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	Benoit Marie (46)
Top scorer	Philip Zialor (14)
Home stadium	Stade Linité
FIFA code	SEY
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	199 (16 September 2021)[1]
Highest	129 (October 2006)
Lowest	202 (February 2020)
First international
Réunion 2–0 Seychelles  (Saint-Denis, Réunion; 13 February 1974)
Biggest win
Seychelles 9��0 Maldives  (Saint-Pierre, Réunion; 27 August 1979)
Biggest defeat
Seychelles 1–8 Libya  (Victoria, Seychelles; 17 November 2018)  Burundi 8–1 Seychelles  (Moroni, Comoros; 4 September 2021)  Rwanda 7–0 Seychelles  (Kigali, Rwanda; 10 September 2019)
COSAFA Cup
Appearances	11 (first in 2005)
Best result	Group stage (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 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[]

Football was introduced to the Seychelles in the 1930s. Its first official competition, the Challenge Cup, was organized in 1936 then, in 1941, a championship between five teams was set up with matches of 60 minutes, played barefoot.^[4]

In 1969, the president of the Seychelles Football Federation wanted to set up a national team. Engaged on a voluntary basis, Adrian Fisher arrived on the island in September to reorganize Seychelles football. He equipped all the players with shoes, set up modern training techniques and extended the match time to 90 minutes. The newly formed national team play their first matches at a friendly tournament played in Kenya in April 1970. In Seychelles' first match played on a real football pitch, they drew 2-2 against Feisal F.C. then lost 1-2 to Mwengi at Mombasa Municipal Stadium. When Fisher left the Seychelles in 1973, the team had played six games against 4 clubs.

Seychelles play their first meeting against another selection, on March 13, 1974, against Réunion. In this friendly match, the "Pirates", the team's nickname, lost 0-2. Two years later, this time as an independent nation, the Seychelles faced Réunion again, losing 1-4. In September 1977, they played a FIFA-affiliated team, Mauritius, during a tournament played in Réunion, and lost 1-2. The team enjoyed its first victory the following year by winning at home 1-0 against Réunion.

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 were eliminated from the group stage at the 1985 Indian Ocean Games but, on Aug 31, 1986, they played their first competitive match recognised by FIFA and CAF, following their affiliation with both organizations, a qualification match against Mauritius for the 1987 All-Africa Games, they lost 1-2. They participated, for the first time, in the 1988 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Mauritius but lost 1-3 over the two games.

At the 1990 Indian Ocean Games, the team suffered its heaviest defeat in its history against Madagascar in the semi-final, losing 0-6. In the bronze medal match, they won against Comoros 3-1. The team failed to repeat this performance in the following games, played at home, losing all four games and finishing last in the competition.

After the elimination from the preliminary phase of the 1996 African Cup of Nations by Mauritius 2-1 over the two legs, Vojo Gardašević was hired to lead the team. Following that, the Pirates again finished third in the 1998 Indian Ocean Games and, two years later, competed in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time. Playing against Namibia they drew 1-1 in Stade Linité, thanks to a goal by Philip Zialor but lost the second leg 0-3. Seychelles were also eliminated in the preliminary round of the 2000 African Cup of Nations by Zimbabwe 0-6 over the two matches. Seychelles faired better in the qualification for the 2004 African Cup of Nations as the team, led by Dominique Bathenay then Michael Nees, finished third and won two prestigious home wins by beating Eritrea 1-0 and Zimbabwe 2-1. Following that they achieved a bronze medal at the 2003 Indian Ocean Games, then were eliminated in the preliminary round of the 2006 World Cup by Zambia, 1-5 in the two games.

Seychelles’ biggest competitive win came against Zimbabwe in the qualifiers of the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Goals by strikers 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 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.^{[citation needed]}

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]

Recent results and fixtures[]

2020[]

Burundi  v  Seychelles

18 January 2020 (2020-01-18) 2020 Bangabandhu Cup	Burundi	3–1	Seychelles	showDhaka, Bangladesh
17:00 UTC+6	Nshimirimana  54' Tambwe  60', 61'	Report	Monnaie  26'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mohammed Jalal Uddin (Bangladesh)

Seychelles  v  Mauritius

20 January 2020 (2020-01-20) 2020 Bangabandhu Cup	Seychelles	2–2	Mauritius	showDhaka, Bangladesh
17:00 UTC+6	Waye-Hive  19' Monnaie  28'	Report	67'  90+1'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Sudish Pandey (Nepal)

Palestine  v  Seychelles

22 January 2020 (2020-01-22) 2020 Bangabandhu Cup	Palestine	1–0	Seychelles	showDhaka, Bangladesh
17:00 UTC+6	Kharoub  79'	Report		Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mizanur Rahman (Bangladesh)

2021[]

Comoros  v  Seychelles

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01) Friendly	Comoros	7–1	Seychelles	showMoroni, Comoros
	Selemani  31' Youssouf  34' Mogni  38', 47' Ben Nabouhane  62', 74', 82'	Report	77'	Stadium:

Burundi  v  Seychelles

4 September 2021 (2021-09-04) Friendly	Burundi	8–1	Seychelles	showMoroni, Comoros
	Hakizimana  5' Bigirimana  8', 48' Shaka  15' Nzigamasabo  34'  75' Ndikumana  83'  88'			Stadium:

Coaches[]

Player records[]

As of 22 January 2020

Players in bold are still active with Seychelles.

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	–	0/22	–	–	–	–	–	–		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	–	0/33	–	–	–	–	–	–

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

References[]

External links[]

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