Mauritius_national_football_team

Mauritius national football team

Mauritius national football team

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The Mauritius national football team (French: Équipe de Maurice de football), nicknamed Club M and Les Dodos (The Dodos), is the national team of Mauritius. They are overseen by the Mauritius Football Association, which is a member of FIFA, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). The head coach is Fidy Rasoanaivo.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Mauritius women's national football team.

Quick Facts Nickname(s), Association ...

Their most significant achievements are qualification for the 1974 African Cup of Nations, and winning the Indian Ocean Island Games football tournament in 1985 and 2003. They have also been a finalist in this competition in 1990, 2011 and 2019.

History

Early years

Mauritius played its first competitive international game in 1947 against Réunion, which they won 2–1. For the next twenty years, they would only play Réunion and Madagascar (probably due to the proximity of the three islands to each other) in friendlies and the Indian Ocean Games Triangulaire, which existed from 1947 to 1963. Mauritius won the competition ten times over that time period, were runners-up twice, and came in third once.

1960s–1990s

Starting in 1967, Mauritius began competing against other countries, playing friendlies and entering in such competitions as the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, though they haven't found much success. While they have never qualified for the World Cup finals, they have qualified once for the Africa Cup of Nations, in 1974, however, they were eliminated in the group stages. Mauritius did manage to win the resurrected Indian Ocean Games in 1985. In 1999, after deadly riots caused by supporters of Scouts Club (renamed as Port Louis Sporting Club[2]) angry about a controversial penalty awarded to Fire Brigade Sports Club (now renamed as Pamplemousses SC[2]) in the championship deciding game, which gave Fire Brigade a 1–0 win, all domestic football was suspended for 18 months, and only the national team was allowed to play. This is regarded as the point at which Mauritian football, both on the domestic and international stage, started on a downward slope.

2000s–present

Throughout the new millennium, the national team's performances progressively declined. From a high of the 116th place in the FIFA rankings in 2000, they tumbled down to an all-time low of the 195th place in the summer of 2011.

A peak was reached in 2003, when Mauritius convincingly won the 2003 Indian Ocean Island Games, on home soil, under head coach Akbar Patel. They followed up with a 3-1 home win over Uganda in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification (CAF) first round in November 2003, although Uganda progressed on aggregate. Mauritius then reached the quarterfinals of the 2004 COSAFA Cup, beating South Africa 2–0 in January 2004. Mauritius eventually lost out 3–1 to the tournament's favorites Zambia. In the next few years, the team would go through a slump in performance, suffering their biggest defeats in the process and recording few official wins. Mauritius have also cycled through many head coaches, especially since the new millennium, but none have had true success.

During the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, Les Dodos achieved their best results in a decade, defeating both Mozambique and Rwanda. However, they were unable to build on these wins, losing to Comoros and then São Tomé and Príncipe in the preliminary round of the next two editions. In the 2023 AFCoN qualifiers, Mauritius faced São Tomé again in the preliminary round and lost 1–0 in the first leg and drew 3–3 at home, failing to progress. Following the result, CAF ruled that one of the São Tomé players was not eligible, awarding Mauritius a 3–0 victory and sending them into the group stages for the first time since 2017.[3] However, this decision was reversed, following an appeal by São Tomé.

In 2023, Mauritius recorded impressive wins vs Kenya (1-0), who were in the FIFA rankings' top 100, and Angola (1-0; 0-0). However, in the 2025 AFCoN qualifiers, Mauritius lost to Chad in the preliminary round, marking four consecutive unsuccessful attempts to reach the group stage of the qualification round.

Team image

Media coverage

For most home games of significant importance, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation provides televised coverage.

Kit providers

More information Kit provider, Period ...

Supporters' groups

On 30 May 2011, the official fan club of Club M, Kop Moris, was launched. it was a massive moment for the entire country of Mauritius. The objective of this club is to build up excitement for Mauritius' games, fill up the stands as much as possible, and create a festive and family-friendly atmosphere. This fan club is officially sanctioned by the MFA.

Stadium

Mauritius now plays the majority of its games at the modern Complexe Sportif de Côte d'Or (cap. 7,000). Matches were previously hosted at Stade Anjalay (cap. 18,000) for high-profile matches, and Stade George V (cap. 6,200).

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

11 June 2023 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup Mauritius  3–0  Pakistan Saint Pierre
15:30
  • Villeneuve 53'
  • Nazira 63'
  • Shah 71' (o.g.)
 Report Stadium: Stade de Cote d'Or
Referee: Nasser Houssein Mahamoud (Djibouti)
14 June 2023 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup Mauritius  1–3  Djibouti Saint Pierre
18:00 Nazira 26' Report
Stadium: Stade de Cote d'Or
Referee: Irshad Ul Haq (Pakistan)
18 June 2023 2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup Mauritius  1–0  Kenya Saint Pierre
15:30 Saramandif 22' Report Stadium: Stade de Cote d'Or
Referee: Ibrahim Ben Tsimanohitsy (Madagascar)
7 July 2023 COSAFA Cup Mauritius  0–2  Lesotho Durban
15:00 Report
  • Mokhachane 15'
  • Sera 90+2'
 Stadium: King Zwelithini Stadium
10 July 2023 COSAFA Cup Angola  0–1  Mauritius KwaMashu
15:00 Report
  • François 8'
 Stadium: Princess Magogo Stadium
12 July 2023 COSAFA Cup Mauritius  0–1  Mozambique KwaMashu
15:00 Report
  • Abudo 38'
 Stadium: Princess Magogo Stadium
17 November 2026 World Cup qualification Cameroon  3–0  Mauritius Douala, Cameroon
20:00 UTC+1
Report Stadium: Japoma Stadium
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Ahmed Arajiga (Tanzania)
21 November 2026 World Cup qualification Mauritius  0–0  Angola Saint Pierre, Mauritius
15:30 UTC+4 Report Stadium: Côte d'Or National Sports Complex
Attendance: 3,700
Referee: Godfrey Nkhakananga (Malawi)

2024

22 March 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Chad  1–0  Mauritius Yaoundé, Cameroon
Stadium: Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium
Referee: Ahmed Hassan Hussein (Somalia)
26 March 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification Mauritius  1–2
(1–3 agg.)		  Chad Saint Pierre, Mauritius
Stadium: Côte d'Or National Sports Complex
Referee: Hassen Corneh (Liberia)
Note: Chad won 3–1 on aggregate.

Staff

Current staff

More information Position, Name ...

Managerial history

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2023 COSAFA Cup.[4]

Caps and goals as of 12 July 2023, after the game against Mozambique.

More information No., Pos. ...

Recent call ups

The following players have also been called up to the Mauritius squad within the last twelve months.

More information Pos., Player ...

Player records

As of 21 November 2023[5]
Players in bold are still active with Mauritius.

Most appearances

More information Rank, Player ...

Top goalscorers

More information Rank, Player ...

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup Qualification
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1950 Part of  United Kingdom Part of  United Kingdom
1954 to 1962 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
1966 and 1970 Did not enter Did not enter
West Germany 1974 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3 5
1978 and 1982 Did not enter Did not enter
Mexico 1986 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 5
Italy 1990 Banned by FIFA Banned by FIFA
United States 1994 Did not enter Did not enter
France 1998 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 7
South Korea Japan 2002 2 0 0 2 2 6
Germany 2006 2 1 0 1 3 4
South Africa 2010 6 0 1 5 3 17
Brazil 2014 Withdrew during qualifying Withdrew during qualifying
Russia 2018 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 5
Qatar 2022 2 0 0 2 0 3
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined 2 0 1 1 0 3
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 To be determined
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/15 21 1 4 16 14 52

Africa Cup of Nations

Main article: Mauritius at the Africa Cup of Nations
More information Africa Cup of Nations record, Year ...
More information African Nations Championship record, Appearances: 0 ...

Head-to-head record

As of 20 August 2017 Mauritius 1–0 Rwanda 
More information Opponent, Played ...

Honours

Main article: Mauritius at the Indian Ocean Games Triangulaire

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  2. [2]
    "Mauritius 2000/01". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  3. [3]
    Warshaw, Andrew (17 May 2022). "Mauritius win 2023 AFCON qualifier slot after Sao Tome break covid rules". Inside World Football. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  4. [4]
    "National Team List". Facebook. Mauritius Football Association.
  5. [5]
    Mamrud, Roberto. "Mauritius – Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
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