Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau go into any tournament with the group stage as the realistic ceiling, and even that has taken decades to reach. The Djurtus have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations four times running, in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023, and each time the campaign has ended after the first round.

The team traces its organised existence to the Football Federation of Guinea-Bissau, set up in 1974 as the country broke from Portuguese rule, though a match against British Gambia is recorded as far back as 1952, played under the colonial name Portuguese Guinea. The federation only joined FIFA and the Confederation of African Football in 1986. The side now recognised as the modern national team took the field for the first time on 7 January 1979, beating Cape Verde 3–0 in Bissau at the Amílcar Cabral Cup.

Red, green and yellow, taken straight from the flag, remain the kit colours, and home games are played at the Estádio 24 de Setembro in Bissau. Neighbours provide the sharper edges: Senegal as the region's dominant qualifier opponent, Gambia as a constant on the calendar, and Guinea, against whom a 7–0 defeat in 2017 still stands as the low point of the AFCON era.

No World Cup appearance has followed any of this, and no trophy sits in the federation's cabinet. What the run of qualifications did produce was a manager who took the team there each time. Baciro Candé guided Guinea-Bissau into their first AFCON in 2017 and stayed in charge through 2019, 2021 and 2023.