Gambia

Nickname	The Scorpions
Association	Gambia Football Federation (GFF)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach	Johnny McKinstry
Captain	Omar Colley
Most caps	Omar Colley (62)
Top scorer	Musa Barrow (14)
Home stadium	Independence Stadium
FIFA code	GAM
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	116 (11 June 2026)[1]
Highest	65 (June 2009)
Lowest	179 (March 2017)
First international
British Gambia 2–1 Sierra Leone (Gambia; 9 February 1953)
Biggest win
Seychelles 0–7 Gambia  (Saint-Pierre, Mauritius; 14 October 2025)
Biggest defeat
Guinea 8–0 Gambia  (Guinea; 14 May 1972)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	2 (first in 2021)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2021)

The Gambia national football team (recognized as The Gambia by FIFA)^[2] represents The Gambia in men's international football and is controlled by the Gambia Football Federation. Until 1965, the team and the country were known as British Gambia. The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).^{[citation needed]}

Under the name British Gambia, the team played their first ever game on 9 February 1953 against Sierra Leone, winning 2–1 at home in a friendly.^[3] In April 1963, the team entered the L'Amitié tournament in Senegal, a competition mainly for French-speaking nations. They were drawn in a group with France's amateur team, the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Gabon. Their first match was lost 5–1 to the French amateurs on 11 April. The Gambia drew 2–2 with the Upper Volta on 13 April, and had the same result the very next day versus Gabon. The Gambia did not advance to the next round.

After the tournament in Senegal, the Gambia did not play another match until 16 November 1968, when they travelled to Sierra Leone to play its team in a friendly and lost 2–1. They played again in Sierra Leone in The Gambia's next match on 24 April 1971, and the hosts won 3–1. On 2 May 1971, The Gambia travelled to Guinea for a friendly and lost 4–2. On 14 May 1972, The Gambia returned to Guinea for their first African Games qualifier and lost 8–0 and were knocked out.

In 1975, the Gambia entered its first qualification campaign for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada. They were drawn in a qualifier against Guinea, and lost the first leg 1–0 at home on 27 April 1975. The second leg was lost 6–0 in Guinea on 1 June as Guinea advanced 7–0 on aggregate.

In August of that same year, the Gambia entered their first qualification for the African Cup of Nations, with the aim of reaching the 1976 finals in Ethiopia. They were drawn in a two-legged qualifier against Morocco and lost the first leg 3–0 away on 10 August. They lost by the same score in their home leg on 24 August and Morocco advanced 6–0 on aggregate.

After the qualification campaign for the 1976 finals, The Gambia played their first match against a full European side, losing a home friendly 4–1 to Denmark on 30 January 1977.^[4]

On 13 October 2002, the team got their biggest ever victory in international competition, a 6–0 victory against Lesotho.^[5]

In May 2014, the Gambia was banned from all CAF competitions for two years after deliberately falsifying players' ages.^[6]

The nation's fortunes improved in qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Although they failed to qualify, they took it to the final round of games, including drawing twice with African giants Algeria.

On 13 November, in their first Group D match of 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Gambia defeated Angola 1–3 in Luanda. This was the Scorpions' first away win in an AFCON or FIFA World Cup qualifier ever, at their 40th attempt. An impressive campaign saw them qualify for their first ever major tournament that year. As the lowest-ranked team in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the Gambia defied the odds by defeating favourites Tunisia in the group stage, finishing unbeaten in 2nd place in the group. A further win against Guinea in the Round of 16 saw them reach the quarter-finals at their first attempt, eventually going out to tournament hosts Cameroon.

The Independence Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Bakau, Gambia. It is currently used mostly for football matches, although it is also used for music concerts, political events, trade fairs and national celebrations. The stadium holds 30,000 people.^[7]

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

2025

[edit]

Gambia  v  Equatorial Guinea

6 June Friendly	Gambia	2–1	Equatorial Guinea	Marrakesh, Morocco
16:00 UTC+1	Sidibeh 7', 45+1'		45+4' Masogo	Stadium: Marrakesh Stadium

Uganda  v  Gambia

9 June Friendly	Uganda	1–1	Gambia	Marrakesh, Morocco
	Mato 27'	Report	Manneh 45+1' (pen.)	Stadium: Marrakesh Stadium

Kenya  v  Gambia

5 September 2026 World Cup qualification	Kenya	1–3	Gambia	Nairobi, Kenya
16:00 UTC+3	Ogam 81'	Report	Sinyan 12' Minteh 26' Barrow 38'	Stadium: Moi International Centre Referee: Amin Omar (Egypt)

Gambia  v  Burundi

9 September 2026 World Cup qualification	Gambia	2–0	Burundi	Nairobi, Kenya
22:00 UTC+3	Fadera 34' (pen.) Adams 76'	Report		Stadium: Nyayo National Stadium Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour (Egypt)

Gambia  v  Gabon

10 October 2026 World Cup qualification	Gambia	3–4	Gabon	Nairobi, Kenya
16:00 UTC+3	Minteh 23' Sidibeh 45+2', 47'	Report	Aubameyang 20', 42', 62', 76'	Stadium: Moi International Sports Centre Referee: Joseph Ogabor (Nigeria)

Seychelles  v  Gambia

14 October 2026 World Cup qualification	Seychelles	0–7	Gambia	Saint Pierre, Mauritius
17:00 UTC+4		Report	Sidibeh 2', 46' Manneh 24', 67', 75' Barrow 47', 52'	Stadium: Côte d'Or National Sports Complex Attendance: 300 Referee: Washington N'Dolo (Liberia)

Kuwait  v  Gambia

18 November Friendly	Kuwait	2–2	Gambia	Cairo, Egypt
	Nasser 65' (pen.) Al-Sharifi 90+2'	Report	A. Ceesay 42', 57'	Stadium: Al Salam Stadium Referee: Mahmoud El Banna (Egypt)

2026

[edit]

Senegal  v  Gambia

31 March Friendly	Senegal	3–1	Gambia	Dakar, Senegal
19:00 UTC+0	Seck 45+4' Mbaye 47' Camara 90+5'	Report	O. Colley 51'	Stadium: Diamniadio Olympic Stadium Referee: Abdelaziz Bouh (Mauritania)

Iran  v  Gambia

29 May Friendly	Iran	3–1	Gambia	Antalya, Turkey
14:00	Yousefi 47' Rezaeian 59' Taremi 68'	Report	O. Colley 42'	Stadium: Mardan Sports Complex Referee: Atilla Karaoğlan [tr] (Türkiye)

Ghana  v  Gambia

TBD 2027 AFCON Qualifiers	Ghana	v	Gambia	TBD, Ghana
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Gambia  v  Ghana

TBD 2027 AFCON Qualifiers	Gambia	v	Ghana	TBD, Gambia
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Ivory Coast  v  Gambia

TBD 2027 AFCON Qualifiers	Ivory Coast	v	Gambia	TBD, Ivory Coast
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Gambia  v  Ivory Coast

TBD 2027 AFCON Qualifiers	Gambia	v	Ivory Coast	TBD, Gambia
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Gambia  v  Somalia

TBD 2027 AFCON Qualifiers	Gambia	v	Somalia	TBD, Gambia
TBD				Stadium: TBD

Somalia  v  Gambia

TBD 2027 AFCON Qualifiers	Somalia	v	Gambia	TBD, Somalia
TBD				Stadium: TBD

As of 14 October 2025^[9]

Players in bold are still active with Gambia.

Most appearances

[edit]

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Omar Colley	62	1	2012–present
2	Musa Barrow	52	14	2018–present
3	Pa Modou Jagne	43	2	2006–2022
4	Assan Ceesay	41	13	2013–present
5	Bubacarr Sanneh	40	1	2012–present
6	Ablie Jallow	38	8	2015–present
	Ebrima Sohna	38	3	2007–2022
8	Sulayman Marreh	35	1	2011–present
9	Abdou Jammeh	33	2	2006–2015
10	Modou Jobe	31	0	2007–present

Top goalscorers

[edit]

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Musa Barrow	14	52	0.27	2018–present
2	Assan Ceesay	13	41	0.32	2013–present
3	Ablie Jallow	8	38	0.21	2015–present
4	Adama Sidibeh	7	9	0.78	2024–present
	Yankuba Minteh	7	19	0.37	2022–present
6	Momoudou Ceesay	6	16	0.38	2010–2015
7	Omar Samba	5	12	0.42	1994–2002
	Jatto Ceesay	5	17	0.29	1994–2007
	Mustapha Jarju	5	26	0.19	2006–2013
10	Muhammed Badamosi	4	26	0.15	2018–present

As of match played 28 May 2026 after the match against Iran

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W%
Algeria	10	2	3	5	7	14	−7	020.00
Angola	5	2	1	2	6	5	+1	040.00
Benin	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	050.00
Burkina Faso	5	1	3	1	4	5	−1	020.00
Burundi	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	050.00
Cameroon	4	0	0	4	2	8	−6	000.00
Cape Verde	9	4	3	2	13	7	+6	044.44
Central African Republic	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	050.00
Chad	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	050.00
China	1	0	0	1	2	4	−2	000.00
Comoros	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Congo	5	1	3	1	5	5	+0	020.00
DR Congo	3	1	1	1	5	3	+2	033.33
Denmark	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	000.00
Djibouti	2	0	2	0	2	2	+0	000.00
Equatorial Guinea	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0	050.00
Gabon	8	2	3	3	11	12	−1	025.00
Ghana	8	1	1	6	6	16	−10	012.50
Guinea	25	8	12	5	22	32	−10	032.00
Guinea-Bissau	12	4	2	6	12	13	−1	033.33
Iran	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	000.00
Ivory Coast	8	2	0	6	5	21	−16	025.00
Kenya	2	1	1	0	6	4	+2	050.00
Kosovo	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Lesotho	2	1	0	1	6	1	+5	050.00
Liberia	10	3	3	4	11	14	−3	030.00
Libya	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Luxembourg	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Madagascar	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	050.00
Mali	21	7	5	9	16	26	−10	033.33
Mauritania	21	8	8	5	26	20	+6	038.10
Mexico	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	000.00
Morocco	8	1	1	6	2	14	−12	012.50
Namibia	4	1	1	2	5	5	+0	025.00
New Zealand	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Niger	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	050.00
Nigeria	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	000.00
Senegal	27	0	11	16	11	40	−29	000.00
Seychelles	2	2	0	0	12	1	+11	100.00
Sierra Leone	20	5	6	9	15	23	−8	025.00
South Africa	3	0	2	1	2	6	−4	000.00
South Sudan	3	3	0	0	6	3	+3	100.00
Tanzania	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	050.00
Togo	6	2	2	2	5	6	−1	033.33
Tunisia	4	3	0	1	5	3	+2	075.00
Uganda	2	0	2	0	2	2	+0	000.00
United Arab Emirates	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Zambia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Total	270	73	83	114	256	359	−103	027.04

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gambia national association football team.

• Official website of the Gambian Football Federation
• Gambia at CAF
• Gambia at FIFA