Somalia national football team

Somalia

Nickname(s)	The Ocean Stars
Association	Xiriirka Soomaaliyeed ee Kubbadda Cagta
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	CECAFA (Central & East Africa)
Head coach	Rachid Lousteque
Captain	Ahmed Said Ahmed
Most caps	Yasin Ali Egal (20)
Top scorer	Abdullahi Sheikh Mohamed (3)
Home stadium	Mogadishu Stadium
FIFA code	SOM
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	199 1 (4 April 2024)[1]
Highest	65 (April–June 1996)
Lowest	203 (April–May 2019)
First international
Kenya 5–1 Somalia (Mombasa, Kenya; 1958)[2]
Biggest win
Somalia 5–2 Mauritania  (Casablanca, Morocco; 7 August 1985)
Biggest defeat
North Korea 14–0 Somalia  (Jakarta, Indonesia; 14 November 1963)
CECAFA Cup
Appearances	26 (first in 1973)
Best result	5th
Arab Games
Appearances	1 (first in 1985)
Best result	7th

The Somalia national football team (Somali: Kooxda Qaranka Soomaaliya, Arabic: الإتِّحَاد الصُّومَالِي لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم), nicknamed the Ocean Stars, represents Somalia in international football and is controlled by the Somali Football Federation (SFF), a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Somalia's first national team captain was Mohamed Shangole, while its longest serving captain has been Hasan Babay.

History

The first Somali football teams were established in the 1940s. The competitions were basic in structure and were associated with the anti-colonial movement. The Somali Youth League (SYL), the nation's first political party, had put together a team of local youth to play against the Italian expatriate teams. The soccer team the FYL had assembled, which would later change its name to Bondhere, won the first several competitions. In 1951, the Somali Football Federation (SFF) was founded. The first Somali commissioner for sport was later established in 1958.

Although the Somali national football team took part in preliminary matches, it has never qualified for the World Cup. For many years after the outbreak of the civil war in the early 1990s, FIFA-sanctioned games could not be played within the country. Qualifying matches for the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup were instead contested away from home. However, following the pacification of the capital Mogadishu in 2011, the SFF began preparations for the first major sporting event to be held in years at the Mogadishu Stadium, in December 2012.

Prior to 2019, the Somali FA decided they would admit to all their young and upcoming youth talents and put out local trials to fortify both Olympic and national football teams.

In addition, many from the Somali diaspora in the past have produced quality football players such as Islam Feruz and Mukhtar Ali.

On 5 September 2019, Somalia won their first qualifying match since 1984 (against Kenya - AFCON Qualifying) and their first-ever FIFA World Cup qualifying match, beating Zimbabwe by 1–0.^[4] They nearly advanced to the second round but lost 3–1 in Zimbabwe after two late goals for the warriors, consigning the Ocean Stars to an early exit.

Team image

Kits and crest

Kit provider	Period
Adidas	2015–2021
A2Z Sports	2021–present

From the 1970s up until the 1990s, the Somali national football team used to wear solid sky blue shirts and socks with white shorts for home kits and the inverse as away kits,^[5] the two primary colours of the Somali national flags, in the 2010s up until the present, the national team have now replaced the solid sky blue shirts for vertically blue and white striped shirts.

The crest of the Somali national team used to be the coat of arms of Somalia but it is now replaced with the Somali Federation crest. The Ocean Stars plays their home games in the Mogadishu Stadium, (As the stadium was being rebuilt, the national team played matches at Engineer Yaarisow Stadium, which is Mogadishu's secondary stadium for sporting events).

Somalia's first colours in the 1970s–1990s

Somalia's second colours in the 1970s–1990s

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

2024

Coaches

Name	Nat	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win rate
Qi Wusheng		1978–1979
Klaus Ebbighausen		1980
Hussein Ali Abdulle		May 1999 – Dec 2000	8	0	1	7	6.3%
Awil Ismail Mohamed		Nov 2001 – Dec 2002	7	1	2	4	28.6%
Ali Abdi Farah		Oct 2003 – Dec 2005	9	1	0	8	11.1%
Daniel Muwathe		Oct 2006 – Dec 2006	6	0	0	6	0%
Hussein Ali Abdulle		Oct 2007 – Dec 2007	4	0	0	4	0%
Ali Abdi Farah		Sept 2008 – Dec 2009	8	2	0	6	25%
Mohamed Farayare		Jan 2010 – Mar 2010	2	1	0	1	50%
Yousef Adam		Oct 2010 – Dec 2010	3	0	0	3	0%
Alfred Imonje		Oct 2011 – Dec 2011	5	0	1	4	10%
Sam Ssimbwa		Dec 2011 – Oct 2013	6	0	0	6	0%
Sam Ssimbwa		Mar 2014 – Sept 2015	2	0	0	2	0%
Charles Mbabazi		Sept 2015
Haruna Mawa		Nov 2016 – Nov 2019
Bashir Hayford		Mar 2019 – 2019	7	2	2	3	42.8%
Said Abdi Haibeh		Dec 2019 – May 2021	4	1	2	1	25%
Abdellatif Salef		May 2021 – June 2021	0	0	0	0	0%
Salad Farah		June 2021 – February 2022	2	0	0	2	0%
Pieter de Jongh		February 2022 – May 2022	2	0	0	2	0%
Rachid Lousteque		July 2022 – 2023	0	0	0	0	0%

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Algeria and Uganda on 16 and 21 November 2023, respectively.^[6]

Caps and goals correct as of 21 November 2023, after the match against Uganda.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Mustaf Yuusuf	(1998-01-01) 1 January 1998 (age 26)	15	0	IFK Berga
	1GK	Ibrahim Ahmed Hussein	(2005-12-23) 23 December 2005 (age 18)	1	0	Waxool
	1GK	Ahmed Mayow Shariff	(2002-02-08) 8 February 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Horseed
	2DF	Ahmed Banu Hirabe	(1997-12-12) 12 December 1997 (age 26)	8	0	Horseed
	2DF	Saadiq Elmi	(2000-11-11) 11 November 2000 (age 23)	6	0	Moss
	2DF	Ayman Mohamed Hussein	(2000-12-12) 12 December 2000 (age 23)	6	0	Horseed
	2DF	Abdi Mohamed	(1996-10-25) 25 October 1996 (age 27)	5	0	Columbus Crew 2
	2DF	Abdiwali Abdirahman Mohamed	(2000-01-01) 1 January 2000 (age 24)	4	0	Elman
	2DF	Isse Abdulkadir	(1999-07-01) 1 July 1999 (age 24)	3	0	Elman
	2DF	Abdi Salim	(2001-04-01) 1 April 2001 (age 23)	2	0	Orlando City
	2DF	Mohamud Ali		1	0	Horseed
	2DF	Ahmed Isse	(2001-02-03) 3 February 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Real Balompédica Linense
	3MF	Sak Hassan	(2001-03-21) 21 March 2001 (age 23)	5	1	Hashtag United
	3MF	Isse Ismail	(1999-04-20) 20 April 1999 (age 25)	5	0	Haninge
	3MF	Omar Jama	(1998-05-21) 21 May 1998 (age 25)	5	0	JäPS
	3MF	Abdulkadir Sidow		2	0	Elman
	3MF	Haji Adan		1	0	Dekedaha
	4FW	Hussein Mohamed	(1997-03-20) 20 March 1997 (age 27)	11	0	JäPS
	4FW	Farhan Mohamed Ahmed	(2000-11-15) 15 November 2000 (age 23)	9	2	Horseed
	4FW	Mohamed Awad	(1994-05-07) 7 May 1994 (age 29)	6	0	Sliema Wanderers
	4FW	Ibrahim Ilyas	(2000-03-05) 5 March 2000 (age 24)	4	0	KMC
	4FW	Mahad Mohamed Abdulkadir	(2001-08-19) 19 August 2001 (age 22)	3	0	Horseed
	4FW	Yusuf Ahmed	(1997-04-24) 24 April 1997 (age 27)	3	1	Avondale
	4FW	Issa Adim Abatari	(2002-02-13) 13 February 2002 (age 22)	2	0	Mogadishu City
	4FW	Siad Haji	(1999-12-01) 1 December 1999 (age 24)	2	0	FC Tulsa

Recent call ups

The following players have also been called up to the Somalia squad within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
MF	Haji Abdikadir	(1998-10-15) 15 October 1998 (age 25)	3	0	Athlone Town	v.  Libya; 19 October 2023
MF	Muqtar Ahmed	(2005-04-15) 15 April 2005 (age 19)	1	0	Winterthur II	v.  Libya; 19 October 2023
MF	Abdi Sharif	(2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 (age 23)	1	0	Wigan Athletic	v.  Libya; 19 October 2023
FW	Bilal Njie	(1998-06-13) 13 June 1998 (age 25)	2	0	FK Haugesund	v.  Libya; 19 October 2023

Player records

As of 21 November 2023^[7]

Players in bold are still active with Somalia.

Most appearances

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Yasin Ali Egal	19	0	2003–2011
2	Mustaf Yuusuf	16	0	2015–present
3	Omar Ibrahim Abdulkadir [es]	14	0	2000–2007
4	Abubakar Nur Abdikarim	12	0	2011–2015
5	Mohamed Ali Abdiaziz	11	2	2006–2011
6	Cisse Aadan Abshir	10	1	2003–2011
	Ahmed Said Ahmed	10	0	2019–present
	Hussein Mohamed	10	0	2019–present
	Mahad Mohamed Haji	10	0	2010–2015
	Abdinur Mohamud	10	0	2011–2019

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Abdullahi Sheikh Mohamed	3	6	0.5	2000–2005
2	Abdilahi Abdi	2	—	—	?–?
	Mohammed Abdi	2	—	—	1985–1994
	Omar Mohamed	2	6	0.33	2019
	Farhan Mohamed Ahmed	2	8	0.25	2019–present
	Mohamed Ali Abdiaziz	2	11	0.18	2006–2011

Competitive record

See also

• Somali national beach soccer team
• Somali League
• Somali Cup
• Somali Football Federation

Notes

References

External links

• Somali Football Federation
• Somalia at CAF
• Somalia at FIFA
• List of international matches at RSSSF