The Chad national football team (Arabic: منتخب تشاد لكرة القدم, French: Équipe du Tchad de football), nicknamed Les Sao (Arabic: ساو), represents Chad in international football and is controlled by the Chadian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country. The team has never qualified for the World Cup finals or Africa Cup of Nations. Home matches are played at the Idriss Mahamat Ouya Stadium.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]} In April 2021, FIFA banned the Chad national football team from participating in global football over the Chadian government's interference with the Chadian Football Federation.^[12]

Quick Facts Nickname(s), Association ...

Chad

Nickname(s)	Les Sao
Association	Fédération Tchadienne de Football Association (FTFA)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNIFFAC (Central Africa)
Head coach	Kevin Nicaise
Captain	Ezechiel N'Douassel[1][2]
Most caps	Ezechiel N'Douassel (49)
Top scorer	Ezechiel N'Douassel (14)
Home stadium	Stade Idriss Mahamat Ouya
FIFA code	CHA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	176 5 (4 April 2024)[3]
Highest	97 (April 2016)
Lowest	190 (June–September 1997)
First international
Chad 2–2 Niger  (Abidjan, Ivory Coast; 25 December 1961)
Biggest win
Chad 5–0 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Libreville, Gabon; June 29, 1976)  Chad 5–0 São Tomé and Príncipe  (Libreville, Gabon; 10 November 1999)
Biggest defeat
Congo 11–0 Chad  (Congo; 28 March 1964)

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The Chadian Football Federation was founded in 1962 and became affiliated to FIFA and CAF in 1988.

Chad's national football team did not play a big role in world football until the 1990s. They did not enter any qualifiers for Continental or World Cups until the early 1990s when they played their first qualifying matches for the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted by Senegal.^[13] Until then, they played mostly friendly matches and minor cups, mostly with African teams.

The national team had a difficult start − the first match they ever played was in the L'Amitié Tournament, which took place in Senegal in 1963, and it was a 2–1 defeat to Liberia. Soon after, they suffered a 6–2 loss to Dahomey (now Benin).

The Chad national football team never qualified for either the Africa Cup of Nations or the World Cup. Their first participation in the World Cup qualifiers was in 2000 when they were eliminated in the first round by Liberia, losing 0–1 at home, and playing 0–0 away. They were coached by Marcel Mao. Their next attempt was in 2003, under Yann Djim, but they were eliminated by Angola. They won their first home game when Francis Oumar Belonga scored a hat trick, 3–1. They lost their away match 2–0, and went no further. The qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup brought more matches because they played in a group phase together with Mali, Sudan and Congo. They finished at the bottom of the group, with six points (two wins and four losses).

In the qualifying competition for the 2014 World Cup, Chad faced Tanzania in a first-round playoff. Tanzania advanced despite shockingly losing 1–0 at home at Dar es Salaam's National Stadium. The Taifa Stars were tipped for an emphatic victory over the visitors, having won the first-leg 2–1 in N'Djamena. Chad stunned the home side three minutes after the break when Mahamat Ahmat Labo struck to silence the home crowd. But Tanzania managed to progress to the next round thanks to the away goals rule as they were tied 2–2 on aggregate.

Chad played against Malawi in the qualifiers for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Chad won the first leg match 3–2, but lost 2–0 in Blantyre to be eliminated with an aggregate score of 4–3.^[14]

In the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Malawi was the opponent once again. Chad lost 2–0 in the first leg at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, but they won 3–1 in at Idriss Mahamat Ouya Stadium in N'Djamena, losing on the away goals rule. Forward Robin Ngalande turned into a savior for Malawi when he came off the bench to score a crucial late goal.

The biggest achievement for Chad so far is a CEMAC Cup (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) title in 2014, after beating Congo 3–2 in the final on December 14 in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. French-born Emmanuel Trégoat managed the team.^[15] Their previous best was a second place in the 2005 edition, when they lost to Cameroon in the final.^[16]

Les Sao had a disappointing start into their qualifying campaign for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, losing 2–0 to Nigeria and slumping to a 5–1 defeat at home against Egypt. But it was then that things took a turn for the better, as coach Moudou Kouta, who was in charge of the side on an interim basis, took the team to an unexpected victory against Sierra Leone in the first round of the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. Les Sao won 1–0^[17] at home and even though they were beaten 2–1^[18] in the return leg, they advanced to the second round of the qualifiers on away goals. Chad sensationally defeated Egypt 1–0 at home in the second round before falling to a 4–0 defeat in Alexandria three days later.

In March 2016, the Chadian Football Federation announced they were withdrawing from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification due to financial problems. The team was subsequently banned from entering the following edition, meaning they would play no official games for over three years until September 2019, when Chad lost 1–3 at home to Sudan in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. A month later Les Sao defeated Liberia on penalties to reach the Group Stage of 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

In March 2021, the Chadian government dissolved the Chadian Football Federation, leaving Chad facing a likely ban under FIFA regulations that prevent governments from interfering in the running of a country's football team.^[19] In April 2021, FIFA announced an indefinite ban from global football, citing the Chadian government's interference.^[12] Due to this decision, CAF disqualified Chad from its participation in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers.^[20]

More information Kit provider, Period ...

Kit provider	Period
Salamant	1974–1979
Mitre	1980–1992
Fila	1993–2000
Adidas	2001–2020
Kipsta	2020–2021
Anta	2021–2022
Macron	2022–present

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During the independence of Chad, the team competed in international matches and played in a blue shirt, blue shorts, and red socks. These are the national colours of the French flag. In the 1970s, Chad's home colors changed to blue-yellow-red. Their first away kit in 1960 was white shirt, red shorts, and white socks. In 1980, the away kit color changed into red shirt, blue shorts, and yellow socks.

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

2023

Sudan  v  Chad

17 October Friendly	Sudan	1–0	Chad	Taif, Saudi Arabia
19:00 UTC+3		Report		Stadium: King Fahd Sports City

Chad  v  Sudan

20 October Friendly	Chad	1–1	Sudan	Taif, Saudi Arabia
19:00 UTC+3		Report		Stadium: King Fahd Sports City

Mali  v  Chad

17 November 2026 World Cup Qualification	Mali	3–1	Chad	Bamako, Mali
19:00 UTC±0	Doumbia 45' Niakaté 77' Sissoko 81'	Report	Mouandilmadji 53'	Stadium: Stade du 26 Mars Referee: Ahmad Imtehaz Heeralall (Mauritius)

Chad  v  Madagascar

20 November 2026 World Cup Qualification	Chad	0–3	Madagascar	Oujda, Morocco
20:00 UTC+1		Report	Rakotoharimalala 10', 84' Lapoussin 90+1'	Stadium: Stade municipal d'Oujda Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Tewodros Mitiku (Ethiopia)

2024

Chad  v  Mauritius

22 March 2025 AFCON qualification	Chad	1–0	Mauritius	Yaoundé, Cameroon
19:00 UTC+1	Thiam 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium Referee: Ahmed Hassan Hussein (Somalia)

Mauritius  v  Chad

26 March 2025 AFCON qualification	Mauritius	1–2 (1–3 agg.)	Chad	Saint Pierre, Mauritius
19:00 UTC+4	Villeneuve 45+2'	Report	Hiver 74' Hissein 90+10'	Stadium: Côte d'Or National Sports Complex Referee: Hassen Corneh (Liberia)
Note: Chad won 3–1 on aggregate.

Central African Republic  v  Chad

2 June 2026 World Cup qualification

Central African Republic

v

Chad

Chad  v  Comoros

9 June 2026 World Cup qualification

Chad

v

Comoros

As of 20 November 2023.^[31]

Players in bold are still active with Chad.

As of 1 June 2014

More information Opponent, Games ...

Opponent	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Differential
Algeria	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3
Angola	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Bahrain	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Benin	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Botswana	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2
Cameroon	3	0	2	1	0	2	−2
Central African Republic	7	3	1	3	9	11	−2
Congo	13	3	4	6	11	20	−9
Egypt	4	1	1	2	2	9	−7
Equatorial Guinea	7	4	2	1	8	3	+5
Ethiopia	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Gabon	10	2	3	5	12	18	−6
Guinea	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Jordan	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Niger	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Liberia	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1
Libya	4	1	0	3	5	10	−5
Malawi	6	2	1	3	10	15	−5
Mali	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2
Namibia	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1
São Tomé and Príncipe	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5
South Africa	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7
Sudan	6	1	1	4	5	12	−7
Tunisia	4	0	1	3	2	10	−8
Uganda	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Tanzania	2	1	0	1	2	2	0
Togo	2	0	2	0	2	2	0
Yemen	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Zambia	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2
29 Countries	94	23	24	47	89	151	−64

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• CEMAC Cup
  • Winners (1): 2014
  • Runners-up (1): 2015
• UDEAC Championship
  • Runners-up (2): 1986, 1987

• List of Chad international footballers
• Football in Chad