# Somalia national football team (the Ocean Stars): history, results and records

> The Somalia national football team: history since the 1940s, the 1963 FIFA entry, the 2019 win over Zimbabwe, records, captains, head-to-head results and home grounds.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/society/somalia-national-football-team/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In numbers

- **Members of:** FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF). RSSSF dates both memberships to 1963 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)); Wikipedia gives FIFA 1962 and CAF 1968 ([Somali Football Federation, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Football_Federation)).
- **Recorded internationals:** 145 played, 15 won, 19 drawn, 111 lost, 75 goals scored and 362 conceded, up to November 2025 ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **World Cup qualifiers:** 23 played, 1 won, 4 drawn, 18 lost ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers:** 13 played, 3 won, 2 drawn, 8 lost ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **Biggest defeat:** 0–14 against North Korea on 14 November 1963 ([Somalia national football team, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).
- **Most caps:** Omar Abdulkadir, 31, from 1999 to 2007 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).

## Beginnings: the 1940s and the Somali Youth League

The first Somali football teams were formed in the 1940s, and early matches were tied to the anti-colonial movement. The Somali Youth League put together a team of local young men to play the Italian expatriate clubs. That team, later renamed Bondhere, won the first several competitions ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). The RSSSF records that Bondhere, earlier called SYL "[Leego](/en/history/somali-youth-league/)", won the second division in 1958, under the UN trusteeship ([RSSSF, Somalia champions](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/somachamp.html)).

The Somali Football Federation was founded in 1951, and the first Somali commissioner for sport was named in 1958 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). Somalia's first national team captain was Mohamed Shangole; the longest-serving was Hasan Babay ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).

## Playing away from home

After the civil war began in the early 1990s, FIFA matches could not be played in Somalia, and the team played its "home" qualifiers abroad, mostly in Djibouti ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). Between 16 November 2011 and 22 July 2019 Somalia lost 18 matches in a row, and it went 28 games without a win from January 2009 to July 2019 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). The 2012 CECAFA Cup included a 0–7 defeat by [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/) in Uganda ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).

## 5 September 2019: the first World Cup qualifying win

In Djibouti, in front of about 4,000 people, Somalia beat Zimbabwe 1–0 in the first round of 2022 World Cup qualifying. It was Somalia's first World Cup qualifying win and its first competitive win since 1984, against Kenya ([BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49621822); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)). RSSSF credits the 86th-minute goal to Anwar Shakunda; other reports spell the scorer Anwar Sidali ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)). Zimbabwe won the return leg 3–1 in Harare five days later, and Somalia went out ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).

## Recent matches

- **2023:** World Cup qualifiers against Algeria (1–3) and Uganda (0–1), both played away or in Morocco ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).
- **2024:** Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Eswatini, including a 2–2 draw on 26 March in South Africa after Somalia came back from two goals down ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html); [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).
- **2025:** six World Cup qualifiers, all lost or drawn, then a 2–1 friendly win over Bahrain on 17 November and an Arab Cup qualifier against [Oman](/en/diaspora/oman/) in [Qatar](/en/diaspora/qatar/), drawn 0–0 and lost 1–4 on penalties ([RSSSF](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html)).

## Kit and home ground

From the 1970s to the 1990s the team wore sky blue with the Somali flag; in the 2010s it moved to blue and white vertical stripes, and the coat of arms on the shirt was replaced by the federation crest. Home games are meant for Mogadishu Stadium; while it was rebuilt, the team used [Engineer Yarisow Stadium](/en/society/stadiums-in-somalia/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_national_football_team)).

## Head-to-head, selected opponents

| Opponent | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uganda | 24 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| Kenya | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Tanzania | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Burundi | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Zanzibar | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Djibouti | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Ethiopia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Yemen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

Source: [RSSSF, updated 12 February 2026](https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/som-intres.html).

## Read more

- [Sport in Somalia](/en/society/sport-in-somalia/)
- [Somali First Division](/en/society/somali-first-division/)
- [Somali Football Federation](/en/society/somali-football-federation/)
- [Somaliland national football team](/en/society/somaliland-national-football-team/)

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