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Rwanda women's national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the women's team. For the men's team, see Rwanda national football team.

Rwanda
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)She-Amavubi
(The She-Wasps)
AssociationRwandese Association Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationCECAFA (East & Central Africa)
Head coach
CaptainGloria Nibagwire
Top scorer

(1)
Home stadiumStade Régional Nyamirambo
FIFA codeRWA
First colours
FIFA ranking
Current 157 Decrease 7 (10 December 2021)[1]
Highest108 (March 2017)
Lowest150 (April 2021)
First international
 Rwanda 1–0 Kenya 
(Kigali, Rwanda; 16 February 2014)
Biggest win
 Rwanda 1–0 Kenya 
(Kigali, Rwanda; 16 February 2014)
 Rwanda 1–0 Tanzania 
(Kigali, Rwanda; 19 July 2018)
Biggest defeat
 Nigeria 8–0 Rwanda Rwanda
(Kaduna, Nigeria; 7 June 2014)

The Rwanda women's national football team represents Rwanda in women's association football and is controlled by the Rwandese Association Football Federation. It had to date been scheduled to compete in one major tournament, the inaugural Women's Challenge Cup held in Zanzibar in October 2007, but the event was ultimately canceled. It has finally debuted in February 2014 against Kenya. The team is nicknamed The She-Amavubi (Kinyarwanda for The She-Wasps).

History[]

Background[]

The development of women's football in Africa faces several challenges, including limited access to education, poverty amongst women in the wider society, and fundamental inequality present in that society that occasionally allows for female-specific human rights abuses.[2] At the same time, if talented women footballers do emerge, many choose to go abroad to maximize playing opportunities.[3] A lack of funding impedes regional development of women's football as most of the funding for the women's national team comes from FIFA, not the national football association.[3]

Inside Rwanda, the first women's football programme was developed in 2000. "Kicking for Reconciliation" was created during the late 2000s, and involved over 100 young players in an attempt at "bringing healing to a nation that saw the worst genocide since World War II" through sport. The programme was open to both Tutsis and Hutus.[4] By 2008, this included a schools and university competition.[5] Women's football was supported by a single dedicated national federation staffer by 2006. Women's sport, including football, received little press coverage in the Rwandan media.[6] A women's football league was founded in 2008, and the country is the only one in the region with a viable league, but it still faces challenges related to funding for teams, with most of its funding coming from FIFA.[7] became the first female referee at the senior level in Rwanda in 2004, and went on to become the first woman to coach a professional team in the country in 2009. Her professional women's side went on to win the league championship under her leadership.[8] The lack of high-level football opportunities in Uganda led to some players going from there to Rwanda for opportunities to play in the country's professional league.[9]

International training related to women is limited in Rwanda. Between 1991 and 2010, there was no FIFA FUTURO III regional course for women's coaching, no women's football seminar held in the country, and no FIFA MA course held for women and youth football.[5] Internationally, in 2007, a representative from the country attended a FIFA sponsored women's football symposium in China.[10] Felicite Rwemarika is the head of women's football in the country.[7] She is credited with developing the sport in the country by founding the amongst other things.[11]

Canceled 2007 participation[]

The inaugural Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Women's Challenge Cup was supposed to be held in Zanzibar in October 2007,[12] an event Rwanda was planning to send a national team to compete in,[6] but the competition was ultimately canceled.[13] The competition was to be funded by Confederation of African Football. The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations secretary, Nicholas Musonye said of the event, "CAF wants to develop women football in this region in recognition of the milestones CECAFA has achieved over the years. CAF appreciates what CECAFA has done despite the hardships the association has gone through, from financial problems to political instability in member states and poor management of associations. Member states in the CECAFA region have not taken women's football seriously. CAF now wants to sponsor a long-term campaign to attract women from this region into the game."[13][14]

Home stadium[]

The Rwanda women's national football team plays their home matches on the Nyamirambo Regional Stadium.

Senior national team[]

While the existed and played in matches by 2009 for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup African qualifiers,[15][9][16] the senior national team was not competing in matches during the 2010s.[17][5] There was no senior team competing in the 2010 African Women's Championships during the preliminary rounds[18] or the 2011 All Africa Games.[19] In March 2012, the team was not ranked in the world by FIFA[20] and a senior national team still did not exist.[21] However, a senior national team played its first official match on 16 February 2014.

She-Amavubi debuted on 16 January 2014, in the 2014 African Women's Championship first qualification round, against Kenya in the Stade Régional Nyamirambo in Kigali. They won 1–0 from a goal scored by Alice Niyoyita at the 29th minute in the first leg. In the second leg in , Machakos, Kenya they lost 2–1 with the solitary goal scored by Jeanne Nyirahatashima. Rwanda qualified for the second round by the away goals rule after finishing 2–2 on aggregate and played against Nigeria. Their third official match was disputed on 13 May 2014 against Zambia and ended in a 3–0 loss, making it the third loss of their record. They disputed the 2014 African Women's Championship second qualification round with Nigeria on 24 May 2014, losing 4–1. The goal was scored by Clementine Mukamana at the 53rd minute. In the second leg, again competing against Nigeria on 7 June 2014, the She-Amavubi lost by a crushing 8–0 defeat, leaving them out of the 2014 African Women's Championship by a 12–1 aggregate score.

Rwanda competed at the 2016 CECAFA Women's Championship, losing both games by a 3–2 scoreline, to Tanzania and Ethiopia.

The Rwandan federation hosted the 2018 CECAFA Women's Championship. The Nyamirambo Regional Stadium held all 10 of the games in the round robin tournament. Rwanda beat Tanzania (the eventual champions) 1–0 but finished last on 4 points from their 4 games.[22]

Results and fixtures[]

Main article: Rwanda women's 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.
Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2021[]

20 October 2022 AFWCON qualification First round 1st leg Djibouti  Awarded[23]  Rwanda Djibouti, Djibouti
Report Stadium: El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium
26 October 2022 AFWCON qualification First round 2nd leg Rwanda  Awarded[23]  Djibouti Kigali, Rwanda
Report Stadium: Nyamirambo Regional Stadium
Note: Djibouti won on walkover after Rwanda withdrew before the first leg citing lack of preparation due to no local championship being contested since 2018.

Head-to-head record[]

Updated on 24 October 2021

Opponent Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against Goal differential
 Ethiopia 2 0 0 2 2 6 –4
 Kenya 3 1 0 2 2 4 –2
 Nigeria 2 0 0 2 1 12 –11
 Tanzania 2 1 0 1 3 3 0
 Uganda 1 0 1 0 2 2 0
 Zambia 1 0 0 1 0 3 –3
6 countries 11 2 1 8 10 30 –20

Coaching staff[]

Current coaching staff[]

Position Name Ref.
Head coach Rwanda

Manager history[]

Players[]

See also: Category:Rwanda women's international footballers

Current squad[]

  • Caps and goals accurate up to and including 30 October 2021.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have been called up to a Djibouti squad in the past 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up


Records[]

Main article:
See also: Category:Rwanda women's international footballers
  • Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 2020.

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Competitive record[]

FIFA Women's World Cup[]

FIFA Women's World Cup record
Year Result Matches Wins Draws Losses GF GA
China 1991 to
Germany 2011		 Did not enter
Canada 2015 to
France 2019 		Did not qualify
AustraliaNew Zealand 2023 Withdrew
Total 0/9 0 0 0 0 0 0

Africa Women Cup of Nations[]

Africa Women Cup of Nations record
Year Result Matches Wins Draws Losses GF GA
1991–2012 Did not enter
Namibia 2014 Did not qualify
Cameroon 2016 Did not enter
Ghana 2018
2020 Did not enter, tournament was later canceled
Morocco 2022 Withdrew
Total 0/14 - - - - - -

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  2. ^ Jean Williams (2007). A Beautiful Game: International Perspectives on Women's Football. Berg. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-84520-674-1.
  3. ^ a b Gabriel Kuhn (2011). Soccer Vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics. PM Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-60486-053-5.
  4. ^ Sharma, Kalpana (11 July 2010). "The Hindu (English): Just let them play". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  5. ^ a b c "Goal! Football: Rwanda" (PDF). FIFA. 25 November 2008. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  6. ^ a b Huggins, Allison; Randell, Shirley (2007). "The Contribution of Sports to Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment1" (PDF). International Conference on Gender Equity on Sports for Social Change, Kigali, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Lack of funds holding back women's football league". Rwanda: The Chronicles. 28 February 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Rwanda's First Female Professional Football Coach Defies Gender Stereotypes, Inspires Players". Global Press Institute. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  9. ^ a b Vianney, John (19 January 2012). "Uganda: A Case for Women's Football". allAfrica.com.
  10. ^ "Rwanda: FA to Attend FIFA Women's Football Symposium". 27 September 2007.
  11. ^ "Gender mainstreaming versus gender specific strategies" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  12. ^ Bugingo, Douglas (29 August 2007). "AAGM: Investment in Youth Soccer Reaping Rewards – Mulindwa". The Monitor. Kampala, Uganda.
  13. ^ a b Olita, Reuben (27 September 2007). "Cecafa Puts Off Women Tourney". New Vision. Uganda.
  14. ^ "AAGM: CAF to Fund Regional Women's Championships". The Nation. Nairobi, Kenya. 4 January 2007.
  15. ^ "African Women U-20 World Cup 2010 Qualifying". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  16. ^ Kigongo, Ismail D. (13 January 2012). "After DR Congo, Women Need More". The Monitor. Kampala, Uganda.
  17. ^ "Rwanda: Fixtures and Results". FIFA. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  18. ^ "Fixtures – African Women Championship 2010". CAF. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  19. ^ "Groups & standings – All Africa Games women 2011". CAF. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  20. ^ "The FIFA Women's World Ranking". Switzerland: FIFA. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011.
  21. ^ "Tanzania yapaa viwango FIFA" (in Swahili). New Habari. 4 June 2012. Nchi nyingine za CECAFA ambazo ni Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Somalia na Sudan hazina soka la wanawake la ushindani kiasi ya kuwa na timu ya taifa.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Tanzania retain regional Cecafa Women's Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  23. ^ a b "Rwanda Government asks Federation to withdraw 2022 Women's AFCON qualifier". Sport News Africa. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  24. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ Atieno, Lydia. "Women in football: Grace Nyinawumuntu speaks out on her 2017 downfall, newpath". The New Times. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  26. ^ Sikubwabo, Damas. "Kayiranga appointed women national team head coach". The New Times. Retrieved 2 September 2021.

External links[]

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