Rwanda national football team


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The Rwanda national football team represents Rwanda in international football and is controlled by the Rwandese Association Football Federation, the governing body of football in Rwanda, and competes as a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), as well as the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA), a CAF sub-confederation that governs football in East and Central Africa. The team bears the nickname Amavubi (Kinyarwanda for The Wasps), and primarily plays its home games at the Stade Amahoro in Kigali, the nation's capital. They have never qualified for a World Cup finals, and reached their only Africa Cup of Nations in 2004.

Rwanda
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Amavubi (The Wasps)
AssociationRwanda Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationCECAFA (East Africa)
Head coachTorsten Spittler
CaptainHaruna Niyonzima
Most capsHaruna Niyonzima (112)
Top scorerOlivier Karekezi (24)
Home stadiumAmahoro Stadium
FIFA codeRWA

First colours

Second colours

FIFA ranking
Current 130 Increase 1 (19 September 2024)[1]
Highest64 (March 2015)
Lowest178 (July 1999)
First international
 Burundi 6–2 Rwanda 
(Libreville, Gabon; 29 June 1976)
Biggest win
 Rwanda 9–0 Djibouti 
(Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; 13 December 2007)
Biggest defeat
 Cameroon 5–0 Rwanda 
(Libreville, Gabon; 7 July 1976)
 Zaire 6–1 Rwanda 
(Gabon; 12 July 1976)
 Tunisia 5–0 Rwanda 
(Tunis, Tunisia; 10 April 1983)
 Uganda 5–0 Rwanda 
(Kampala, Uganda; 1 August 1998)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances1 (first in 2004)
Best resultGroup stage (2004)
Afro-Asian Games
Appearances1 (first in 2003)
Best resultFourth place (2003)

Rwanda qualified for its first Africa Cup of Nations in the 2004 edition.[3] At the tournament, they lost their opening match 2–1 to Tunisia before winning their first ever point in the competition after a 1–1 draw against Guinea.[4] Rwanda went on to beat DR Congo in their final group match by a 1–0 scoreline, but it wasn't enough, as elsewhere in the group, Guinea and Tunisia drew, meaning both teams progressed to the quarter-finals, and Rwanda were eliminated.[5]

In 2001, after adopting the new flag of Rwanda, The Federation (FERWAFA) changed the color of the team kit. The new team kit consists of a yellow jersey, blue shorts and green socks for home matches, while their away kit is either all white or all blue. Adidas has generally been the manufacturer for the Rwandan team since 2001.[6] However, between 2004 and 2009, Rwanda used L-sport as their outfitter, and in 2015 the side started wearing kit provided by AMS, an emerging Australian supplier.

Under the official FIFA Trigramme the team's name is abbreviated as RWA; this acronym is used by FIFA, the CAF and the CECAFA to identify the team in official competitions.[7] However the team was more commonly known as the RR, the acronym for the country's official name, Repubulika y'u Rwanda or République du Rwanda, which the local press used when they referred to the team as the RR XI. The national team is often referred to as Amavubi (The Wasps).[8][9]

Results and fixtures

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The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

The following players were called up for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Libya and Nigeria on 4 and 10 September 2024.[10]

Caps and goals correct as of 10 September 2024, after the match against   Nigeria.

The following players have been called up for Rwanda in the last 12 months.

As of 10 September 2024[11]
Players in bold are still active with Rwanda.
Rank Name Caps Goals Career
1 Haruna Niyonzima 112 6 2006–2022
2 Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza 89 6 2006–2018
3 Jean-Claude Iranzi 76 3 2008–2019
4 Olivier Karekezi 70 24 2000–2013
5 Fitina Omborenga 69 1 2013–present
6 Jean-Luc Ndayishimiye 64 0 2007–2019
7 Meddie Kagere 59 15 2011–present
Jacques Tuyisenge 59 16 2011–2022
9 Djihad Bizimana 58 2 2015–present
10 Jean-Claude Ndoli 50 0 2005–2014
Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Olivier Karekezi 24 70 0.34 2000–2013
2 Jacques Tuyisenge 16 59 0.27 2011–2022
3 Meddie Kagere 15 59 0.25 2011–present
4 Jean Lomami 14 25 0.56 2003–2009
5 Labama Bokota 13 33 0.39 2007–2012
6 Ernest Sugira 12 36 0.33 2015–2022
7 Saïd Makasi 9 26 0.35 2003–2009
8 Jimmy Gatété 8 41 0.2 1996–2009
9 Daddy Birori 7 25 0.28 2009–2014
Muhadjiri Hakizimana 7 35 0.2 2016–present
FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
  1978 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
  1982 Did not enter Declined participation
  1986
  1990 Withdrew Withdrew
  1994 Did not enter Declined participation
  1998 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 5
    2002 2 0 1 1 2 4
  2006 12 2 3 7 10 17
  2010 10 3 2 5 8 11
  2014 8 1 3 4 7 13
  2018 2 0 0 2 1 4
  2022 8 2 1 5 12 9
      2026 To be determined 4 2 1 1 3 1
      2030 To be determined
  2034
Total 0/11 48 10 11 27 44 64

Africa Cup of Nations

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Africa Cup of Nations record
Appearances: 1
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
  1957 to   1962 Part of   Belgium
  1963 to   1976 Not affiliated to CAF
  1978 to   1980 Did not enter
  1982 to   1984 Did not qualify
  1986 Did not enter
  1988 Withdrew
  1990 to   1998 Did not enter
    2000 to   2002 Did not qualify
  2004 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 3 3
  2006 to   2013 Did not qualify
  2015 Disqualified
  2017 to   2023 Did not qualify
  2025 To be determined
      2027
Total Group stage 1/34 3 1 1 1 3 3

African Nations Championship

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African Nations Championship record
Appearances: 4
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
  2009 Did not qualify
  2011 Group stage 16th 3 0 0 3 2 7
  2014 Did not qualify
  2016 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 0 2 5 7
  2018 Group stage 13th 3 1 1 1 1 1
  2020 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 3 3
  2022 Did not qualify
Total Quarter-finals 4/7 14 4 3 7 11 18
  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Rwanda's football mercenaries". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 January 2004. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Rwanda snatch dramatic point". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 January 2004. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Rwanda dumped out". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 January 2004. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Rwanda football shirt 1994 – 1996". oldfootballshirts.com. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Member Association – Rwanda". FIFA.com. FIFA. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  8. ^ "Rwanda football Boss Rallies The Wasps Ahead Of Benin Clash - Goal.com". goal.com. Goal. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Rwanda's Amavumbi Stars invite Uganda Cranes on Feb 6th". starafrica.com. 2 February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Final Squad". Twitter. Rwanda FA.
  11. ^ "Rwanda". National Football Teams.