Guinea's national football team made its international debut on 6 December 1958, losing 6–1 to Ghana in an away friendly shortly after the country gained independence from France. The team is governed by the Guinean Football Federation and competes under the auspices of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The defining moment in Guinea's football history came at the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations, where the team reached the final and finished as runners-up to Morocco, falling short of the title by just a single point. That remains the country's best-ever finish in African continental competition.
After a turbulent period that included a FIFA-imposed ban in 2001 due to government interference in football, Guinea returned to international competition in September 2002. The years that followed brought a sustained run of form: the team reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in four tournaments — 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2015 — establishing itself as a consistent presence in the latter stages of the continent's premier competition. A notable group-stage result came in 2012, when Guinea defeated Botswana 6–1, the first time any side had scored six goals in a single Africa Cup of Nations match since Côte d'Ivoire in 1970.
Guinea has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, a milestone that continues to define the ambitions of the national side. The team carries the hopes of a passionate footballing nation and remains a competitive force within African football.