Central African Republic national football team

The team made its debut under the name of Ubangi-Shari in 1956 against French Cameroon. The Central African Football Federation was founded in 1961 and joined FIFA in 1964 and CAF in 1965.

Their first competitive match was in the 1961 Friendship Games in Ivory Coast where Central African Republic drew twice against Upper Volta and Liberia before losing to the hosts and failing to progress to the next round.

Central African Republic entered the 1974 African Cup of Nations qualification for the first time, progressing due to Gabon's withdrawal but were then eliminated 5–4 on aggregate by Ivory Coast, a tie which saw the second leg abandoned at half-time after arguments between players of both sides, forcing a replay in Lagos which Ivory Coast won 5–1.

They took part in 1984 UDEAC Cup where they qualified to the knock-out rounds on goal-difference over Equatorial Guinea but were then heavily beaten by Cameroon 7–1 before beating Gabon on penalties to finish third. However in the 1988 UDEAC Cup, Gabon would get their revenge, beating Central African Republic in the semi-finals. The following year Central African Republic would host the 1989 UDEAC Cup, making it to the finals, beating Gabon on the way, before losing 2–1 to Cameroon.

During the 1990s, Central African Republic played very few international games, withdrawing from the 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification without playing a match. They returned to competition in the UNIFAC Cup in 1999, winning three times and losing twice to finish second.

Central African Republic participated in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers for the first time, losing in the first round to Zimbabwe. They reached the final of the inaugural CEMAC Cup, losing to an amateur Cameroon team that they'd drawn with a week earlier in the tournament.

In 2009, Central African Republic hosted the 2009 CEMAC Cup where they defeated Equatorial Guinea 3–0 in the final, with goals from Salif Kéïta and a brace from Hilaire Momi to claim their first trophy.

During the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Central African Republic achieved a historic 2-0 home victory over the top seeded Algeria, a team that had recently competeted at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In July 2011, they climbed to 89th place in the FIFA world rankings, having occupied 202th place as recently as August 2010.

On 2 June 2012, they obtained their first victory in World Cup qualification, beating Botswana 2-0 at home. Despite that positive result, Central African Republic finished bottom of their group. On 15 June 2012, despite being reduced to ten men, they achieved another impressive victory, beating Egypt (3–2) in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, inflicting the first home defeat on the Egyptians in AFCON qualifiers since 1965. Thanks to a 1-1 draw at home in the second leg, Central African Republic eliminated the Egyptians, but in the second round they were defeated by Burkina Faso.

The following players were selected for the friendly matches against Tanzania on 23 March and Sudan on 26 March 2022.

Caps and goals as of 16 November 2021, after the match against Liberia.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Emmanuel Takolingba	(2001-10-24) 24 October 2001	2	0	AS Tempête Mocaf
16	1GK	Cédric Zouangba	(1999-03-16) 16 March 1999	0	0	DFC8
22	1GK	Désiré N'Zogué	(1993-07-19) 19 July 1993	1	0	New Star de Douala
2	2DF	Saint-Cyr Ngam Ngam	(1993-01-27) 27 January 1993	29	0	DFC8
5	2DF	Sadock Ndobé	(1998-09-09) 9 September 1998	14	0	AS Tempête Mocaf
3	2DF	Flory Yangao	(2002-01-13) 13 January 2002	11	0	Olympic Real de Bangui
20	2DF	Thibault Ban	(1996-08-13) 13 August 1996	9	0	Anges de Fatima
4	2DF	Freeman Niamathé	(1999-03-12) 12 March 1999	7	0	Anges de Fatima
21	2DF	Peter Guinari	(2001-06-02) 2 June 2001	8	0	FC Pipinsried
25	2DF	Sidney Dambakizi	(1996-03-07) 7 March 1996	2	0	Anges de Fatima
26	2DF	Cyriaque Mayounga	(2000-10-04) 4 October 2000	2	0	Senica
24	2DF	Bissafi Dotté	(1999-07-02) 2 July 1999	0	0	Campbell Fighting Camels
7	3MF	Tresór Toropité	(1994-07-31) 31 July 1994	15	2	AS Tempête Mocaf
8	3MF	Jospin Gaopandia	(2000-04-19) 19 April 2000	8	0	Anges de Fatima
6	3MF	Melky Ndokomandji	(1997-08-26) 26 August 1997	6	0	Olympic Real de Bangui
13	3MF	Isaac Ngoma	(2002-12-09) 9 December 2002	6	2	Anges de Fatima
19	3MF	Brad Pirioua	(2000-03-06) 6 March 2000	3	0	Atlético Porcuna
18	3MF	Theodor Yawanendji	(2002-05-16) 16 May 2002	4	1	Gasogi United
11	3MF	Soleil Mongolobao	(2001-06-20) 20 June 2001	1	0	Olympic Real de Bangui
15	4FW	Georgino M'Vondo	(1997-08-12) 12 August 1997	10	0	Angoulême
10	4FW	Karl Namnganda	(1996-02-08) 8 February 1996	7	1	Les Herbiers
12	4FW	Samuel Nlend	(1995-03-15) 15 March 1995	1	0	Futuro Kings
23	4FW	Christopher Fourmy	(1993-04-08) 8 April 1993	1	0	Stade Poitevin
17	4FW	Lobi Manzoki	(1996-10-12) 12 October 1996	1	0	Vipers

The following players have also been called up to the Central African Republic squad within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
MF	Geoffrey Kondogbia	(1993-02-15) 15 February 1993	8	1	Atlético Madrid	v.  Rwanda; 7 June, 2021
FW	Foxi Kéthévoama	(1986-05-30) 30 May 1986	47	8	Balıkesirspor	v.  Burundi; 30 March, 2021
FW	Louis Mafouta	(1994-07-02) 2 July 1994	16	6	Neuchâtel Xamax	v.  Burundi; 30 March, 2021
FW	Alfred Gombe-Fei	(2001-11-01) 1 November 2001	1	0	MFK Vyškov	v.  Burundi; 30 March, 2021
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.