Gabon 2006-07 Home
Gabon 2012-13 Away
The classic Airness template kicks us off with its stripe down one side punctuated by the logo. Here the flag is solely contained within the top of the stripe, which does make the rest of it a little bit less interesting than some of the other designs of the same template. However, the FA logo fits into it really nicely without being overwhelmed by it and the flag at the collar and sleeve cuff remains classic. Yes, the rear is plain, but, for a template, Airness maintained enough individuality for them to work well.
2008 AFCON qualifiers would prove to be tricky, with Gabon drawn in a group with Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Djibouti, but only the top side qualifying (unless 2nd did really well). Djibouti would promptly withdraw, eliminating the 2nd place spot for their group. They’d comfortably beat Madagascar in both matches, but a 5-0 away loss in the Ivory Coast essentially ended their chances from the 2nd match. A 0-0 home draw would regain some honour, but they finished in 2nd, as they would have expected.
We move onto one of the plainest of plain Puma shirts with a little blue around the collar and the 3 Puma logos being the closest it comes to originality at all. Other variants of the template may have had a little detail to them, but not here. Even the FA logo looks to stand out a little too much o the white, there’s just not a lot here to talk about and even less to praise.
Drawn as the top seed in pot 2 for 2014 qualifiers, Gabon were in a good position to challenge top seed Burkina Faso for the World cup play-off spot. However, they opened up with a 0-0 draw against Niger which got worse as they’d fielded an ineligible player and it got annulled as a 3-0 forfeit. They did manage to then beat Burkina Faso but would lose and draw with Congo to eliminate their realistic chance of qualifying. They’d round off the campaign by losing to Burkina Faso and beating Niger to finish 3rd, 4 points behind 2nd and 5 behind 1st.
Gabon are often an upper-middling side in Africa, though they’ve had a few lower moment in their time. They started off inconsistently, not entering often and rarely achieving positive results. However, they’ve entered every qualification since the 1988 AFCON and have taken at least a win in every attempt, with the sole exception of the 2013 AFCON qualifiers. They came closest to a World Cup spot in 2010 qualifiers, with too many draws plaguing their 2018 attempt. On the AFCON side, the wider net for qualification helps them and they’re relatively regular participants. First qualifying in 1994, they made the quarter-finals immediately after in 1996. However, after 3 AFCONs in 4 attempts, they had a bit of a drought and would not return until 2010, though they’ve only missed 3 of the subsequent 8 tournaments. 2012 and 2021 saw them return to the knockout stages, but they’re yet to make a semi-final. 3 CHAN appearances led to a quarter-final as well, but they haven’t been back since 2016. Moderate success has come in regional competition, with them picking up the only UNIFFAC Cup, a CEMAC Cup and 2 UDEAC Cups, though their success is generally older.
As with several other African teams, Gabon’s women’s national team participates inconsistently. They fell out of the rankings after failing to play across all of 2011-14, but initially played as early as 2000. Generally one of the weaker sides in the confederation, they’ve grabbed a few wins against very low tier sides, but not threatened qualification. They were due to host the 2008 WAFCON, but withdrew before the tournament. Recent performances have been better, but participation even more inconsistent. Men’s youth football is broadly similar to the senior side, with a few AFCON qualifications: two U23 AFCONs, five U20s and 3 U17s. However, the inaugural U23 AFCON in 2011 not only saw them qualify, but win the whole thing, reaching the 2012 Olympic Games! They’d lose to Mexico and draw to South Korea and Switzerland but haven’t come close to replicating the feat. Women’s youth football has been very inconsistent for them with the rarity of playing leading to no notable successes from 2 U20 entries and an U17 withdrawal.
Despite their coast, they’ve never tried national beach soccer out, with a similar lack of participation in futsal.
Drawn with continental titans Egypt, Gabon were an outside shot at the play-off spot for topping the group. Generally expected to grab 2nd place, they met that expectation, but didn’t grab the results they’d have been hoping for regardless. Home victories over Libya and Angola, along with a 1-1 draw with Egypt, gave them a good basis, but losing every away game dragged them down into the other 2 teams and they finished second on goal difference alone, 7 points behind Egypt. Not terrible, but a little disappointing.
Adam's National Shirt Collection 