| Rwanda | |
| Nickname: | Amavubi (The Wasps) |
| Badge: | Rwanda FA.png |
| Badge Size: | 190px |
| Association: | Rwanda Football Federation |
| Sub-Confederation: | CECAFA (East Africa) |
| Confederation: | CAF (Africa) |
| Captain: | Haruna Niyonzima |
| Most Caps: | Haruna Niyonzima (112) |
| Top Scorer: | Olivier Karekezi (24) |
| Home Stadium: | Stade Amahoro, Nyamirambo Regional Stadium |
| Fifa Trigramme: | RWA |
| Fifa Max: | 64 |
| Fifa Max Date: | March 2015 |
| Fifa Min: | 178 |
| Fifa Min Date: | July 1999 |
| Elo Max: | 95 |
| Elo Max Date: | October 2008 |
| Elo Min: | 150 |
| Elo Min Date: | July 1996 |
| Pattern La1: | _thingreenborder |
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| Leftarm1: | FFF200 |
| Body1: | FCF40E |
| Rightarm1: | FFF200 |
| Shorts1: | F5F5F5 |
| Socks1: | 008000 |
| Pattern La2: | _thinyellowborder |
| Pattern B2: | _erreajaro1819bly |
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| Leftarm2: | 0000FF |
| Body2: | 0C5CFC |
| Rightarm2: | 0000FF |
| Shorts2: | F5F5F5 |
| Socks2: | 0000FF |
| First Game: | 6–2 (Libreville, Gabon; 29 June 1976) |
| Largest Win: | 9–0 (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; 13 December 2007) |
| Largest Loss: | 5–0 (Libreville, Gabon; 7 July 1976) 6–1 (Gabon; 12 July 1976) 5–0 (Tunis, Tunisia; 10 April 1983) 5–0 (Kampala, Uganda; 1 August 1998) |
| Regional Name: | Africa Cup of Nations |
| Regional Cup Apps: | 1 |
| Regional Cup First: | 2004 |
| Regional Cup Best: | Group stage (2004) |
| 2Ndregional Cup Apps: | 1 |
| 2Ndregional Name: | Afro-Asian Games |
| 2Ndregional Cup First: | 2003 |
| 2Ndregional Cup Best: | Fourth place (2003) |
The Rwanda national football team represents Rwanda in international football and is controlled by the Rwandese Association Football Federation, the governing body of football in Rwanda, and competes as a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), as well as the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA), a CAF sub-confederation that governs football in East and Central Africa. The team bears the nickname Amavubi (Kinyarwanda for The Wasps), and primarily plays its home games at the Stade Amahoro in Kigali, the nation's capital. They have never qualified for a World Cup finals, and reached their only Africa Cup of Nations in 2004.
Rwanda qualified for its first Africa Cup of Nations in the 2004 edition.[1] At the tournament, they lost their opening match 2–1 to Tunisia before winning their first ever point in the competition after a 1–1 draw against Guinea.[2] Rwanda went on to beat DR Congo in their final group match by a 1–0 scoreline, but it wasn't enough, as elsewhere in the group, Guinea and Tunisia drew, meaning both teams progressed to the quarter-finals, and Rwanda were eliminated.[3]
In 2001, after adopting the new flag of Rwanda, The Federation (FERWAFA) changed the color of the team kit. The new team kit consists of a yellow jersey, blue shorts and green socks for home matches, while their away kit is either all white or all blue. Adidas has generally been the manufacturer for the Rwandan team since 2001.[4] However, between 2004 and 2009, Rwanda used L-sport as their outfitter, and in 2015 the side started wearing kit provided by AMS, an emerging Australian supplier.
Under the official FIFA Trigramme the team's name is abbreviated as RWA; this acronym is used by FIFA, the CAF and the CECAFA to identify the team in official competitions.[5] However the team was more commonly known as the RR, the acronym for the country's official name, Repubulika y'u Rwanda or République du Rwanda, which the local press used when they referred to the team as the RR XI. The national team is often referred to as Amavubi (The Wasps).[6] [7]
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
Metin Türel (1991)
Longin Rudasingwa (1998-1999) Longin Rudasingwa (2000–01)
Roger Palmgren (2004–05) Eric Nshimiyimana (2009–10)
Sellas Tetteh (2010–11) Eric Nshimiyimana (2013–14) Gilbert Kanyankore (2016) Jimmy Mulisa (2016) François Karekezi Vincent Mashami (2018–2022)
Carlos Alós (2022–2023)
Gerard Buscher (2023)The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa on 15 and 21 November 2023.[8]
Caps and goals correct as of 21 November 2023, after the match against .
The following players have been called up for Rwanda in the last 12 months.
Players in bold are still active with Rwanda.
| width=30px | Rank | Name | width=50px | Caps | width=50px | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haruna Niyonzima | 112 | 6 | 2006–2022 | |||
| 2 | Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza | 89 | 6 | 2006–2018 | |||
| 3 | Jean-Claude Iranzi | 76 | 3 | 2008–2019 | |||
| 4 | Olivier Karekezi | 70 | 24 | 2000–2013 | |||
| 5 | Jean-Luc Ndayishimiye | 64 | 0 | 2007–2019 | |||
| 6 | Fitina Omborenga | 63 | 1 | 2013–present | |||
| 7 | Meddie Kagere | 59 | 15 | 2011–present | |||
| Jacques Tuyisenge | 59 | 16 | 2011–present | ||||
| 9 | Djihad Bizimana | 54 | 1 | 2015–present | |||
| 10 | Jean-Claude Ndoli | 50 | 0 | 2005–2014 | |||
| width=30px | Rank | Name | width=50px | Goals | width=50px | Caps | width=50px | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olivier Karekezi | 24 | 70 | 2000–2013 | |||||
| 2 | Jacques Tuyisenge | 16 | 59 | 2011–present | |||||
| 3 | Meddie Kagere | 15 | 59 | 2011–present | |||||
| 4 | Jean Lomami | 14 | 25 | 2003–2009 | |||||
| 5 | Labama Bokota | 13 | 33 | 2007–2012 | |||||
| 6 | Ernest Sugira | 12 | 36 | 2015–present | |||||
| 7 | Saïd Makasi | 9 | 26 | 2003–2009 | |||||
| 8 | Jimmy Gatété | 8 | 41 | 1996–2009 | |||||
| 9 | Daddy Birori | 7 | 25 | 2009–2014 | |||||
| Muhadjiri Hakizimana | 7 | 34 | 2016–present | ||||||
| FIFA World Cup record | width=1% rowspan=39 | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | ||||||||||||||
 1978 | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | ||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Did not enter | Declined participation | ||||||||||||||
 1986 | ||||||||||||||||
 1990 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
 1994 | Did not enter | Declined participation | ||||||||||||||
| 1998 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
 2002 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||
 2006 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 17 | ||||||||||
 2010 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | ||||||||||
 2014 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
 2022 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 9 | ||||||||||
| To be determined | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||
  2030 | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 48 | 10 | 11 | 27 | 44 | 64 | ||||||||||
| Africa Cup of Nations record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 1 | |||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | |||||||
 1957 to  1962 | Part of | ||||||||
| 1963 to 1976 | Not affiliated to CAF | ||||||||
1978 to  1980 | Did not enter | ||||||||
 1982 to 1984 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1986 | Did not enter | ||||||||
| 1988 | Withdrew | ||||||||
 1990 to  1998 | Did not enter | ||||||||
2000 to  2002 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 2004 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 2006 to 2013 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
 2015 | Disqualified | ||||||||
 2017 to 2023 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 2025 | To be determined | ||||||||
  2027 | |||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 1/34 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| African Nations Championship record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 4 | |||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | |||||||
 2009 | Colspan=8 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2011 | Group stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | |
| 2014 | Colspan=8 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Quarter-finals | 5th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 2018 | Group stage | 13th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
 2020 | Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 2022 | Colspan=8 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Total | Quarter-finals | 4/7 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 18 | |
See main article: CECAFA Cup.
