[3] Equatorial Guinea would come in fourth in the 1987 UDEAC Cup, losing on penalties in the third place match to Gabon, even though they only scored one goal throughout the tournament in a 1–1 draw against Chad.

[8] They progressed to the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by the tournament's runners-up Ivory Coast, losing 3–0 with goals from Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré.

[10] Three years after that Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea organized solely the 2015 edition, but this time, to replace Morocco, the original host.

The country finished the tournament in fourth place, being its best international participation to date and helping it reach a historical 49th position in the FIFA rankings.

The Nzalang Nacional performed poorly in their first two games, losing both with one goal margin to Tanzania away and Tunisia at home, and it appeared that Equatorial Guinea would just end up failing as usual as the team had never qualified throughout regular qualification outside hosting the competition twice.

[11][12] However, the COVID-19 pandemic led all AFCON qualification suspended until late 2020, when it resumed as Equatorial Guinea faced up against a rising spirit Libyan side that aimed to qualify for the first time since 2012.

[13] The Nzalang Nacional later hosted the same opponent at home, and like their game in Cairo, the Equatorial Guineans won again, 1–0, by virtual goal from Iban Salvador.

[14] After beating Tanzania 1–0 on home soil, Equatorial Guinea managed a historic feat, a regular qualification for the first time ever in its history.

[citation needed] During AFCON 2021, the National Thunder were drawn in group E, alongside Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Algeria.

[16] In the round of 16, Equatorial Guinea was drawn against Mali, the winners of group F. The game ended in a goalless draw after 120 minutes and went to deciding penalties, where the Nzalang Nacional won the shoot-out 6–5 thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Jesús Owono, who saved two of the shots.

[17] In recent years, Equatorial Guinea has courted controversy by recruiting foreign players and giving them citizenship despite having little or no ties to the country.

DR Congo head coach Claude Le Roy complained that the Equatorial Guinea were acting like the "United Nations of football".

[19] Before the arrival of new coach Andoni Goikoetxea to Malabo, in March 2013, the Equatoguinean board made the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde and again called-up nine Brazilian players.

[29] Nsue continued to play for Equatorial Guinea despite FIFA declaring his ineligibility, including the 2015, 2021, and 2023 editions of the African Cup of Nations.

The rivalry with Tunisia is unique over the fact that these meetings are more recent and used to be regarded as unimportant, but the root fuelling this rivalry occurred during the quarter-finals of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, in which the Tunisians got a string of unfair decisions from the referee, which caused the team to lose to the Equatorial Guinean hosts 2–1, fuelled widespread rage and anger among Tunisian players and fans.

Win Draw Loss Fixture The following players were called up for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Algeria and Togo on 14 and 17 November 2024, respectively.