Nickname(s) Nzalang Nacional Most caps Genoveva Añonma (28) FIFA code EQG Location Equatorial Guinea | Head coach Miguel Ángel Pozanco Top scorer Genoveva Añonma (15) Captain Genoveva Añonma | |
Sub-confederation UNIFFAC (Central Africa) Association Equatoguinean Football Federation Confederation Confederation of African Football | ||
The Equatorial Guinea women's national football team is the women's national team for Equatorial Guinea. Their nickname is the Nzalang Nacional.
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They defeated South Africa 2–1 in an Olympic Games Qualifier on February 18, 2007, but lost the return leg 4–2. In the 2008 Women's African Football Championship (which they hosted), they went undefeated in Group A which featured Cameroon, Congo, and Mali. They defeated Nigeria 1–0 in the semifinal and went on to win the championship beating South Africa 2–1. They became the first nation other than Nigeria to win the Women's African Football Championship. They made their debut in an international tournament at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, losing all three of their group stage matches against Norway, Australia and Brazil.
Equatorial Guinea is the third women's team (out of five) from the Confederation of African Football to qualify for a FIFA Women's World Cup (Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and Côte d'Ivoire being the others).
Simporés' gender case
Between 2006 and 2010, Bilguissa and Salimata Simporé, a sibling duo from Burkina Faso, used to play for Equatorial Guinea - the first as a central defender and the latter as a centre forward. Beyond the mechanism by which they were naturalized, the main controversy arose regarding whether they were actually two men. They had integrated the Equatorial Guinea's squads that won the 2008 African Women's Championship and reached the second place in the 2010 African Women's Championship, which allowed Equatorial Guinea to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Around April 2011, they were removed from national team by the Italian-born Brazilian coach Marcelo Frigerio, who had recently assumed, just a few months before participating in the World Cup. Since then, the Simporé siblings never were called-up. In 2015, Frigerio, now a former national team coach, told the Brazilian press they are in fact men.
World Cup record
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.Current squad
The following players were called for two 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations Qualifying matches against Mali in April 2016.
SUS Player suspended by FIFA for 10 matches. RET Retired from national team.