The Liberia national football team, nicknamed the Lone Stars, represents Liberia in men's international football and is controlled by the Liberia Football Association. Although the nation produced the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year, George Weah, its football team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and has qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations just twice—in 1996 and 2002. It is a member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF). History African Cup of Nations In 1967 Liberia played in its first African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, drawing its first match 2–2 against Guinea. They also drew against Senegal however lost both returning fixtures and were eliminated in the first round. Liberia returned to qualifying in 1976 but lost in the preliminary round to Togo, falling to defeat in both fixtures. After another absence, Liberia again joined AFCON qualifying in 1982 in the preliminary rounds but failed to progress after two draws against Gambia, losing on the away goals rule. Liberia withdrew from qualifying for the 1984 African Cup of Nations, but the following tournament they managed to secure their first win during qualifying, a 3–1 first leg victory over Mauritania. They failed to capitalize on this advantage, losing 3–0 in the second leg. Liberia then faced Sierra Leone and Mali during the 1988 qualification and 1990 qualification respectively, but again failed to progress. In 1992, Liberia withdrew from qualifying before playing a match and in 1994, Liberia was put into a group with two participants that withdrew during qualifying (Tanzania and Burkina Faso) however they failed to take advantage of this, and finished with zero points, having lost to Ghana twice. In the 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification, Liberia managed to register three wins (against Togo, Tunisia and Mauritania) and four draws, which saw them finish the group in second place and qualify for their first African Cup of Nations tournament. Following the withdrawal of Nigeria, Liberia were placed in a group with Gabon and Zaire. Liberia opened the tournament with a 2–1 victory over Gabon with goals from Kelvin Sebwe and Mass Sarr Jr., but lost 2–0 to Zaire. This meant that Liberia finished bottom of the group on goal difference and failed to progress to the knock-out stages. Liberia missed out on returning to the African Cup of Nations in 1998 as they finished one point off of qualification.