordets, before Ukraine won on a goal from Taras Stepanenko as the match finished 2-1.

Competition records

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1974	Did not enter
1978 to 1982	Did not qualify
1986	Withdrew
1990	Did not enter
1994	Did not qualify
1998	Withdrew
2002	Did not enter
2006 to 2018	Did not qualify
2022	To be determined
Total		0/20

Africa Cup of Nations record

African Cup of Nations record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1957 to 1968	Did not enter
1970 to 1972	Did not qualify
1974	Withdrew
1976	Did not qualify
1978 to 1980	Withdrew
1982	Did not enter
1984	Did not qualify
1986 to 1990	Did not enter
1992 to 1994	Did not qualify
1996	Withdrew during qualifying
1998	Disqualified for withdrawing in 1996
2000 to 2010	Did not qualify
2012	Group Stage	15th	3	0	0	3	1	5
2013	Group Stage	15th	3	0	1	2	0	4
2015	Did not qualify
2017	To be determined
2019	To be determined
Total	2 Group Stages	2/30	6	0	1	5	1	9

Niger national team against Morocco, February 09, 2011

Head-to-Head Records against other countries

As of 23 May 2014

Opponent	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Differential
Algeria	5	1	0	4	1	14	−13
Angola	2	0	0	2	2	5	−3
Benin	13	3	4	6	16	20	−4
Botswana	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2
Burkina Faso*	15	3	5	7	13	22	−9
Cameroon	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4
Chad	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Congo	4	0	1	3	3	10	−7
DR Congo	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Ivory Coast	12	0	2	10	9	28	−19
Egypt	4	1	0	3	1	7	-6
Equatorial Guinea	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Ethiopia	3	1	0	2	3	4	-1
Gabon	6	1	0	5	5	13	−8
Gambia	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Ghana	11	0	1	10	4	38	−34
Guinea	7	3	0	4	8	11	−3
Lesotho	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Liberia	7	3	1	3	7	10	−3
Libya*	4	0	3	1	4	8	−4
Mali	8	1	2	5	4	10	−6
Mauritania	5	3	2	0	10	3	+7
Morocco	6	1	0	5	2	15	−13
Namibia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Nigeria	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6
Senegal	5	1	1	3	3	6	−3
Sierra Leone	6	3	0	3	11	15	−4
Somalia	2	0	2	0	1	1	0
South Africa	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1
Togo	9	3	3	3	13	14	−1
Tunisia	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Uganda	4	1	1	2	4	5	−1
Ukraine	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
33 Countries	158	34	34	90	141	286	−145

• Niger beat Burkina Faso 1-0 in a match played on 27 July 2013, but because of losing the first match 1-0, this match went to extra time and then the penalties. Niger lost 6-5 on penalties, but under the FIFA rules this match counts as a win.
• Match versus Libya in November 2010 finished 1–1, after which Niger lost 4–1 in penalty shootout. Under the rules of association football and the official European Championship tournament regulations, a loss inflicted via a penalty shootout does not count as a defeat, but rather a tie which needed a final process to determine the team which advances.

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Main article: Niger national football team results

Mali v Niger

20 January 2013 20:00

Mali	1–0	Niger
Keita  84'	Report

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Slim Jedidi (Tunisia)

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Niger v DR Congo

24 January 2013 20:00

Niger	0–0	DR Congo
	Report

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Bouchaïb El Ahrach (Morocco)

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Niger v Ghana

28 January 2013 19:00

Niger	0–3	Ghana
	Report	Gyan  6' Atsu  23' Boye  49'

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Badara Diatta (Senegal)

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly match against Ukraine on 22 May 2014.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Moussa Alzouma	(1982-09-30) 30 September 1982	GNN
16	1GK	Kassaly Daouda	(1983-08-19) 19 August 1983	Nigelec
4	2DF	Mahamadou Souley	(1995-02-18) 18 February 1995	GNN
5	2DF	Boureima Katakoré	(1993-03-26) 26 March 1993	Nigelec
8	2DF	Kourouma Fatoukouma	(1984-07-11) 11 July 1984	Al-Hoceima
13	2DF	Mohamed Chikoto	(1989-02-28) 28 February 1989	ASM Oran
15	2DF	Zakariya Souleymane	(1994-12-29) 29 December 1994	Evian (res.)
3	3MF	Lassina Abdoul Karim	(1987-05-20) 20 May 1987	Metz
6	3MF	Youssouf Oumarou	(1993-02-16) 16 February 1993	ASFAN
12	3MF	Souleymane Dela Sacko	(1987-08-01) 1 August 1987	GNN
14	3MF	Ali Mohamed	(1996-10-07) 7 October 1996	Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla
19	3MF	Issiaka Koudize	(1987-01-03) 3 January 1987	Coton Sport
20	3MF	Amadou Moutari	(1994-01-19) 19 January 1994	FC Anzhi Makhachkala
21	3MF	Yacouba Ali	(1992-04-06) 6 April 1992	Police
2	4FW	Moussa Maâzou (c)	(1988-08-25) 25 August 1988	Changchun Yatai
7	4FW	Mahamane Cissé	(1993-12-27) 27 December 1993	Léopard
9	4FW	Kamilou Daouda	(1987-12-29) 29 December 1987	Coton Sport
11	4FW	Abdoul Nasser Nomao	(1992-09-10) 10 September 1992	Nigelec

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List of coaches

• Heinz-Peter Überjahn (1981–1986)
• Tiemogo Soumaila (?-1992)
• David Nadjadoum (1992-?)
• Tiemogo Soumaïla (?-1998)
• Amadou Touré (1998–1999)
• Patrice Neveu (1999–2000)
• Jean-Yves Chay (2000)
• Harouna Doula Amadou (?-?)
• Yeo Martial (2002–2003)
• Tchanile Bana (2006–2007)
• Hamey Amadou (2007–2008)
• Dan Anghelescu (2008)
• Frederic Costa (2008–2009)
• Harouna Doula Gabde (2009–2012)
• Rolland Courbis (2012)
• Gernot Rohr (2012–2014)
• Kevin Gilbach (2014–2015)
• François Zahoui (2015–present)

External links

• Niger Football Federation website