Rwanda 2011-13 Home, matchworn/prepared
Rwanda 2015-16 Home
First up, a pretty reasonable Adidas template. The panels coming in off the shoulders at the collar are a little strange, but they do at least get the Adidas logo out of the way of the stripes. The narrowing of the stripes at the bottom with the other panels of the shirt works nicely to taper things off and the fragmented outer edge of the stripes themselves helps prevent them from being too jarring. Works pretty well. However, there is nothing on the back of the shirt and the colour scheme does restrict the numbers on the front somewhat.
Used across 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Rwanda managed to beat Eritrea 4-2 on aggregate in the preliminary round but could not continue such success in the main qualification stage. In a group with Algeria, Mali and Benin, they managed a 1-1 home draw with Benin, but lost the other two matches by a single goal. Away was less successful in terms of goal difference, but they did manage another 1-1 draw, this time against Mali.
Next up we have an AMS shirt. Fully sublimated is it cheaply made, but is a nice design. A giant Sun shape across the front including even the sleeves is very nice, though the lack of accenting anywhere but the colour is disappointing. The Amavubi nickname for the team is plastered across the lower rear but otherwise there’s not much to it. A nice design, ruined by the manufacturer being founded and run by the most hated person inside the community and a cheap look and feel.
The design was used for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers where they lost home and away to Libya in their only games to drop out early. It also featured in 2017 AFCON qualifiers where they finished 3rd on head-to-head but 7 points off qualification. They thrashed Mauritius at home, beat Mozambique away and drew 1-1 in Ghana. But home losses to Mozambique and Ghana along with an away loss to Mauritius left them on only 7 points.
Rwanda have never been a highly ranked nation in FIFA and that’s showed, with these results proving typical. They’ve often been eliminated in the early double headers in World Cup qualifying, with 3 wins from 10 being their best campaign. Their story is similar in AFCON qualifiers, which is what made their 2004 qualification such a surprise. At the 2004 tournament, their only appearance to date, they lost 2-1 to hosts Tunisia but managed a late draw against Guinea and a win over DR Congo to narrowly miss the knockouts. They’ve also been to 4 CHANs, once as hosts, making the quarter-finals twice. However, their highlights have come in the CECAFA Cup. Only the 1 title (embarrassingly by their B side rather than the A side) and 8 more top 3 finishes show that there is some talent and that they can compete well with their neighbours.
The Rwandan women’s side has only briefly played. They attempted to qualify for the 2014 AFCON, beating Kenya on away goals before being annihilated by regional powerhouse Nigeria 12-1 over two legs. A win against Tanzania and a draw against Uganda are their only CECAFA wins too. Their men’s youth sides have had a little success, with an appearance at the U20 and U17 AFCONs, even finishing 2nd in the 2011 U17 edition, defeating Burkina Faso, Egypt and the Ivory Coast despite qualifying as hosts! Women’s youth football appears to solely consist of an attempt at the 2010 U20 AFCON where they lost both preliminary round legs to Uganda.
Rwanda have never fielded a futsal or beach soccer side in competitive play.
As with their previous attempts, little was expected of Rwanda for 2022 qualification, though a 10-0 aggregate thrashing of the Seychelles was the standout result of the entire preliminary round. Drawn with Mali, Uganda and Kenya, they’d have wanted to compete for 3rd, but managed only a home draw against Kenya for a solitary point, losing every away match by a single goal. Better luck next time.
Adam's National Shirt Collection 