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.
History
Rwanda qualified for its first ever Africa Cup of Nations in the 2004 edition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Team image
Kit
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.
Names
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
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2024
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2025
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Coaching history
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- Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
- Template:Flagicon Otto Pfister (1972–76)
- Template:Flagicon Metin Türel (1991)
- Template:Flagicon Longin Rudasingwa (1998-1999)
- Template:Flagicon Rudi Gutendorf (1999–00)
- Template:Flagicon Longin Rudasingwa (2000–01)
- Template:Flagicon Ratomir Dujković (2001–04)
- Template:Flagicon Roger Palmgren (2004–05)
- Template:Flagicon Michael Nees (2006–07)
- Template:Flagicon Josip Kuže (2007–08)
- Template:Flagicon Raoul Shungu (2008)
- Template:Flagicon Branko Tucak (2008–09)
- Template:Flagicon Eric Nshimiyimana (2009–10)
- Template:Flagicon Sellas Tetteh (2010–11)
- Template:Flagicon Milutin Sredojević (2011–13)
- Template:Flagicon Eric Nshimiyimana (2013–14)
- Template:Flagicon Stephen Constantine (2014–2015)
- Template:Flagicon Lee Johnson (2015)
- Template:Flagicon Johnny McKinstry (2015–16)
- Template:Flagicon Gilbert Kanyankore (2016)
- Template:Flagicon Jimmy Mulisa (2016)
- Template:Flagicon Antoine Hey (2017–2018)
- Template:Flagicon François Karekezi
- Template:Flagicon Vincent Mashami (2018–2022)
- Template:Flagicon Carlos Alós (2022–2023)
- Template:Flagicon Gerard Buscher (2023)
- Template:Flagicon Torsten Spittler (2023–)
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group C matches against Nigeria and Zimbabwe on 6 and 9 September 2025.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>
- Caps and goals correct as of 5 June 2025, after the match against Algeria.
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Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for Rwanda in the last 12 months.
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- DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
- INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
- PRE Preliminary squad.
- RET Player has retired from international football.
- SUS Serving suspension.
Player records
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- Players in bold are still active with Rwanda.
Most appearances
| 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 | Fitina Omborenga | 75 | 1 | 2013–present |
| 5 | Olivier Karekezi | 70 | 24 | 2000–2013 |
| 6 | Djihad Bizimana | 64 | 3 | 2015–present |
| Jean-Luc Ndayishimiye | 64 | 0 | 2007–2019 | |
| 8 | Meddie Kagere | 59 | 15 | 2011–present |
| Jacques Tuyisenge | 59 | 16 | 2011–2022 | |
| 10 | Thierry Manzi | 51 | 4 | 2016–present |
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Name | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olivier Karekezi | 24 | 70 | {{#expr:24/70 round 2}} | 2000–2013 |
| 2 | Jacques Tuyisenge | 16 | 59 | {{#expr:16/59 round 2}} | 2011–2022 |
| 3 | Meddie Kagere | 15 | 59 | {{#expr:15/59 round 2}} | 2011–present |
| 4 | Jean Lomami | 14 | 25 | {{#expr:14/25 round 2}} | 2003–2009 |
| 5 | Labama Bokota | 13 | 33 | {{#expr:13/33 round 2}} | 2007–2012 |
| 6 | Ernest Sugira | 12 | 36 | {{#expr:12/36 round 2}} | 2015–2022 |
| 7 | Saïd Makasi | 9 | 26 | {{#expr:9/26 round 2}} | 2003–2009 |
| 8 | Jimmy Gatété | 8 | 41 | {{#expr:8/41 round 2}} | 1996–2009 |
| 9 | Daddy Birori | 7 | 25 | {{#expr:7/25 round 2}} | 2009–2014 |
| Muhadjiri Hakizimana | 7 | 35 | {{#expr:7/35 round 2}} | 2016–present |
Competition records
FIFA World Cup
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Africa Cup of Nations
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African Nations Championship
| African Nations Championship record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 4 | ||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip | Template:Tooltip |
| Template:Flagicon 2009 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Template:Flagicon 2011 | Group stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Template:Flagicon 2014 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Template:Flagicon 2016 | Quarter-finals | 5th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Template:Flagicon 2018 | Group stage | 13th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Template:Flagicon 2020 | Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Template:Flagicon 2022 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Total | Quarter-finals | 4/7 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 18 |
CECAFA Cup
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Honours
Regional
- CECAFA Cup
- Template:Gold1 Champions (1): 1999
- Template:Silver2 Runners-up (6): 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015
- Template:Bronze3 Third place (4): 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006
See also
References
External links
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{{#invoke:portal-inline|main|size=tiny|Football in Africa}} }} Template:National sports teams of Rwanda