Djibouti national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Djibouti women's national football team.

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.

Djibouti

Nickname(s)	Riverains de la Mer Rouge (Shoremen of the Red Sea)
Association	Djiboutian Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	CECAFA (East & Central Africa)
Head coach	Abdourahman Okie Hadi
Captain	Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh
Most caps	Ali Youssouf Farada Daoud Wais (34)
Top scorer	Samuel Akinbinu (9)
Home stadium	El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium
FIFA code	DJI
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	192 1 (3 April 2025)[1]
Highest	169 (December 1994)
Lowest	203 (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)
CECAFA Cup
Appearances	12 (first in 1994)
Best result	Group stage (1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019)

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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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

Main article: Djibouti national football team results

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

2024

Djibouti  v  Liberia

20 March 2025 AFCON qualification	Djibouti	0–2	Liberia	Marrakech, Morocco
22:00 UTC+0		Report	Sangare 23' (pen.) Dorley 35'	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

5 June 2026 World Cup qualification	Sierra Leone	2–1	Djibouti	El Jadida, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1	Davies 12' Kargbo 51'	Report	Dadzie 35' (pen.)	Stadium: Ben M'Hamed El Abdi Stadium Referee: Godfrey Nkhakananga (Malawi)

Djibouti  v  Ethiopia

9 June 2026 World Cup qualification	Djibouti	1–1	Ethiopia	El Jadida, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1	Dadzie 29'	Report	Wondimu 31'	Stadium: Ben M'Hamed El Abdi Stadium Attendance: 100 Referee: Chelanget Sabila (Uganda)

Djibouti  v  Rwanda

27 October 2024 CHAN qualification	Djibouti	1–0	Rwanda	Kigali (Rwanda)
15:00 UTC+2	Dadzie 79'	Report		Stadium: Amahoro Stadium

Rwanda  v  Djibouti

31 October 2024 CHAN qualification	Rwanda	3–0	Djibouti	Kigali
18:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Amahoro Stadium

2025

Burkina Faso  v  Djibouti

21 March 2026 World Cup qualification	Burkina Faso	4–1	Djibouti	El Jadida, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: Ben M'Hamed El Abdi Stadium

Ethiopia  v  Djibouti

24 March 2026 World Cup qualification	Ethiopia	6–1	Djibouti	El Jadida, Morocco
22:00 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: Ben M'Hamed El Abdi Stadium

Djibouti  v  Burkina Faso

September 2026 World Cup qualification

Djibouti

v

Burkina Faso

Guinea-Bissau  v  Djibouti

September 2026 World Cup qualification

Guinea-Bissau

v

Djibouti

Djibouti  v  Egypt

October 2026 World Cup qualification

Djibouti

v

Egypt

Djibouti  v  Sierra Leone

October 2026 World Cup qualification

Djibouti

v

Sierra Leone

Bahrain  v  Djibouti

December 2025 FIFA Arab Cup	Bahrain	v	Djibouti	Doha, Qatar
--:-- UTC+3				Stadium: TBD

Coaches

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

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group A matches against  Burkina Faso and  Ethiopia on 21 and 24 March 2025.^[6]

Caps and goals are correct as of 24 March 2025, after the match against  Ethiopia.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Sulait Luyima	(1993-11-04) 4 November 1993 (age 31)	10	0	Arta Solar 7
	1GK	Moktar Youssouf Said	(2004-10-12) 12 October 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Dikhil
	1GK	Omar Mahamoud	(2001-10-19) 19 October 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Arta Solar 7
	2DF	Ali Youssouf Farada	(1995-08-25) 25 August 1995 (age 29)	38	1	AS Port
	2DF	Yabe Siad	(1998-03-12) 12 March 1998 (age 27)	29	1	Arta Solar 7
	2DF	Moussa Hamadou Araita	(1997-07-24) 24 July 1997 (age 27)	20	0	AS Port
	2DF	Moustapha Abdi Osman	(1992-01-08) 8 January 1992 (age 33)	12	0	Garde Républicaine
	2DF	Ibrahim Idriss Mohamed	(2002-11-14) 14 November 2002 (age 22)	9	0	ASAS Djibouti Télécom
	2DF	Yonis Kireh	(2002-05-10) 10 May 2002 (age 23)	2	0	Virginia Tech
	2DF	Ahmed Zakaria	(1998-11-12) 12 November 1998 (age 26)	2	0	Gendarmerie Nationale
	2DF	Aboubaker Liban Abdi		0	0	Unknown
	3MF	Doualeh Mahamoud Elabeh	(1991-11-11) 11 November 1991 (age 33)	34	1	Arta Solar 7
	3MF	Hamza Abdi Idleh	(1991-12-16) 16 December 1991 (age 33)	30	2	Dikhil
	3MF	Warsama Hassan	(1999-03-17) 17 March 1999 (age 26)	28	2	Arta Solar 7
	3MF	Maarouf Abass Abaneh		0	0	Unknown
	3MF	Sadik Aden		0	0	Unknown
	3MF	Ahemdini Ali Gohar		0	0	Unknown
	4FW	Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh	(1995-12-20) 20 December 1995 (age 29)	32	7	Arta Solar 7
	4FW	Samuel Akinbinu	(1999-06-06) 6 June 1999 (age 25)	23	10	Arta Solar 7
	4FW	Gabriel Dadzie	(1997-03-06) 6 March 1997 (age 28)	17	6	Al Bashayer
	4FW	Ahmed Youssouf Omar	(1998-09-01) 1 September 1998 (age 26)	16	0	AS Port
	4FW	Moussa Amoud Wais		1	0	Unknown
	4FW	Mouad Amir Mahamed		0	0	Unknown

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	Aboubaker Guedi	(1987-10-02) 2 October 1987 (age 37)	0	0	SDC Group	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
DF	Warsama Ibrahim Aden	(1998-05-12) 12 May 1998 (age 27)	23	1	AS Port	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
DF	Fouad Moussa Robleh	(1993-04-28) 28 April 1993 (age 32)	15	1	Arta Solar 7	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
DF	Abdillahi Elmi	(2003-03-19) 19 March 2003 (age 22)	5	0	ASAS Djibouti Télécom	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
DF	Djimaleh Awaleh Kayad	(1995-10-20) 20 October 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Gendarmerie	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
MF	Ahmed Mohamed Aden	(1990-12-04) 4 December 1990 (age 34)	9	0	Arta Solar 7	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
MF	Awaleh Hoch Gedo	(2001-10-18) 18 October 2001 (age 23)	3	0	Garde Républicaine FC	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
MF	Ramadan Abdi Abdillahi	(1998-01-18) 18 January 1998 (age 27)	2	0	ASAS Djibouti Télécom	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
MF	Zakaria Abdi Mouhoumed	(2000-04-23) 23 April 2000 (age 25)	0	0	SDC Group	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
FW	Mahad Abdi	(1999-07-11) 11 July 1999 (age 25)	9	0	Garde Républicaine FC	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024
FW	Moktar Hassan	(1998-04-15) 15 April 1998 (age 27)	1	0	ASAS Djibouti Télécom	v.  Ethiopia, 9 June 2024

Player records

As of 31 October 2024^[7]

Players in bold are still active with Djibouti.

Most appearances

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Ali Youssouf Farada	36	1	2017–present
2	Daoud Wais	34	1	2008–2021
3	Daher Mohamed Kadar [it]	33	1	2006–2017
4	Doualeh Mahamoud Elabeh	32	1	2016–present
5	Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh	30	7	2016–present
6	Hamza Abdi Idleh	28	2	2016–present
7	Warsama Hassan	27	2	2019–present
	Yabe Siad	27	1	2019–present
9	Innocent Mbonihankuye	25	0	2019–present
10	Guedi Hassan	23	0	2007–2016
	Ibrahim Aden Warsama	23	1	2015–present

Top goalscorers

Samuel Akinbinu is Djibouti's top scorer with 8 goals.

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Samuel Akinbinu	8	21	0.38	2021–present
2	Mahdi Houssein Mahabeh	7	30	0.23	2016–present
3	Gabriel Dadzie	6	15	0.4	2022–present
4	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	27	0.07	2019–present
	Hamza Abdi Idleh	2	28	0.07	2016–present

Competition records

FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup record Qualification record 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 1998 Did not enter Declined participation 2002 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 10 2006 Did not enter Declined participation 2010 Did not qualify 7 1 0 6 3 30 2014 2 0 0 2 0 8 2018 2 0 0 2 1 8 2022 8 1 1 6 6 30 2026 To be determined 6 0 1 5 4 20 2030 To be determined 2034 Total 0/7 27 2 3 22 16 106

Olympic Games Olympic Games record Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1896 – 1976 Part of  France (FRA) 1980 Did not enter 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 Did not qualify 2012 Did not enter 2016 2020 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 1957 to 1976 Part of  France 1978 to 1992 Not affiliated to CAF 1994 Did not enter 1996 1998 2000 Did not qualify 2002 2004 Withdrew 2006 Did not enter 2008 Withdrew 2010 Did not qualify 2012 Did not enter 2013 2015 2017 Did not qualify 2019 2021 2023 2025 2027 To be determined Total 0/35

African Games African Games record Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1965 Part of  France (FRA) 1973 1978 Did not enter 1987 Withdrew during qualification 1991 Did not enter 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 Total 0/12 Prior to the Cairo 1991 campaign, the Football at the All-Africa Games was open to full senior national teams.

African Nations Championship African Nations Championship record Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 2009 Did not enter 2011 Did not qualify 2014 Did not enter 2016 Did not qualify 2018 Withdrew during qualifying 2020 Banned 2022 Did not qualify Total 0/7

CECAFA Cup Main article: CECAFA Cup CECAFA Cup record Appearances: 10 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1973 Part of  France 1974 1975 1976 1977 Did not enter 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1994 Group Stage 8th 3 0 0 3 2 9 1995 Did not enter 1996 1999 Group Stage 11th 2 0 0 2 2 6 2000 8th 4 0 1 3 4 15 2001 11th 3 0 0 3 3 17 2002 Did not enter 2003 2004 2005 Group Stage 10th 4 0 0 4 2 18 2006 11th 3 0 0 3 0 10 2007 8th 3 0 0 3 2 19 2008 10th 4 0 1 3 2 13 2009 12th 3 0 0 3 0 13 2010 Did not enter 2011 Group Stage 11th 3 0 0 3 2 10 2012 did not enter 2013 2015 Group Stage 11th 3 0 0 3 0 9 2017 Did not enter 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 1963 Part of  France Part of  France 1964 1966 1985 Did not enter Did not enter 1988 1992 1998 2002 2009 Did not qualify 1 2 0 0 2 3 8 2012 Did not enter Did not enter 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 1953 Part of  France (FRA) 1957 1961 1965 1976 1985 Did not enter 1992 1997 1999 2004 No tournament 2007 Did not enter 2011 Total 0/11

See also

• French Somaliland national football team
• Djibouti national football team results
• Football in Djibouti
• Djiboutian Football Federation
• Djibouti Premier League
• Djibouti Cup
• Stade du Ville