The São Tomé and PrÃÂncipe national football team is the national association football team of São Tomé and PrÃÂncipe and is controlled by the São Toméan Football Federation. It is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA.
São Tomé and PrÃÂncipe's first ever match was a friendly against Gabon in May 1976. They lost by a score of 6âÂÂ1. Their next game, during the 1976 Central African Games, was a horrendous 11âÂÂ0 loss to Congo, São Tomé's largest loss to date. São Tomé rounded off the competition with a 2âÂÂ1 loss to Central African Republic and a 5âÂÂ0 loss to Chad.
The following year, São Tomé picked up their first win, in a friendly versus Rwanda. In both 1978 and 1987 they achieved a draw at home to Angola.
The Green and Yellows took an eleven year break, before a string of matches including their first entry to a FIFA sanctioned tournament. At the UNIFAC Cup in 1999, they achieved their second win, 2âÂÂ0 against Equatorial Guinea. They won the next game after that, against Sierra Leone, 2âÂÂ0. This two-in-a-row streak accompanied with a draw a few matches later placed them at their highest FIFA ranking to date, 179.
In 2003, São Tomé lost to Libya 1âÂÂ0 and 8âÂÂ0, which was a major blow to their previous success. São Tomé did not participate in the qualification for the 2010 World Cup, withdrawing before their first match, leaving them unranked in the FIFA rankings because they did not play any matches for four years.
On 11 November 2011, after an eight-year hiatus, São Tomé and PrÃÂncipe participated in the qualification for the 2014 World Cup, losing to Congo 5âÂÂ0, then drawing 1âÂÂ1 with the same team four days later. São Tomé were reinstated in the FIFA rankings on 23 November 2011, entering at number 192.
In January 2012, in the preliminary round of 2013 AFCON Qualifiers, São Tomé achieved their first ever aggregate win, defeating Lesotho 1âÂÂ0 at home then successfully defending a 0âÂÂ0 draw in Maseru seven days later. In the next round, São Tomé only narrowly lost 5âÂÂ4 on aggregate to Sierra Leone. In the following years, São Tomé continued to show promise with impressive wins at home to Ethiopia and Libya but poor away results prevented them from advancing again.
On 9 October 2019, São Tomé defeated Mauritius 1âÂÂ3 away from home in the first leg of their preliminary round tie of 2021 AFCON Qualifiers. This was São Tomé and PrÃÂncipe's first away win in a competitive match ever. Four days later, São Tomé won 2âÂÂ1 at home to advance 5âÂÂ2 on aggregate and enter Group C, facing Ghana, South Africa and Sudan, where they finished bottom with zero points.
During the 2023 AFCON qualifiers, São Tomé faced Mauritius, winning the first leg 1âÂÂ0 before drawing the second leg 3âÂÂ3 to advance to the group stages. Following the fixtures CAF sanctioned São Tomé for their first leg victory as they hadn't followed COVID protocol for Luis Leal, giving Mauritius a 3âÂÂ0 victory and eliminating São Tomé from the competition. São Tomé appealed the decision and, following an initial unsuccessful ruling, they were reinstated by CAF a week before the first qualifying group game.
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
The following players were called up for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification preliminary round matches against Ethiopia on 27 and 31 March 2026.
Caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2025, after the match against Malawi
The following players were also named to a squad in the last 12 months.