Niger national football team

Although one of the less successful 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 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in which Niger eliminated Somalia and Togo on the away goals rule, 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 a record by thrashing Mauritania 7–1 in continental qualifiers, the highest positive score margin for the Mena.

In the 2004 African Nations Cup qualifiers, Niger won all their home games (including a win over Guinea) to finish on nine points, just three 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 Nigerien Football Federation would have turned to fundraising to pay for their trip to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola, had they qualified.^[7]

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 AFCON 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.^[8]

After home wins 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.^[9][10] 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 alongside co-hosts Gabon, Tunisia and Morocco. In their opening match, Niger lost 2–0 to Gabon, while 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. William N'Gounou, however, then made history by scoring Niger's first ever goal at the African Cup of Nations. A 1–1 draw looked likely, but Issam Jemâa's goal would eliminate Niger from the tournament. In the final match, Niger faced Morocco in a match featuring two sides already eliminated from the tournament. Younès Belhanda scored on an assist from Marouane Chamakh just 11 minutes from time to give Morocco a 1–0 victory.^[11]

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 Mohamed Chikoto and Issoufou Boubacar had sent Niger to another African Cup of Nations tournament.^[12]

In their first match at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Niger lost 1–0 to Mali at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. Mali captain Seydou Keita handed his nation the hard-fought victory five minutes before the end of the encounter. Niger then 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 quarter-finals as Group B winners.^[13] 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.^[14][15]

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2024

Ghana  v  Niger

18 November 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	Ghana	1–2	Niger	Accra, Ghana
13:00 UTC+0	Afriyie 67'	Report	Badamassi 22' Sako 90+2'	Stadium: Accra Sports Stadium Referee: Rulisa Patience Fidele (Central African Republic)

2025

Niger  v  Morocco

21 March 2026 World Cup qualification	Niger	1–2	Morocco	Oujda, Morocco
21:30 UTC+0	Oumarou 47'	Report	Saibari 59' El Khannouss 90+1'	Stadium: Honor Stadium Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)

Niger  v  Bonaire

25 March Friendly	Niger	6–0	Bonaire	Casablanca, Morocco
				Stadium: Père Jégo Stadium

Oman  v  Niger

20 May Friendly	Oman	4–1	Niger	Muscat, Oman
20:00 UTC+4	Al-Sadi 25' (pen.) Al-Ghafri 45', 45+1' Al-Ghassani 86' (pen.)	Report	Goumey 39'	Stadium: Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Attendance: 0

Morocco  v  Niger

5 September 2026 World Cup qualification	Morocco	5–0	Niger	Rabat, Morocco
20:00 UTC+1	Saibari 29', 38' El Kaabi 51' Igamane 69' Ounahi 84'	Report		Stadium: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium Attendance: 63,000 Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)

Tanzania  v  Niger

9 September 2026 World Cup qualification	Tanzania	0–1	Niger	Zanzibar City, Tanzania
16:00 UTC+3		Report	Sosah 58'	Stadium: Amaan Stadium Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)

Niger  v  Congo

8 October 2026 World Cup qualification	Niger	3–1	Congo	Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
19:00 UTC+0	Sosah 45+2' Oumarou 49' Adebayor 67'	Report	Bassinga 90+4'	Stadium: Stade du 4 Août Referee: Boubou Traoré (Mali)

Zambia  v  Niger

12 October 2026 World Cup qualification	Zambia	0–1	Niger	Ndola, Zambia
15:00 UTC+2		Report	Sosah 56'	Stadium: Levy Mwanawasa Stadium Attendance: 49,800 Referee: Lucky Kasalirwe (Uganda)

Burkina Faso  v  Niger

14 November Friendly	Burkina Faso	3–2	Niger
		Report

Guinea  v  Niger

18 November Friendly	Guinea	1–1	Niger	Morocco
16:30 UTC+1	Baldé 59'	Report	Sako 84'

2026

Libya  v  Niger

27 March Friendly	Libya	0–0	Niger	Casablanca, Morocco
19:00 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: Larbi Zaouli Stadium Referee: Mustapha Kech Chaf (Morocco)

Niger  v  Togo

31 March Friendly	Niger	0–1	Togo	Casablanca, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1		Report	Denkey 5'	Stadium: Père Jégo Stadium Referee: Mohamed El Baroudi (Morocco)

As of 31 March 2026^[18]

Players in bold are still active with Niger.

As of 31 March 2026

More information Opponent, Games ...

Opponent	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Differential
Algeria	10	1	1	8	3	27	−24
Angola	4	0	0	4	2	8	−6
Benin	15	3	5	7	17	24	−7
Bonaire	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6
Botswana	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2
Burundi	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Burkina Faso	19	3	8	9	17	29	−12
Cameroon	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4
Central African Republic	3	0	2	1	3	5	−2
Chad	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Congo	7	1	2	4	7	13	−6
Djibouti	2	2	0	0	11	4	+7
DR Congo	3	1	1	1	4	2	+2
Egypt	7	1	1	5	2	19	−17
Equatorial Guinea	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Ethiopia	5	2	0	3	4	7	−3
Eswatini	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Gabon	8	2	0	6	10	19	−9
Gambia	2	0	1	1	1	3	-2
Ghana	13	1	2	10	7	40	−33
Guinea	8	3	0	6	9	14	−5
Ivory Coast	13	0	2	11	9	29	−20
Lesotho	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Liberia	8	3	2	3	7	10	−3
Libya	8	0	5	3	7	13	−6
Madagascar	2	0	1	1	2	6	−4
Mali	8	1	2	5	4	10	−6
Mauritania	5	3	2	0	10	3	+7
Morocco	9	1	0	8	3	23	−20
Mozambique	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Namibia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Nigeria	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6
Senegal	7	1	2	4	3	7	−4
Sierra Leone	7	4	0	3	12	15	−3
Somalia	3	1	2	0	4	1	+1
South Africa	3	1	1	1	2	3	−1
Sudan	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3
Tanzania	4	1	1	2	2	3	-1
Togo	12	4	3	5	17	18	-1
Tunisia	3	0	0	3	2	4	−2
Uganda	8	2	2	4	7	11	-4
Ukraine	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
United Arab Emirates	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4
Zambia	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2
Zimbabwe	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0
45 Countries	234	53	53	127	223	400	−177

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