The Seychelles national football team played its first game in 1974, losing to fellow minnows Reunion. Over a decade later the Seychelles affiliated to both the Confederation of African Football and FIFA. Like most lowly ranked African teams, most of their matches are played against local rivals and in the early rounds of regional competitions.
The team must pick from a population of just 86,500, the smallest of any African state. The country is made up of 115 islands in an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to the East of the African coastline. The closest neighbour, and biggest sporting rival, is the island of Madagascar to the south-west.
Though they have entered both competitions, the Seychelles have never qualified for the African Cup of Nations or the world cup. Their first entry in the Cup of Nations came just after their official affiliation began in 1986. The campaign was soon ended in the first round of qualification by Mauritius.
The Seychelles have entered world cup qualifying four times, every tournament since 2002. Their first attempt saw the team fail in the first round after a two-legged tie against Namibia. A solid 1-1 draw at home was followed by a disappointing 3-0 loss in the return leg.
World cup 2006 saw a slight downturn in the results. This time around a 4-0 home defeat to Zambia was tempered by a 1-1 draw in the reverse match.
Ranked 181st by FIFA, Seychelles need to up their game if they want to stay in the top 200 teams.
World cup 2018
Fixtures to be announced.
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