World Cup qualifying Guinea-Bissau entered their first FIFA World Cup qualification with the aim of reaching the
1998 World Cup in
France. The first round of
African qualification required for them to play
Guinea in a two-legged match. The first leg was held at home in the
Estadio 24 de Setembro in
Bissau on 1 June 1996 with an attendance of 15,000. Guinea-Bissau went 2–0 up at half-time after strikes from
Pereira Tavares in 11th and 36th minutes. Guinea's
Titi Camara equalised with his own brace in the 53rd and 54th minutes. Guinea-Bissau's
Co Cipriano won the game with a 60th-minute penalty to make it 3–2. The away leg was held at the
Stade du 28 Septembre in
Conakry.
Momo Soumah of Guinea scored to level the tie at half-time before
Nando Có scored a bicycle kick for Guinea-Bissau to put his side 4–3 up on aggregate, however another goal from
Momo Soumah and a winner from
Tibou Bangoura won the match for Guinea, giving them a 5–4 lead on aggregate. Guinea-Bissau had never progressed beyond the first round of qualification until the
2022 qualifiers where they defeated
São Tomé and Príncipe 3–1 over two legs, thanks to three goals from
Joseph Mendes.
Africa Cup of Nations Guinea-Bissau first participated in AFCON qualification in
1994 where they defeated
Cape Verde over three legs, but failed to register a single point in the second round as their draw against
Togo was annulled after Togo withdrew from the competition. In 1996 Guinea-Bissau withdrew from qualification after a draw and two losses to begin the campaign, leading to their ban for 1998 AFCON. Guinea-Bissau next entered qualification in 2006 where they lost 4–1 to
Mali national football team and were again banned in 2008 for unpaid debts to
CAF. In 2012 they secured a single win (1–0 against
Kenya) and five losses to finish last in
Group J. The following year they were eliminated 2–0 by
Cameroon. In 2015, after beating
Central African Republic 3–1, they lost to
Botswana by the same scoreline. For the
2017 qualifiers, Guinea-Bissau was drawn from Pot 4 into Group E and, despite being the lowest ranked nation in their group, achieved ten points and qualified for the 2017 tournament ahead of
Congo,
Zambia and
Kenya. In their African Cup of Nations debut, Guinea-Bissau drew 1–1 with
Gabon with a 91st-minute equaliser by
Juary Soares. This was the only point they collected at the tournament and they were eliminated in the group stage. Guinea-Bissau then also won their Group in the
2019 qualifiers to reach a second straight
Finals. They again managed one draw (0–0 against
Benin) and two losses and failed to progress to the knock-out stages. On March 30, 2021, Guinea-Bissau went into their final
qualifying match against
Congo, needing a victory to qualify. They ended comfortable winners with goals from
Piqueti,
Frédéric Mendy and
Jorginho to secure their third successive AFCON appearance. ==Results and fixtures==