With a population less than two million, the Smiling Coast of Africa, as the country's nicknamed, is still waiting for her maiden appearance at the continental showpiece event..
"If you look at the current player pool, the football landscape in the country, you can only say that Gambian football has a bright future," M'Boge told Sjag.gm.
M'Boge has coached some of Gambia's biggest talents at both youth level and in the senior national team.
Having guided Real de Banjul to league glory in 2014, M'Boge served as assistant coach to former Scorpions coaches, the late Peter Bonu Johnson, Raoul Savoy, Sang Ndong and most recently current head coach Tom Saintfiet.
"The potential is there to not only qualify for the AFCON but to feature regularly in international competitions including the expanded World Cup," M'Boge explained.
"These goals are supported by a strong youth development and grassroots programme that will benefit both men's football and the women's game."
Shift in Mentality
Gambian players have in the past been tagged as footballers without character and lack the mental strength to compete against the big boys in African football. M'Boge says there's now a shift in mentality.
"There has also been a mentality shift where our players are no longer intimidated by others, they have seen that they compete alongside the best players and teams in the world," the 40-year old said.
The last two years has seen the rise of many Gambian players in Europe, Italy to be precise where seven Gambian internationals ply their trade.
Musa Barrow who was nominated for the 2019 CAF Award Most Promising Player has been one of the star performers with his club Bologna.
His compatriot Musa Juwara also of Bologna has enjoyed much game time and famously scored at the San Siro against Inter Milan four years after arriving in Italy through the perilous Mediterranean Sea.
"Gambian players play their best when they can express themselves.The challenges faced in the country means that football is an escape from all that.
"I've seen that our players are very happy when they play football, you can be at training at times and be crying with laughter just with the enjoyment you get alongside the serious hard work."
The Gambia top their Cameroon 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations group with four point leveled with Gabon, two more than DR Congo in third while Angola sit bottom with zero point.
"I'm convinced that with the current talented pool of players, this generation and those to come will be inspired to take Gambian football to the highest level."
Competitive zonal region
The WAFU A zone has some of the biggest names in African football, and M'Boge believes it is one of the most competitive in the continent, as he prepares for this year's Total Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifying tournament in Senegal.
"Our zonal region is one of the most competitive in Africa and if you look at the 2019 (U-20 AFCON) finalists, champions Mali and runners-up Senegal, at least one of them is guaranteed not to be there for 2021," Mattar emphasised.
The Confederation of African Football in its bit to decentralized and rekindle zonal bodies decided to use the zonal competitions as a qualifying tournament for the Africa U-17 and U-20 Cup of Nations.
"Teams will be looking for AFCON qualification (Mauritania 2021) and the only way to achieve that is to win the (2020 WAFU A U-20) trophy, so we expect an extremely tough tournament."
M'Boge masterminded Gambia's triumph in the 2018 WAFU A tournament in Liberia, but failed to make the 2019 youth AFCON in Niger, before finishing third in Guinea last year.
"We managed to win it in 2018 and got bronze in 2019, many people will have the current champions and next hosts Senegal as the odds-on favourites.
"All the pressure will be on them and we all know that if you want to get your hands on that trophy, you must find a way past the Senegalese.
"We are very much looking forward to what will be a thrilling tournament."
The beautiful game has been badly affected due to the Coronavirus pandemic, halting all football activities in the region, this year's host Senegal is one of the worst hit countries.
"My only worry is the number of cases in Senegal and Mauritania but hopefully everything will settle down by then," said the former senior Scorpions assistant coach.
M'Boge has in the past opted for a squad mainly of local based players, but the suspension of football activities in the country since mid March due to the Covid19 pandemic is a challenge facing the young gaffer.
"There are some challenges that we will face which we are already planning for," explained M'Boge.
"We know that the league was stopped but we need players to be active and in good form for their clubs before we select them.
"However, depending on when the government decides that sporting activities can resume, we have some technical programs that we will put in place to make sure that the selection process is fair and also allows the best to shine through.
"As coaches we must be creative in these unusual situations."
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