Seychelles national football team

Seychelles

Nickname(s)	The Pirates
Association	Seychelles Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	COSAFA (Southern Africa)
Head coach	Ralph Jean-Louis
Most caps	Gervais Waye-Hive (36)
Top scorer	Philip Zialor (14)
Home stadium	Stade Linité
FIFA code	SEY
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	202 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest	129 (October 2006)
Lowest	202 (February 2020)
First international
Réunion 2–0 Seychelles (Réunion; 13 February 1974)
Biggest win
Seychelles 9–0 Maldives (Réunion; 27 August 1979)
Biggest defeat
Seychelles 1–8 Libya (Stade Linite, Seychelles; 17 November 2018) Rwanda 7–0 Seychelles (Kigali, Rwanda; 10 September 2019)

The Seychelles national football team represents Seychelles in international football and is controlled by the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF). SFF has been a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1986, and a member of FIFA since 1986.^[3] The team's home stadium is the 10,000 capacity Stade Linité situated at Roche Caiman in the outskirts of Victoria, the capital of Seychelles.^[3]

History

Seychelles v Ethiopia at Stade Linité, 5 September 2015

In 1979, Seychelles played their first tournament, the 1979 Indian Ocean Games. They lost their first game 3-0 to Réunion, and won their second game 9-0 to Maldives. In the semi-final, they knocked out Mauritius 4-2 on penalties (1-1 after 90 min.), but in the final they lost 2-1 against to Réunion.

Seychelles have never qualified for the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations or the World Cup. But recently, the national team made some improvements in the FIFA World Ranking.^[4] The team first attempted to qualify for the African Cup of Nations in 1986, losing to Mauritius.

Under Montenegrin coach Vojo Gardašević, the Seychelles team made their debut in the World Cup qualifiers in April 2000. Philip Zialor got the equaliser for Seychelles in a 1–1 draw against Namibia at Stade Linité. In the return leg match, Seychelles lost 3–0.

In their attempt to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Seychelles lost 0–4 at home to Zambia but played a 1–1 draw in the away match. Robert Suzette was the scorer of Seychelles’ goal in Lusaka. Seychelles’ biggest competitive win came against Zimbabwe in the qualifiers of the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Goals by strikers Alpha Baldé and Philip Zialor gave Seychelles a 2–1 win at Stade Linité against Zimbabwe captained by professional striker Peter Ndlovu. German coach Michael Nees was at the helm of the team at that time. Under Frenchman Dominique Bathenay, Seychelles also beat Eritrea 1–0 at Stade Linité by a goal by veteran Roddy Victor in the same qualifiers.

In 2011, Seychelles hosted the 2011 Indian Ocean Island Games and won the tournament for the first time, beating Mauritius in the final on penalties.^[5][6]

The rest of the 2010s saw little success for The Pirates with the high point achieved during 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification where they managed a 2–0 win over Lesotho and a 1–1 draw with Ethiopia to finish third in their four team group.

FIFA Goal Programme

In 2006, a new technical centre in Mahé was opened, with help from the FIFA Goal programme.^[7] The project had a total cost of approximately 750,000 USD. James Michel, president of the Seychelles, was present at the inauguration. The technical centre houses the SFF headquarters, an auditorium, 20 bedrooms, two massage rooms, changing rooms and a restaurant. The centre is located next to the turf pitches that were also installed by the Goal programme in 2003.^[8][9]

Competition records

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter									Did not enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	1	4
2006										2	0	1	1	1	5
2010										6	0	0	6	4	17
2014										2	0	0	2	0	7
2018										2	0	0	2	0	3
2022										2	0	0	2	0	10
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		16	0	2	14	6	46

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations record
Host nation(s) / Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1957 to 1976	Part of United Kingdom
1978 to 1986	Not affiliated to CAF
1988	Did not enter
1990	Did not qualify
1992	Withdrew
1994	Did not enter
1996	Withdrew
1998	Did not qualify
2000	Did not enter
2002
2004 to 2010	Did not qualify
2012	Did not enter
2013	Did not qualify
2015	Withdrew
2017 to 2021	Did not qualify
2023	To be determined
2025	To be determined
Total	–	0/32	–	–	–	–	–	–

Indian Ocean Island Games

Indian Ocean Island Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1979	Runners-up	2nd	4	1	1	2	11	6
1985	Group stage	6th	2	0	0	2	1	4
1990	Third place	3rd	3	1	0	2	3	9
1993	Fourth place	4th	4	0	0	4	3	12
1998	Third place	3rd	4	2	0	2	9	10
2003	Third place	3rd	4	1	2	1	3	6
2007	Group stage	5th	2	1	0	1	2	4
2011	Champions	1st	5	3	2	0	10	4
2015	Group stage	3rd	3	1	0	2	4	3
Total	1 Title	9/9	31	10	5	16	46	58

CECAFA Cup

COSAFA Cup

COSAFA Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2000	Excluded
2001
2002	Did not enter
2003
2004
2005	Round 1	11th	1	0	0	1	0	3
2006	Round 1	7th	2	0	1	1	1	3
2007	Round 1	13th	2	0	0	2	0	7
2008	Group stage	11th	3	1	1	1	8	2
2009	Group stage	13th	3	0	0	3	2	6
2013	Group stage	13th	2	0	0	2	2	8
2015	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	0	2
2016	Group stage	14th	3	0	0	3	0	10
2017	Group stage	14th	3	0	0	3	1	10
2018	Group stage	12th	3	0	2	1	2	3
2019	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	0	6
Total	Group stage	11/19	28	1	6	21	16	60

Recent results and fixtures

2020

18 January 2020 B.C.	Burundi	3–1	Seychelles	Dhaka, Bangladesh
17:00 UTC+6	Nshimirimana 54' Tambwe 60', 61'	Report	Monnaie 26'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mohammed Jalal Uddin (Bangladesh)

20 January 2020 B.C.	Seychelles	2–2	Mauritius	Dhaka, Bangladesh
17:00 UTC+6	Waye-Hive 19' Monnaie 28'	Report	Ferré 67' François 90+1'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Sudish Pandey (Nepal)

22 January 2020 B.C.	Palestine	1–0	Seychelles	Dhaka, Bangladesh
17:00 UTC+6	Kharoub 79'	Report		Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mizanur Rahman (Bangladesh)

Coaches

References

External links

• Seychelles at FIFA.com
• Seychelles at CAF.com
• Seychelles national football team picture