Seychelles national football team

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.[2] 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.[2]

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

Seychelles
Nickname(s)The Pirates
AssociationSeychelles Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationCOSAFA
(Southern Africa)
Head coachRalph Jean-Louis
Most capsGervais Waye-Hive (36)
Top scorerPhilip Zialor (14)
Home stadiumStade Linité
FIFA codeSEY
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 202 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest129 (October 2006)
Lowest202 (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)

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.[3] 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.[4][5]

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.[6] 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.[7][8]

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 1976Part of United Kingdom
1978 to 1986Not affiliated to CAF
1988Did not enter
1990 Did not qualify
1992 Withdrew
1994 Did not enter
1996 Withdrew
1998 Did not qualify
2000Did not enter
2002
2004 to 2010Did not qualify
2012 Did not enter
2013 Did not qualify
2015 Withdrew
2017 to 2021Did 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
Main article: 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
Report
Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium
Referee: Mohammed Jalal Uddin (Bangladesh)
20 January 2020 B.C. Seychelles  2–2  Mauritius Dhaka, Bangladesh
17:00 UTC+6
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
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. "Sport in The Seychelles". www.topendsports.com. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  3. "Seychelles: not just an island paradise". FIFA.com. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  4. FIFA.com (27 August 2020). "Spectacular Seychelles' footballing passion". Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  5. FIFA.com (1 September 2011). "Seychelles making historic waves". Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  6. "Seychelles FIFA Goal Project" (PDF). FIFA.com. 21 April 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  7. "Seychelles Football Federation & history". www.cerf-resort.com. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  8. "Goal Project 2-Seychelles' football house inaugurated". Seychelles Nation. 16 February 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
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