Africa-Press – Angola. The history of the participation of Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) in the Football Nations Championships (CAN) places Angola in a slightly higher position, in relation to the other teams in the community that will evolve in the 34th edition of the competition, from 13th of this month to 11th February, in Cote d’Ivoire.
Given the performance of the “Palancas Negras” national team in the eight editions in which it participated, since its debut in 1996, Angola occupies 20th position in the CAF ranking on the general performance records of the 44 nations on the continent that have previously competed in the competition, while that Cape Verde is in 25th place, Guinea Bissau (36th) and Mozambique (39th).
Present for the last time in 2019, in Egypt, the Angolans’ best performance was the quarter-finals in the 2008 editions, in Ghana, and 2010, on home soil, a stage also achieved by the Cape Verdeans, whose most recent participation occurred in 2021, but on only one occasion (2013).
The Bissau-Guineans, also with the 2021 CAN as their last appearance, and the Mozambicans, who return to the big leagues 14 years later (they were in 2010), never went beyond the group stage.
Despite the weak consistency in statistical terms, Mozambique was the first country in the community to debut in events of its kind, in the 1986 championship in Egypt.
Angola started these activities ten years later, that is, in the 1996 tournament (held in South Africa), Cape Verde in 2013, coincidentally, also in South African territory, and Guinea Bissau started four years later (2017), in Gabon.
São Tomé and Príncipe is the only PALOP that has not yet been in a CAN, among the ten countries that have never qualified for the biggest competition in African football at national team level.
Here are the data relating to the community representatives:
Angola (8 appearances, 26 games, 4 wins, 12 draws, 10 defeats, 30 goals scored, 39 goals conceded, negative quotient of 9 goals and 24 points, 20th ranked).
Cape Verde (3 appearances, 11 games, 2 wins, 6 draws, 3 defeats, 6 goals scored, 9 goals conceded, negative quotient of 3 goals and 12 points, 25th).
Guinea Bissau (3 appearances, 9 games, 0 wins, 3 draws, 6 defeats, 2 goals scored, 12 goals conceded, negative quotient of 10 goals, 3 points, 36th place).
Mozambique (4 appearances, 12 games, 0 wins, 2 draws, 10 defeats, 4 goals scored, 26 goals conceded, negative quotient of 22 goals, 2 points, 39th ranked).
However, the ranking is, naturally, led by Egypt, the country with the highest number of participations (25) and most successful in the history of the competition, followed by Ghana (2nd classified) and Nigeria (3rd), which complete the podium, while in the bottom three positions are Burundi (42nd), Mauritius (43rd) and Bostwana (44th).
The Pharaohs are awarded 200 points, the result of seven (7) titles won, in a universe of 107 matches played, 60 wins, 20 draws, 27 defeats, 168 goals scored, 90 goals conceded and a positive quotient of 78 goals.
The Ghanaians, with four trophies won, have recorded 23 appearances, 102 games, 54 wins, 21 draws, 27 defeats, 133 goals scored, 87 conceded, a positive quotient of 46 goals and 183 points.
The Nigerian team has accumulated three titles in 19 appearances, 97 matches, 53 wins, 22 draws, 22 defeats, 137 goals scored, 91 conceded, a positive quotient of 46 goals and 181 points.
Coincidentally, the teams of Burundi, Mauritius and Botswana have one presence, three games and an equal number of defeats, with the Burundians having the particularity of not scoring any goals and conceding four, a negative quotient of four goals, but which, even so, keeps them above the two opponents.
The Mauritians, at least, scored two goals, but conceded eight, while the Tswanese, with the same number of goals scored (2), conceded nine, which results in negative quotients of six and seven goals, respectively.
Other curiosities
In addition to the teams already mentioned, the list of countries without victories in a CAN includes Beni (4 appearances, 14 games, 5 draws and 9 defeats), Mauritania (2 appearances, 6 games, 2 draws and 4 defeats), Mauritania (2 appearances, 6 games, 2 draws and 4 defeats), Namibia (3 appearances, 9 games, 2 draws and 7 defeats).
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the team with the most defeats, having conceded 29 defeats in 19 appearances and 73 games. He also had 20 wins and 24 draws.
The Gambia and the Comoros Islands, participants in the previous edition, in 2021, in Cameroon, are the most recent debutants in a tournament of nations, as the 34th competition, starting on Saturday in Cote d’Ivoire, does not feature any debuts.
The Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Etswatini, Eritrea, Djibouti, Lesotho, Seychelles, São Tome and Principe, Somalia and South Sudan make up the ten countries that have never qualified for a championship.
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