Head coach Michael Gibson Founded 1979 | Home stadium Stade du Ville | |
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Nickname(s) Riverains de la Mer Rouge (Shoremen of the Red Sea) Sub-confederation CECAFA (East & Central Africa) Arena/Stadium El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium Confederation Confederation of African Football | ||
The Djibouti national football team, nicknamed the Riverains de la Mer Rouge ("Shoremen of the Red Sea"), is the national football team of Djibouti. It is controlled by the Fédération Djiboutienne de Football, and is a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA). Until its 1–0 defeat of Somalia's national squad in the opening stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Djibouti national football team had never won a full FIFA sanctioned international.
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French Somaliland
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. 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 10–1 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
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 Pan Arab Games, a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab World.
In July 1999, Djibouti played in its second CECAFA Cup, in Rwanda. The team was drawn into a group against the host nation and Tanzania. It lost 4–1 to Rwanda on 24 July and 2–1 to Tanzania on 26 July, and did not advance to the next round.
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. 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.
Djibouti has never played in the African Nations Cup, with the team withdrawing twice from the tournament in 2004 and 2008.