The Rwanda national football team represents Rwanda in international football and is controlled by the Rwandan 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. 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. 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.
On 3 November 2007, Josip Kuže was appointed as head coach of Rwanda on a three-year deal, but left just two months later to manage Japanese club JEF United Chiba, having managed just six matches. Raoul Shungu was appointed as interim manager on 11 April 2008, with Branko Tucak appointed on a permanent basis just over two months later. After Rwanda finished bottom of their group in the third round of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Tucak was sacked in November 2009, with Eric Nshimiyimana appointed as his replacement on an interim basis. In February 2010, Ghanaian Sellas Tetteh was appointed as the new national team manager. Under Tetteh, Rwanda qualified for the 2011 African Nations Championship, but finished bottom of their group after losing all three group stage matches. Tetteh resigned in September 2011.
Milutin Sredojević was appointed as Rwanda manager in November 2011, though he was sacked in April 2013. Nshimiyimana was reappointed to succeed Sredojević, though he was replaced by Stephen Constantine in May 2014. Under Constantine, Rwanda appeared to qualify for the group stage of qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, but were disqualified after fielding an ineligible player in a match against Congo. Constantine resigned from his role in January 2015 however, in order to manage the India national team.
Rwanda Football Federation technical director Lee Johnson became interim manager before Johnathan McKinstry was appointed as Constantine's replacement in March 2015, with Johnson leaving his role as technical director to become Constantine's assistant manager in India shortly after. In his first competitive game in charge, McKinstry guided Rwanda to their first away win in four years with a 1–0 victory over Mozambique in the opening round of 2017 African Nations Cup qualifying. In December 2015, Rwanda finished as runners-up in the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup 2015, having lost 1–0 to Uganda in the final. In January 2016, Rwanda reached the knock-out stages of a major competition for the first time in their history after topping their group at the 2016 African Nations Championship. Rwanda did however lose to eventual champions, DR Congo, 2–1 after extra time in the quarter-final. In March 2016 McKinstry agreed a new two-year contract, though he was sacked just five months later, with Jimmy Mulisa appointed on an interim basis. The Rwanda Football Federation were later ordered by FIFA to compensate McKinstry $200,000 for unlawful dismissal, and though the Rwandan FA initially appealed this ruling, they later complied.
In November 2023, Torsten Spittler was appointed as head coach, though he was relieved of his duties in January 2025. Adel Amrouche was appointed in his place in March 2025.
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. 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. 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).
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.
2025
2026
2027
Coaching history
Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
Otto Pfister (1972–76) Metin Türel (1991) Longin Rudasingwa (1998-1999) Rudi Gutendorf (1999–00) Longin Rudasingwa (2000–01) Ratomir Dujković (2001–04) Roger Palmgren (2004–05) Michael Nees (2006–07) Josip Kuže (2007–08) Raoul Shungu (2008) Branko Tucak (2008–09) Eric Nshimiyimana (2009–10) Sellas Tetteh (2010–11) Milutin Sredojević (2011–13) Eric Nshimiyimana (2013–14) Stephen Constantine (2014–2015) Lee Johnson (2015) Johnny McKinstry (2015–16) Gilbert Kanyankore (2016) Jimmy Mulisa (2016) Antoine Hey (2017–2018) Vincent Mashami (2018–2022) Carlos Alós (2022–2023) Gerard Buscher (2023) Torsten Spittler (2023–2025) Adel Amrouche (2025–2026) Stephen Constantine (2026–)
Players
Current squad The following players were named in the provisional squad for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Liberia and Cape Verde on 25 and 29 September 2026; respectively.
Caps and goals correct as of 5 June 2025, after the match against Algeria.
Recent call-ups The following players have been called up for Rwanda in the last 12 months.
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
Players in bold are still active with Rwanda.
Most appearances
RankNameCapsGoalsCareer1Haruna Niyonzima11262006–20222Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza8962006–20183Fitina Omborenga7912013–present4Jean-Claude Iranzi7632008–20195Djihad Bizimana7032015–presentOlivier Karekezi70242000–20137Jean-Luc Ndayishimiye6402007–20198Meddie Kagere60152011–present9Jacques Tuyisenge59162011–202210Thierry Manzi5742016–present
Top goalscorers
RankNameGoalsCapsRatioCareer1Olivier Karekezi24702000–20132Jacques Tuyisenge16592011–20223Meddie Kagere15602011–present4Jean Lomami14252003–20095Labama Bokota13332007–20126Ernest Sugira12362015–20227Saïd Makasi9262003–20098Jimmy Gatété8411996–20099Daddy Birori7252009–2014Muhadjiri Hakizimana7352016–present
Competition records FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition* 1978Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member 1982Did not enterDeclined participation 1986 1990WithdrewWithdrew 1994Did not enterDeclined participation 1998Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 5 2002 2 0 1 1 2 4 2006 12 2 3 7 10 17 2010 10 3 2 5 8 11 2014 8 1 3 4 7 13 2018 2 0 0 2 1 4 20228215129 2026 1032559 2030 To be determined 2034 Total 541112314672
Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations recordAppearances: 1YearRoundPosition 1957Part of 1959 1962 1963Not affiliated to CAF 1965 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978Did not enter 1980 1982Did not qualify 1984 1986Did not enter 1988Withdrew 1990Did not enter 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000Did not qualify 2002 2004Group stage9th311133 2006Did not qualify 2008 2010 2012 2013 2015Disqualified 2017Did not qualify 2019 2021 2023 2025 2027To be determined 2029TotalGroup stage1/35311133
African Nations Championship African Nations Championship recordAppearances: 4YearRoundPosition 2009Did not qualify 2011Group stage16th300327 2014Did not qualify 2016 Quarter-finals5th420257 2018Group stage13th 311111 2020Quarter-finals7th412133 2022Did not qualify 2024TotalQuarter-finals4/8144371118
CECAFA Cup
Honours Regional CECAFA Cup Champions (1): 1999 Runners-up (6): 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 Third place (4): 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006 Friendly FIFA Series Champions (1): 2026 Rwanda
See also Rwanda national under-17 football team
References
External links
Rwanda at CAF Rwanda at FIFA