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AFCON 2019: Profile of Uganda national football team

By Vincent Ashitey
AFCON 2019: Profile of Uganda national football team
AFCON 2019: Profile of Uganda national football team
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Uganda is in Group A of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Egypt. Dr Congo, Zimbabwe and Egypt are the other national teams in the group.

The Uganda national football team, nicknamed The Cranes, is the national team of Uganda and is controlled by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations.

The team played its first international match on May 1, 1926, in a 1-1 draw game with Kenya. Their biggest defeat came on July 30, 1995 and February 28, 1999, losing 6-0 to Egypt and Tunisia respectively while they recorded their highest margin in the game against Kenya in 1932 winning by 13-1.

The 14 times champions of the CECAFA Cup (East & Central Africa) first participated in the AFCON tournament in 1962. They left a legacy in that tournament by placing 4th.

In 1963 in Ghana, they withdrew from the tournament. They lost all their group stage matches in their second participation in 1968 in Mali where they conceded 8 goals.

In 1974 and 1976, they qualified but once again were eliminated in the group stages. Their best results came in 1978 in Ghana where they took the second position. The host nation, Ghana beat the Cranes 2-0 to clinch their 3rd AFCON trophy.

Read also:

AFCON 2019: Profile of Zimbabwe national football team

 
 
From 1980 to 2015, Uganda did not participate in any of the AFCON tournaments, withdrawing from the tournament thrice during that period.

They have featured 7 times in the history of the continental tournament. 

Sébastien Desabre is the manager of the side, was appointed on December 28, 2017. He replaced Milutin Sredojevic (‘Micho’), from Serbia, who left in July 2017 to become the head coach of the South African side Orlando Pirates Football Club.

Godfrey Walusimbi is the most capped Ugandan player and has notched 3 goals in 99 appearances. He plies his trade for Kaizer Chiefs FC in the Premier Soccer League. The team will be relying on his experience to see them through the tournament.

Godfrey Walusimbi

The Cranes all-time top scorer is Geofrey Massa, registering 22 goals in 72 appearances. He plays for the KTFF Süper Lig side Küçük Kaymaklı in North Cyprus. 

Geofrey Massa

The Cranes is currently ranked 79th in the World and 16th in Africa, with its lowest ranking coming on January 1996, being placed 62nd whilst achieving their highest in July 2002 occupying the 121st position.

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