Djibouti national football team

Men's association football team

Djibouti
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Riverains de la Mer Rouge (Shoremen of the Red Sea)
AssociationDjiboutian Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationCECAFA
(East & Central Africa)
Head coachAdbourahman Okie Hadi
CaptainMahdi Houssein Mahabeh
Most capsDaoud Wais (34)
Top scorerSamuel Akinbinu (8)
Home stadiumEl Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium
FIFA codeDJI
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 192 Steady (4 April 2024)[1]
Highest169 (December 1994)
Lowest203 (April–July 2015, November 2015)
First international
 French Somaliland 0–5 Ethiopia 
(French Somaliland; 5 December 1947)
Post-independence
 Ethiopia 8–1 Djibouti 
(Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 27 March 1983)
Biggest win
 Djibouti 4–1 South Yemen 
(Djibouti City, Djibouti; 26 February 1988)
 Djibouti 3–0 Mauritius 
(Djibouti City, Djibouti; 23 November 2019)
Biggest defeat
 Uganda 10–1 Djibouti 
(Kigali, Rwanda; 9 December 2001)
 Rwanda 9–0 Djibouti 
(Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; 13 December 2007)

The Djibouti national football team, nicknamed the "Riverains de la Mer Rouge" (lit. 'Shoremen of the Red Sea'), is the national football team of Djibouti. It is controlled by the Djiboutian Football Federation and is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA). The Djibouti national football team's first win in a full FIFA-sanctioned international match was a 1–0 win vs. Somalia in the first round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.

History

French Somaliland (1947–1960)

Djibouti played its first international match under the name French Somaliland, at home against neighbouring Ethiopia on 5 December 1947 and lost 5–0. This was also Ethiopia's debut.[3] The two played again in Djibouti on 1 June 1948 and Ethiopia won 2–1. On 1 May 1949, the fixture was played for the Emperor Cup in Ethiopia, and the host won 6–0. In 1954, Djibouti played Ethiopia three times: a 10–2 away loss on 1 May, a 2–0 home loss on 1 June and a 2–1 home loss the day after. Djibouti did not play a match again until 1960, when it entered a tournament for French-speaking countries held in Madagascar. The team lost 9–2 in the first round to Cameroon on 13 April. This was the squad's last game as French Somaliland.

Djibouti (1977–present)

After gaining independence in 1977, the team played under the name Djibouti for the first time against Ethiopia in an away match on 27 March 1983 and lost 8–1. The two played again two days later with Ethiopia again victorious, by 4–2. After a third friendly against Ethiopia, a 2–0 home defeat on 23 March 1984, Djibouti entered a tournament in Ethiopia against the host and Zimbabwe. They lost 2–0 to Ethiopia on 3 June and then 3–1 to Zimbabwe on 7 June.

Djibouti's first appearance at the CECAFA Cup, a local competition for nations in East and Central Africa, was in Kenya in 1994. These were its first matches since defeating South Yemen in 1988. The Djibouti squad lost 4–1 to the hosts on 28 November, 2–1 to Somalia on 1 December, and 3–0 to Tanzania on 3 December. Djibouti did not advance to the next round.

After the 1994 CECAFA Cup, Djibouti did not play a match until the qualification campaign for the 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso. They were drawn in a two-legged qualifier against Kenya, and lost the first leg 3–0 away on 31 July 1998. The second leg at home was lost 9–1 on 15 August and Kenya went through 12–1 on aggregate.

In 1998, Djibouti became a member of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA). The football squad has since participated in the Arab Games, a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab World.

Djibouti entered its first ever World Cup qualification in an attempt to reach the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. In Pool D of the first round of African qualification, it was drawn against the DR Congo in a two-legged qualifying preliminary. Djibouti hosted the first leg at Stade du Ville in Djibouti on 7 April 2000, drawing the match 1–1 before a crowd of 2,700 fans.[4] The squad lost the second leg 9–1 away at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa and the DR Congo advanced 10–2 on aggregate.[5]

Djibouti has never played in the African Cup of Nations, with the team regularly withdrawing or not entering for financial reasons.

Prior to their four preliminary qualifiers in late 2019, Djibouti had 2 wins, 3 draws and 55 defeats from 60 competitive matches. However, a number of new players were called up and results finally improved. First, in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, Djibouti beat Eswatini 2–1 at home and drew 0–0 in Manzini to advance to the second round for the first time since the 2010 qualifying when they beat Somalia 1-0 (2–1 on aggregate). This was a massive improvement from the previous edition when Djibouti had also played Eswatini and lost 8–1 on aggregate. One month later, Djibouti played two 1–1 draws against Gambia in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification preliminary round, only losing the tie on penalties.

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.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

Djibouti  v  Kenya
12 June 2023 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup Djibouti  3–0
Awarded		  Kenya Saint Pierre, Mauritius
18:00 Report Stadium: Stade de Cote d'Or
Mauritius  v  Djibouti
14 June 2023 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup Mauritius  1–3  Djibouti Saint Pierre, Mauritius
18:00 Nazira 26' Report
Stadium: Stade de Cote d'Or
Djibouti  v  Pakistan
17 June 2023 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup Djibouti  3–1  Pakistan Saint Pierre, Mauritius
15:30
Report Stadium: Stade de Cote d'Or
Egypt  v  Djibouti
16 November 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification Egypt  6–0  Djibouti Cairo, Egypt
18:00 UTC+2
Report Stadium: Cairo International Stadium
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Jelly Chavani (South Africa)
Djibouti  v  Guinea-Bissau
20 November 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification Djibouti  0–1  Guinea-Bissau Cairo, Egypt
15:00 UTC+2 Report Stadium: Al Salam Stadium
Attendance: 35
Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)

2024

Equatorial Guinea  v  Djibouti
9 January Friendly Equatorial Guinea  1–1  Djibouti Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
15:00 UTC+1
Report Stadium: Estadio de Malabo
Djibouti  v  Liberia
20 March 2025 AFCON qualification Djibouti  0–2  Liberia Marrakech, Morocco
22:00 UTC±0 Report
Stadium: Stade de Marrakech
Referee: Mehrez Melki (Tunisia)
Liberia  v  Djibouti
26 March 2025 AFCON qualification Liberia  0–0
(2–0 agg.)		  Djibouti Monrovia, Liberia
16:00 UTC±0 Report Stadium: Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex
Referee: Karim Sabry (Morocco)
Note: Liberia won 2–0 on aggregate.
Sierra Leone  v  Djibouti
2 June 2026 World Cup qualification Sierra Leone  v  Djibouti
Djibouti  v  Ethiopia
9 June 2026 World Cup qualification Djibouti  v  Ethiopia

Coaches

Name Nat Period Matches Wins Draws Losses Win %
Mohamed Bader Djibouti 1998? – Dec 2001 15 0 2 13 0.00%
Ahmed Hussein Djibouti Oct 2007 – Dec 2007 4 1 0 3 25.00%
Mohamed Abar Djibouti Jan 2008 – Jun 2008 4 0 0 4 0.00%
Ahmed Abdelmonem Egypt Jul 2008 – Jul 2010 11 0 1 10 0.00%
Noureddine Gharsalli Tunisia Oct 2011 – Jul 2016 5 0 0 5 0.00%
Michael Gibson[6] England Jul 2016 – Apr 2017 4 1 0 3 25.00%
Moussa Ghassoum Mauritania Dec 2017 – Apr 2019 5 0 0 5 0.00%
Julien Mette France Apr 2019 – Oct 2021 13 3 3 7 23.08%
Mohamed Meraneh Hassan Djibouti Oct 2021 – Jan 2022 6 1 0 5 25.00%
Abdourahman Okie Hadi Djibouti Jan 2022 - present 2 2 2 0 20.00%

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for a friendly match against Equatorial Guinea on 9 January 2024.[7]

Caps and goals are correct as of 20 November 2023, after the match against Guinea-Bissau.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Sulait Luyima (1993-11-04) 4 November 1993 (age 30) 2 0 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
1GK Moktar Youssouf Said (2004-10-12) 12 October 2004 (age 19) Djibouti Dikhil
2DF Ali Youssouf Farada (1995-08-25) 25 August 1995 (age 28) 29 1 Djibouti AS Port
2DF Yabe Siad (1998-03-12) 12 March 1998 (age 26) 23 1 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
2DF Warsama Ibrahim Aden (1998-05-12) 12 May 1998 (age 26) 22 1 Djibouti AS Port
2DF Moussa Araita (1997-07-24) 24 July 1997 (age 26) 14 0 Djibouti AS Port
2DF Moustapha Abdi Osman (1992-01-08) 8 January 1992 (age 32) 3 0 Djibouti Garde Républicaine FC
2DF Idriss Houmed Bilha (1997-08-27) 27 August 1997 (age 26) Djibouti Arta Solar 7
2DF Ibrahim Idriss Mohamed Djibouti ASAS Djibouti Télécom
2DF Djimaleh Awaleh Kayad Djibouti Gendarmerie
3MF Doualeh Mahamoud Elabeh (1991-11-11) 11 November 1991 (age 32) 25 1 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
3MF Warsama Hassan (1999-03-17) 17 March 1999 (age 25) 22 2 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
3MF Ahmed Mohamed Aden (1990-12-04) 4 December 1990 (age 33) 4 0 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
3MF Ramadan Abdi Abdillahi (1998-01-18) 18 January 1998 (age 26) Djibouti ASAS Djibouti Télécom
3MF Zakaria Abdi Mouhoumed Djibouti SDC Group
4FW Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh (1995-12-20) 20 December 1995 (age 28) 28 7 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
4FW Samuel Akinbinu (1999-06-06) 6 June 1999 (age 24) 16 7 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
4FW Mohamed Fouad Mohamed (2000-02-25) 25 February 2000 (age 24) 16 1 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
4FW Gabriel Dadzie (1997-03-06) 6 March 1997 (age 27) 8 3 Djibouti Arta Solar 7
4FW Omar Abdallah (2002-10-30) 30 October 2002 (age 21) 2 0 Djibouti Garde Républicaine

Recent call-ups

The following footballers were part of a national selection in the past 12 months, but are not part of the current squad.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Innocent Mbonihankuye (1996-11-05) 5 November 1996 (age 27) 25 0 Djibouti Espereance v.  Guinea-Bissau; 20 November 2023
GK Liban Mohamed Said (2001-11-12) 12 November 2001 (age 22) 0 0 Djibouti ASAS Djibouti Télécom 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup
GK Omar Mahamoud (2001-10-19) 19 October 2001 (age 22) 0 0 Djibouti Dikhil v.  South Sudan; 27 March 2023
GK Yahya Houssein (2002-04-07) 7 April 2002 (age 22) 0 0 Djibouti AS Port v.  South Sudan; 27 March 2023
DF Abdoulkader Djama (1994-01-05) 5 January 1994 (age 30) 12 1 Djibouti Dikhil 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup
MF Hamza Abdi Idleh (1991-12-16) 16 December 1991 (age 32) 24 2 Djibouti Dikhil 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup
MF Saleh Bourhan Hassan (1996-12-19) 19 December 1996 (age 27) 14 0 Djibouti AS Port 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup
MF Youssouf Abdi Ahmed (1997-10-11) 11 October 1997 (age 26) 10 0 Djibouti Espereance 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup
MF Abdillahi Mohamed (1992-12-19) 19 December 1992 (age 31) 4 0 Djibouti Nourie Transit 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup
MF Ibrahim Ali Mohamed (1996-10-14) 14 October 1996 (age 27) 2 0 Djibouti ASAS Djibouti Télécom 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup
MF Mogueh Idriss (2000-01-01) 1 January 2000 (age 24) 2 0 Djibouti Arta Solar 7 v.  South Sudan; 27 March 2023
MF Fahmi Moussa (1996-04-25) 25 April 1996 (age 28) 3 0 Djibouti Arta Solar 7 v.  South Sudan; 27 March 2023
MF Samatar Mohamed (1995-10-10) 10 October 1995 (age 28) 2 0 Djibouti Garde Républicaine FC v.  South Sudan; 27 March 2023
FW Ahmed Youssouf Omar (1998-09-01) 1 September 1998 (age 25) 10 0 Djibouti AS Port 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup

Player records

As of 20 November 2023[8]
Players in bold are still active with Djibouti.

Most appearances

Rank Name Caps Goals Career
1 Daoud Wais 34 1 2008–2021
2 Daher Mohamed Kadar 33 1 2006–2017
3 Ali Youssouf Farada 29 1 2017–present
4 Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh 28 7 2016–present
5 Hamza Abdi Idleh 26 2 2016–present
6 Doualeh Mahamoud Elabeh 25 1 2016–present
Innocent Mbonihankuye 25 0 2019–present
8 Guedi Hassan 23 0 2007–2016
Yabe Siad 23 1 2019–present
10 Warsama Hassan 22 2 2019–present
Warsama Ibrahim Aden 22 1 2015–present

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Samuel Akinbinu 8 17 0.47 2021–present
2 Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh 7 28 0.25 2016–present
3 Gabriel Dadzie 3 8 0.38 2022–present
Ahmed Daher 3 13 0.23 2007–2009
5 Ahmed Daoud 2 3 0.67 2011
Abdourahman Okieh Hadi 2 3 0.67 2005–2006
Arid Ahmed Mohamed 2 5 0.4 1999–2000
Mohamed Liban 2 17 0.12 2008–2015
Warsama Hassan 2 22 0.09 2019–present
Hamza Abdi Idleh 2 26 0.08 2016–present

Competition records

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup Qualification
Appearances: 0 Appearances: 6
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1974 Part of  France Part of  France
1978 to 1994 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
France 1998 Did not enter Declined participation
South Korea Japan 2002 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 10
Germany 2006 Did not enter Declined participation
South Africa 2010 Did not qualify 7 1 0 6 3 30
Brazil 2014 2 0 0 2 0 8
Russia 2018 2 0 0 2 1 8
Qatar 2022 8 1 1 6 6 30
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined 2 0 0 2 0 7
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 To be determined
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/7 23 2 2 19 12 93

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record
Appearances: 0
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
1896 – 1976 Part of  France (FRA)
Soviet Union 1980 Did not enter
United States 1984
South Korea 1988
Spain 1992
United States 1996
Australia 2000
Greece 2004
China 2008 Did not qualify
United Kingdom 2012 Did not enter
Brazil 2016
Japan 2020
France 2024
Total 0/28
  • Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since the 1992 edition.

Africa Cup of Nations

Africa Cup of Nations record
Appearances: 0
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Sudan 1957 to Ethiopia 1976 Part of  France
Ghana 1978 to Senegal 1992 Not affiliated to CAF
Tunisia 1994 Did not enter
South Africa 1996
Burkina Faso 1998
Ghana Nigeria 2000 Did not qualify
Mali 2002
Tunisia 2004 Withdrew
Egypt 2006 Did not enter
Ghana 2008 Withdrew
Angola 2010 Did not qualify
Equatorial Guinea Gabon 2012 Did not enter
South Africa 2013
Equatorial Guinea 2015
Gabon 2017 Did not qualify
Egypt 2019
Cameroon 2021
Ivory Coast 2023
Morocco 2025 To be determined
Kenya Tanzania Uganda 2027
Total 0/36

African Games

African Games record
Appearances: 0
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Republic of the Congo 1965 Part of  France (FRA)
Nigeria 1973
Algeria 1978 Did not enter
Kenya 1987 Withdrew during qualification
Egypt 1991 Did not enter
Zimbabwe 1995
South Africa 1999
Nigeria 2003
Algeria 2007
Mozambique 2011
Republic of the Congo 2015
Angola 2019
Total 0/12

African Nations Championship

African Nations Championship record
Appearances: 0
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Ivory Coast 2009 Did not enter
Sudan 2011 Did not qualify
South Africa 2014 Did not enter
Rwanda 2016 Did not qualify
Morocco 2018 Withdrew during qualifying
Cameroon 2020 Banned
Algeria 2022 Did not qualify
Total 0/7


CECAFA Cup

CECAFA Cup record
Appearances: 10
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Uganda 1973 Part of  France
Tanzania 1974
Zambia 1975
Zanzibar 1976
Somalia 1977 Did not enter
Malawi 1978
Kenya 1979
Sudan 1980
Tanzania 1981
Uganda 1982
Kenya 1983
Uganda 1984
Zimbabwe 1985
Ethiopia 1987
Malawi 1988
Kenya 1989
Zanzibar 1990
Uganda 1991
Tanzania 1992
Kenya 1994 Group Stage 8th 3 0 0 3 2 9
Uganda 1995 Did not enter
Sudan 1996
Rwanda 1999 Group Stage 11th 2 0 0 2 2 6
Uganda 2000 8th 4 0 1 3 4 15
Rwanda 2001 11th 3 0 0 3 3 17
Tanzania 2002 Did not enter
Sudan 2003
Ethiopia 2004
Rwanda 2005 Group Stage 10th 4 0 0 4 2 18
Ethiopia 2006 11th 3 0 0 3 0 10
Tanzania 2007 8th 3 0 0 3 2 19
Uganda 2008 10th 4 0 1 3 2 13
Kenya 2009 12th 3 0 0 3 0 13
Tanzania 2010 Did not enter
Tanzania 2011 Group Stage 11th 3 0 0 3 2 10
Uganda 2012 did not enter
Kenya 2013
Ethiopia 2014 Not held
Rwanda 2015 Group Stage 11th 3 0 0 3 0 9
Kenya 2016 Not held
Kenya 2017 Did not enter
Uganda 2019 Group Stage 6th 4 1 1 2 3 8
Total 0 Titles 12/39 35 1 3 35 22 147

FIFA Arab Cup

FIFA Arab Cup record Arab Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Lebanon 1963 Part of  France Part of  France
Kuwait 1964
Iraq 1966
Saudi Arabia 1985 Did not enter Did not enter
Jordan 1988
Syria 1992
Qatar 1998
Kuwait 2002
2009 Did not qualify 1 2 0 0 2 3 8
Saudi Arabia 2012 Did not enter Did not enter
Qatar 2021 Did not qualify 1 0 0 1 0 1
Total 0/9 3 0 0 3 3 9

^1 The 2009 edition was cancelled during qualification.

Arab Games

Arab Games record
Appearances: 0
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Egypt 1953 Part of  France (FRA)
Lebanon 1957
Morocco 1961
United Arab Republic 1965
Syria 1976
Morocco 1985 Did not enter
Syria 1992
Lebanon 1997
Jordan 1999
Algeria 2004 No tournament
Egypt 2007 Did not enter
Qatar 2011
Total 0/11

See also

References

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Ethiopia – List of International Matches". RSSSF.com. Barrie Courtney and RSSSF. 3 December 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  4. ^ "Djibouti – Congo DR". Archived from the original on 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  5. ^ "Congo DR – Djibouti". Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  6. ^ "Football Manager proves England and Wayne Rooney don't need Gareth Southgate to beat Malta". Metro. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Liste des joueurs retenue pour l'équipe Nationale senior A qui va participer au tournoi triangulaire d'île Maurice". Facebook. Fédération Djiboutienne de Football. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Djibouti". National Football Teams.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Djibouti national football team.
  • Djibouti at CAF
  • Djibouti at FIFA
  • Djibouti at National-Football-Teams.com.
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