Mauritania

Nickname(s)	Al-Murabitun (الْمُرَابِطُون) Lions of Chinguetti
Association	Fédération de Football de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (FFRIM)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNAF (North Africa)
Head coach	Aritz López Garai
Captain	Aly Abeid
Most caps	Souleymane Diallo (76)
Top scorer	Bessam (13)
Home stadium	Stade Olympique de Nouakchott
FIFA code	MTN
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	115 (1 April 2026)[1]
Highest	81 (July 2017)
Lowest	206 (November 2012 – January 2013)
First international
Madagascar 5–1 Mauritania  (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 25 December 1961)
Biggest win
Somalia 2–8 Mauritania  (Beirut, Lebanon; 27 December 2006)
Biggest defeat
Guinea 14–0 Mauritania  (Guinea; 20 May 1972)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	3 (first in 2019)
Best result	Round of 16 (2023)
FIFA Arab Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1985)
Best result	Group stage (1985, 2021)

The Mauritania national football team (Arabic: منتخب مُورِيتَانْيَا لِكُرَةِ الْقَدَم) represents Mauritania in men's international football. It is controlled by the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and is a member of the Confederation of African Football. They have not qualified for the FIFA World Cup. However, in the Amílcar Cabral Cup, a regional tournament for West Africa, Mauritania came fourth in 1980 on hosting the competition. The national football team of Mauritania was later runners-up in 1995, losing on penalties to Sierra Leone after the final finished 0–0.

On 18 November 2018, Mauritania qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in history, after they won 2–1 against Botswana to seal a spot in the 2019 tournament.

Mauritania played its first match after independence from France on 11 April 1963, against Congo Kinshasa (also making their debut) and lost 6–0.^[3] The match was held in Dakar, Senegal as part of the L'Amitié tournament between African sides. It also saw the debuts of Chad, Liberia and Niger. Mauritania lost its three other matches in the tournament: 2–0 to the Ivory Coast, 4–0 to Tunisia and 7–0 to Congo Brazzaville.

Mauritania's first goal and avoidance of defeat came four years after their debut, in 1967 with a 1–1 draw away in Tanzania. This was their first match since the L'Amitié tournament in 1963.

Mauritania entered their first African Games qualification campaign, in an aim to reach the 1973 finals in Nigeria. They were drawn in a group against Mali and Guinea in Guinea. The first game was lost 11–0 to Mali, and on 20 May Mauritania lost 14–0 to Guinea. Mauritania did not qualify.

In May 1976 Mauritania entered qualification for the football at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada. They were drawn against neighbouring Mali in a two-legged qualifier. The first leg was lost 6–0 away on 1 May, and the second leg was lost 1–0 at home on 18 May. Mali did not qualify for the finals.

Mauritania's first entrance into World Cup qualification was an attempt to reach the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina. In March 1976 they were one of four countries put into two preliminary matches at the start of the African qualification campaign. Mauritania's preliminary was a two-legged match against the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and they drew the first match 1–1 away in Ouagadougou on 13 March. This was their first competitive avoidance of defeat, and their first avoidance of defeat since 1967. On 28 March, Mauritania lost their home leg in Nouakchott 2–0 and the Upper Volta advanced 3–1 on aggregate.

On 12 October 1980, seventeen years after their first game, Mauritania won for the first time by beating Mali 2–1 at home in a qualifier for the African Cup of Nations.^[4] Mali won 3–2 on aggregate having won the first leg 2–0.

Mauritania entered qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, which was their first entry in twenty years and second overall. Again, they were drawn to face Burkina Faso in a two-legged preliminary. The first leg was played at home in Nouakchott in front of 15,000 people on 31 May 1996, one day before any other matches in the round. The match finished 0–0.^[5] The second leg was played at the Stade du 4-Aout in Ouagadougou on 16 June 1996 in front of 13,000 people. Burkina Faso won 2–0 to advance to the final group phase.

Mauritania entered the qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and were placed in a preliminary against Tunisia, who had qualified for the previous tournament. On 7 April 2000 they hosted Tunisia at the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott. A crowd of 10,000 saw Tunisia win 2–1 with second-half goals from Radhi Jaidi and Hassen Gabsi.^[6] In the second leg on 22 April 2000, Mauritania were beaten 3–0 at the Stade El Menzah in Tunis. The match was watched by only 3,000, despite a capacity of 45,000 in the ground.^[7] Tunisia won 5–1 on aggregate and later qualified for the finals in South Korea and Japan.

Mauritania were drawn with Zimbabwe in the preliminary of the African section of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 12 October 2003 they lost the away leg 3–0 at the National Sports Stadium in Harare in front of 55,000 people.^[8] In the home return at the Stade Olympique on 14 November 2003, Mauritania scored twice in the opening ten minutes to win 2–1, their first victory in a World Cup match. However, Zimbabwe advanced 4–2 on aggregate.

The African qualification process was altered for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Only the six lowest-ranked nations played a preliminary, a selection which for the first time did not include Mauritania. Mauritania played in Group 8 of the second qualifying round against Rwanda, Morocco and Ethiopia, and started with an away match at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo in Kigali, Rwanda on 31 May 2008. They lost 3–0 in front of 12,000 people.^[9] The first home match was on 7 June at the Stade Nacional in Nouakchott against Morocco. The Moroccans scored two in each half before a late penalty by Dominique da Silva of Mauritania made the game 4–1.

On 13 June 2008 Mauritania hosted Ethiopia at the Stade Nacional and lost 1–0 after an injury-time winner from Saladin Said. On 22 June Mauritania lost 6–1 in the away match versus Ethiopia at the Addis Ababa Stadium. The Ethiopian forwards Fikru Tefera and Andualem Nigussie scored two goals each in a match which also saw Ba Yaoub of Mauritania sent off after 37 minutes, conceding a penalty to Fikru. The game was 1–1 at half time.^[10] In September 2008 Ethiopia were expelled from the tournament due to government interferences in their football association and all of their results annulled.

Only 1,000 people saw Mauritania's next game at the Stade Nacional as they were beaten 1–0 by Rwanda on 6 September with a late goal by Bobo Bola. Mauritania finished their group campaign at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, Morocco. Like the home game against the Moroccans, Mauritania were 4–0 down but scored the last goal, this time by Dahmed Ould Teguedi. Although the Moroccan stadium had a capacity of 52,000, only 1,472 saw the match.^[11]

Mauritania beat Mauritius 1–0 in the first leg of a preliminary round qualifier for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Nouakchott. SC Bastia's midfielder Adama Ba scored the only goal midway through the first half.^[12] The return leg in Curepipe ended 2–0 in favour of Mauritania. Scorers were Demba Sow and Moulaye Ahmed Bessam.^[13]

In the first round, first leg match, Mauritania beat visitors Equatorial Guinea 1–0 in Nouakchott. The two sides headed into the break scoreless in their match played at Office du Complexe Olympique de Nouakchott. Hosts Mauritania broke the deadlock in the 76th minute through their Tunisian-based striker Ismaël Diakité. In the return match Equatorial Guinea beat Mauritania 3–0 in Malabo.^[14] Equatorial Guinea won 3–1 on aggregate. However, on 3 July 2014, the CAF announced that Equatorial Guinea were disqualified for fielding the ineligible player Thierry Fidjeu in the tie, and as a result, Mauritania advanced to the second round.^[15] Equatorial Guinea later qualified for the final tournament as replacement hosts.

On 18 November 2018, Mauritania qualified to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history, after they won 2–1 against Botswana, coming second in qualification Group I.

The Mauritania national team home kit is all green yellow red trim, and the away kit is all white with green trim.

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

The following players were called up for the friendly match against Argentina and Palestine on 27 and 31 March 2026.^[16]

Caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2026, after the match against Argentina.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Mamadou Diop	(2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 (age 26)	6	0	Grenoble
22	1GK	Abderrahmane Sarr	(2005-04-01) 1 April 2005 (age 21)	8	0	Tromsø
16	1GK	Babacar Diop	(1995-09-17) 17 September 1995 (age 30)	14	0	Nouadhibou
2	2DF	Khadim Diaw	(1998-07-07) 7 July 1998 (age 27)	24	0	Al Nasr
3	2DF	Aly Abeid (captain)	(1997-12-11) 11 December 1997 (age 28)	69	4	CFR Cluj
5	2DF	Lamine Ba	(1997-08-24) 24 August 1997 (age 28)	28	1	Śląsk Wrocław
13	2DF	Nouh Mohamed El Abd	(2000-12-24) 24 December 2000 (age 25)	30	1	AS FAR
20	2DF	Ibrahima Keita	(2001-11-08) 8 November 2001 (age 24)	31	0	Espérance de Tunis
21	2DF	Jordan Lefort	(1993-08-09) 9 August 1993 (age 32)	1	1	Angers
97	2DF	Demine Saleck	(1994-11-30) 30 November 1994 (age 31)	16	0	Nouadhibou
	2DF	Saïd Imigene	(2005-01-16) 16 January 2005 (age 21)	0	0	Leganés
11	3MF	Maata Magassa	(2003-10-31) 31 October 2003 (age 22)	7	0	ZED
17	3MF	Abdallahi Mahmoud	(2000-05-04) 4 May 2000 (age 26)	43	2	Nouadhibou
18	3MF	Moctar Sidi El Hacen	(1995-12-10) 10 December 1995 (age 30)	59	9	Difaâ El Jadidi
19	3MF	Sidi Bouna Amar	(1998-12-31) 31 December 1998 (age 27)	32	2	Al Ittihad
23	3MF	Beyatt Lekweiry	(2005-04-11) 11 April 2005 (age 21)	12	0	Lausanne-Sport
24	3MF	Yacoub Sidi	(1995-12-10) 10 December 1995 (age 30)	18	1	Al Tahaddy
29	3MF	Oumar Ngom	(2004-03-09) 9 March 2004 (age 22)	14	0	Lecce
93	3MF	Guessouma Fofana	(1992-12-17) 17 December 1992 (age 33)	32	0	Al Hilal
	3MF	Amar Haïdara	(2003-11-28) 28 November 2003 (age 22)	0	0	Liepāja
7	4FW	Aboubakary Koïta	(1998-09-20) 20 September 1998 (age 27)	23	3	AEK Athens
9	4FW	Souleymane Anne	(1997-05-12) 12 May 1997 (age 29)	14	1	Al Kharaitiyat
15	4FW	Pape Ndiaga Yade	(2000-01-05) 5 January 2000 (age 26)	16	1	Oleksandriya
27	4FW	Mamadou Diallo	(1996-12-03) 3 December 1996 (age 29)	5	0	CSKA 1948
78	4FW	Djeidi Gassama	(2003-09-10) 10 September 2003 (age 22)	1	0	Rangers
90	4FW	Idrissa Thiam	(2000-09-02) 2 September 2000 (age 25)	36	1	Al Mesaimeer

The following players have been called up for Mauritania in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Babacar Niasse	(1996-12-20) 20 December 1996 (age 29)	26	0	Difaâ El Jadidi	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
DF	Abdellahi El Id	(2001-05-07) 7 May 2001 (age 25)	0	0	AS Douanes	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
DF	Mohamed Sarr	(2002-10-28) 28 October 2002 (age 23)	0	0	Nouadhibou	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
DF	Mohamed Zweide	(2001-03-25) 25 March 2001 (age 25)	0	0	Nouadhibou	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
MF	Bakari Camara	(1994-01-04) 4 January 1994 (age 32)	13	0	Nancy	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
MF	Mohamed Saïd	(2000-02-25) 25 February 2000 (age 26)	0	0	Nouadhibou	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
MF	Abderrahmane Soumaré	(2006-11-11) 11 November 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Alverca	v.  Libya, 15 November 2025
MF	Mouhsine Bodda	(1997-07-18) 18 July 1997 (age 28)	45	1	AS Douanes	v.  Senegal, 14 October 2025
MF	Alassane Diop	(1997-09-22) 22 September 1997 (age 28)	15	1	AS Douanes	v.  Senegal, 14 October 2025
FW	Mamadou Sy	(2000-12-31) 31 December 2000 (age 25)	10	1	APR	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
FW	Ahmed El Moctar	(2003-11-15) 15 November 2003 (age 22)	6	1	Tevragh-Zeina	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
FW	El Mami Tetah	(2001-11-12) 12 November 2001 (age 24)	5	0	AS Douanes	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
FW	Ahmed Salem M’Barek	(2002-03-06) 6 March 2002 (age 24)	2	0	Al Hilal	v.  Kuwait, 25 November 2025
DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up. INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Player has retired from international football. SUS Suspended from the national team.

As of 9 September 2025^[17]

Players in bold are still active with Mauritania.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Souleymane Diallo	76	0	2006–2019
2	Mohamed Dellahi Yali	75	3	2015–present
3	Aly Abeid	71	4	2015–present
4	Ismaël Diakité	68	9	2008–2022
5	Bessam	66	13	2013–2023
6	Abdoulaye Gaye	58	2	2012–2020
7	Hacen El Ide	56	9	2013–present
8	Abdoul Ba	52	0	2013–2022
	Hemeya Tanjy	52	8	2018–present
10	Moustapha Diaw	50	1	2015–2021

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Bessam	13	66	0.2	2013–2023
2	Hacen El Ide	9	56	0.16	2013–present
	Ismaël Diakité	9	68	0.13	2008–2022
4	Aboubakar Kamara	8	29	0.28	2021–present
	Hemeya Tanjy	8	52	0.15	2018–present
6	Boubacar Bagili	6	35	0.17	2015–2019
	Adama Ba	6	48	0.13	2013–2022
8	Ahmed Sidibé	5	19	0.26	1994–2008
	Brahim Ould Malha	5	23	0.22	1994–2002
	Mamadou Niass	5	45	0.11	2013–2023

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1958	Part of France									Part of France
1962 to 1970	Not a FIFA member									Not a FIFA member
1974	Did not enter									Did not enter
1978	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	1	3
1982	Did not enter									Did not enter
1986
1990
1994	Withdrew									Withdrew
1998	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	0	2
2002										2	0	0	2	1	5
2006										2	1	0	1	2	4
2010										4	0	0	4	2	12
2014	Did not enter									Did not enter
2018	Did not qualify									4	1	1	2	7	5
2022										6	0	2	4	2	11
2026										10	1	4	5	4	13
2030	To be determined									To be determined
2034
Total		0/13								32	3	9	20	19	55

Olympic Games record
Appearances: 0
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1896 – 1960	Part of France
1964	Did not enter
1968
1972
1976	Did not qualify
1980	Did not enter
1984	Did not qualify
1988	Did not enter
1992	Did not qualify
1996	Did not enter
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016	Did not qualify
2020
2024
Total		0/28

• Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since the 1992 edition.

Year	Stage	Position
7th November Cup 1995	Group stage	3rd
Jeux de l’Amitié 1963	Group stage	16th
Total	0 titles

• Amílcar Cabral Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1995

• African National Team of the Year (1): 2018

• Mauritania at CAF
• Mauritania at FIFA
• Mauritania at National-Football-Teams.com
• Fédération de Football de Mauritanie
• Mauritanie Football^{[permanent dead link]}
• National football team of Mauritania team picture