Sport
Somaliland national football team, league and regional games
Somaliland's national football team plays outside FIFA and CAF, as a member of ConIFA, the federation for teams from unrecognised states and regions. Its first known match was a 1–2 loss to Ethiopia on 6 November 2002. At the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup in Abkhazia it beat the Chagos Islands 3–2 and finished tenth of twelve. At home, the Somaliland Football Association runs a 12-club league and the Somaliland Regional Games.
Outside FIFA, inside ConIFA
Somaliland declared itself independent of Somalia in 1991. Its football team is not a member of FIFA or the Confederation of African Football. It is an associate member of ConIFA, the Confederation of Independent Football Associations, set up in 2014 for teams of dependencies, unrecognised states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions outside FIFA (Somaliland national football team, Wikipedia; ConIFA, Somaliland).
First matches
- 6 November 2002: Somaliland's first known match, a 1–2 defeat by Ethiopia (Wikipedia; RSSSF, 2003 matches).
- 17 May 2014: what Wikipedia calls its first "proper" international, a 2–2 draw with Sealand in London (Wikipedia).
The 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup
ConIFA invited Somaliland to its 2016 World Football Cup, hosted by Abkhazia, the team's first international tournament (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; The Guardian, 3 June 2016). Its results:
| Match | Score |
|---|---|
| Group D: Sápmi | lost 0–5 |
| Group D: Panjab | lost 0–5 |
| Placement round 1: Chagos Islands | won 3–2 |
| Placement round 2: Székely Land | lost 3–10 |
Somaliland finished tenth of twelve teams (Wikipedia). Roads and Kingdoms followed the squad to the tournament (Roads and Kingdoms, 2016). Saxafi Media has written about what the team means to players and fans (Saxafi Media).
The Somaliland league
The Somaliland Football Association runs a national league of 12 semi-professional clubs, backed by public bodies and private companies. It also holds an inter-regional tournament every two years: all of Somaliland's regions play group stages around the country, and the four group winners play the semi-finals in Hargeisa (Wikipedia).
Somaliland Regional Games
The Somaliland Regional Games are a multi-sport event between Somaliland's regions. They were first held in 2011 and have been held every two to four years since, under the Ministry of Youth and Sports with the football association supervising (Somaliland Regional Games, Wikipedia; Hiiraan Online, September 2011; Somaliland Post).
Stadium
The national team's home is Hargeisa National Stadium, with 12,000 seats (Wikipedia; World Stadiums).
Read more
Sources
- Somaliland national football team, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- ConIFA, Somaliland · conifa.org
- RSSSF, 2003 matches · rsssf.org
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty · rferl.org
- The Guardian, 3 June 2016 · theguardian.com
- Roads and Kingdoms, 2016 · roadsandkingdoms.com
- Saxafi Media · saxafimedia.com
- Somaliland Regional Games, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Hiiraan Online, September 2011 · hiiraan.com
- Somaliland Post · somalilandpost.net
- World Stadiums · worldstadiums.com
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Where this matters
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- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
Keep reading
- Sport in Somalia: football, running and the Somalis who won the worldSport in Somalia: Abdi Bile's 1987 world title, Mo Farah, the Ocean Stars football team, the reopening of Mogadishu Stadium, and athletes of the diaspora.
- Somalia national football team (the Ocean Stars): history, results and recordsThe 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.
- Somali First Division (Somali National League): every champion since 1933Somalia's top football league: history from the 1933 colonial championship, every champion by year, titles by club, the 2021 season and the inter-state championship.
- Somalia Cup (General Da'ud Cup) and Somalia Super Cup: every winnerSomalia's football cup competitions: the General Da'ud Cup since 1972 and the Super Cup since 2013, with every known winner and final score.
- Women's football in Somalia: from the first match to the national teamWomen's football in Somalia: registration figures since 2000, restrictions on women's sport, Golden Girls FC, the first tournament in 2024 and the national team's first match in 2025.
- Somali Football Federation (SFF): history, leaders and what it runsThe Somali Football Federation: founding in 1951, FIFA, CAF and UAFA membership, competitions it runs, leaders, the 2012 and 2017 killings of officials, and its women's strategy.