The São Tomé and Príncipe national football team is the national association football team of São Tomé and Príncipe and is controlled by the São Toméan Football Federation. It is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA.
History São Tomé and Príncipe's first ever match was a friendly against Gabon in May 1976. They lost by a score of 6–1. Their next game, during the 1976 Central African Games, was a horrendous 11–0 loss to Congo, São Tomé's largest loss to date. São Tomé rounded off the competition with a 2–1 loss to Central African Republic and a 5–0 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, 2–0 against Equatorial Guinea. They won the next game after that, against Sierra Leone, 2–0. 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 1–0 and 8–0, 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 Príncipe participated in the qualification for the 2014 World Cup, losing to Congo 5–0, then drawing 1–1 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 1–0 at home then successfully defending a 0–0 draw in Maseru seven days later. In the next round, São Tomé only narrowly lost 5–4 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 1–3 away from home in the first leg of their preliminary round tie of 2021 AFCON Qualifiers. This was São Tomé and Príncipe's first away win in a competitive match ever. Four days later, São Tomé won 2–1 at home to advance 5–2 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 1–0 before drawing the second leg 3–3 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 3–0 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.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2025
2026
Coaching staff
Role Name Head coach Ricardo Monsanto Assistant coach Vladimir Viegas Assistant coach Ricardo Vaz Reis Fitness coach William Barbosa Physiotherapist Holiday Cruz
Coaching history
Rudi Gutendorf (1984) Juvenal Correia (1998) Eduardo de Sousa (2000) Antônio Dumas (2000–2001) Jose Ferraz (2003–2005) Osvaldo Lima (2011) Gustave Clément Nyoumba (2011–2015) António do Rosário (2015–2017) Gustave Clément Nyoumba (2017–2019) Adriano Eusébio (2019–2024) Ricardo Monsanto (2024–present)
Players
Current squad The following players were called up for the Friendly match against Gibraltar on 23 September 2026.STP Press
Caps and goals correct as of 23 September 2026, after the match against Gibraltar
Recent call-ups The following players were also named to a squad in the last 12 months.
Player records
Players in bold are still active with São Tomé and Príncipe.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer1Joazhifel Soares3612011–20232Luís Leal29112012–present3Ivonaldo2602014–20234Joel Neves2002020–presentZé2032011–20216Ronaldo Afonso1932017–presentMarcos Barbeiro1912016–presentVavá Pequeno1902019–present9Francisco do Nascimento1802011–201810Harramiz1722015–2023Adjeil Neves1702021–presentEba Viegas1702021–present
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer1Luís Leal11292012–present2Jair Nunes4122011–20163Ronaldo Afonso3192017–presentZé3202011–20215Amilcar232000Ricardo Cardoso2142021–presentIniesta2152017–presentHarramiz2172015–2023
Competition records
FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition*1930 to 1974Part of Part of 1978 to 1986Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member 1990Did not enterDeclined participation 1994WithdrewWithdrew 1998Did not enterDid not enter 2002Did not qualify210124 2006200209 2010WithdrewWithdrew 2014Did not qualify201116 2018210113 2022200213 202610109526 2030To be determined 2034Total-------2031161051
Africa Cup of Nations Africa Cup of Nations recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition* 1957Part of Part of 1959 1962 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976Not affiliated to CAFNot affiliated to CAF 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988Did not enterDid not enter 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000Did not qualify200206 2002201125 2004WithdrewWithdrew 2006Did not qualify200209 2008Did not enterDid not enter 2010WithdrewWithdrew 2012Did not enterDid not enter 2013Did not qualify421155 2015200204 20176105419 2019200224 20218206818 20236123722 2025202011 2027To be determinedTo be determined 2029Total0 titles0/35——————3666242993
Head-to-head record
References
External links São Tomé and Príncipe at CAF São Tomé and Príncipe at FIFA