Football in Angola

Football
This is the Angolan Flag!
Governing bodyAngolan Football Federation
National team(s)men's national team
Club competitions
International competitions
The 35,000-capacity Estádio Nacional de Ombaka is located in Benguela.

Football is the most popular sport in Angola, The national team (m) qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and many Angolan footballers play internationally, particularly in Portugal and France.

Organized games of women's football teams have been known in Angola since 1993, and since 1995, Campeonato Provincial de Luanda has had a league operation in Angola, albeit limited to the province of Luanda.

The top male national league is the Girabola.[1]

Women's football in Angola is generally suffering from a lack of attention, also through associations and clubs. As a result, there are hardly any multi-faceted league structures, and due to the lack of youth classes, it is not uncommon for 12-year-old girls and almost 40-year-old women to meet in the same game. Due to a lack of training opportunities for women, there is the threat of an over-aging, and thus to an end to women's football in Angola.

Angola was a Portuguese colony since the late 15th century, and so it was the Portuguese who popularized football there. Football in Angola is still shaped by its Portuguese origins and relationships, for example through a number of affiliates of the Portuguese clubs S.L. Benfica and Sporting CP.

The national football association of Angola is the Federação Angolana de Futebol (FAF). It was founded in 1979, after Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975. The FAF organizes the national football leagues Girabola (1st league) and Gira Angola (2nd league) and is also responsible for the Angolan national team of men and women.

The country hosted the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

  1. ^ "BBC Sport - Football - Nations Cup stadiums standing idle in Angola". Retrieved 23 September 2016.