The Réunion national football team () is the regional team of the French overseas department and region of Réunion and is controlled by the Ligue réunionnaise de football, the local branch of the French Football Federation. Réunion is not a member of FIFA and is only an associate member of CAF, and is therefore not eligible to enter either the FIFA World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations. However, it has played numerous matches, most of them against the island nations of Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles.
History
Réunion's first international came in the 1947 Triangulaire, losing twice against Mauritius (2–1) and Madagascar (4–2). Réunion won their first match in the 1950 edition, beating Madagascar 3–2.
In the 1979 Indian Ocean Island Games, Réunion qualified top of their group, beating Seychelles (3–0) and Maldives (9–0). In the semi-finals, they beat Comoros (6–1), leading to a rematch against Seychelles in the final. Réunion won 2–1.
Réunion qualified for the final of the 1985 Indian Ocean Island Games, losing on penalties to Mauritius after a 4–4 draw. Réunion got out of the group stage again at the 1993 Games, beating Mauritius in the semi-finals 1–0 with Jimmy Moultanin scoring their only goal. They lost 1–0 to Madagascar in the final. They got their revenge against Madagascar in the 1998 final, drawing 3–3 in regular time before winning 7–6 on penalties.
Réunion made it to the final of the 2003 Indian Ocean Island Games losing to the hosts Mauritius 2–1. In the 2007 Games, Réunion won the competition despite scoring only two goals.
Réunion entered the inaugural 2008 Coupe de l'Outre-Mer, winning their group against Mayotte (6–1) and French Guiana (2–0), qualifying for the final, where they beat Martinique (1–0). They entered the 2010 Coupe de l'Outre-Mer, facing Martinique again in the final, losing on penalties.
Réunion advanced to the knock-out stages of the 2011 Indian Ocean Island Games, losing to Seychelles (2–1) in extra-time. They beat Mayotte 1–0 to claim third place. In the 2012 Coupe de l'Outre-Mer Réunion qualified for the final match, beating French Guiana (2–0), Saint Pierre and Miquelon (10–0) and Guadeloupe (2–1) before meeting Martinique for the third consequtive final, defeating them 10–9 on penalties. In the 2015 Games Réunion beat Mayotte 3–1 in the final and in the 2019 competition they beat Mauritius on penalties, with Mathieu Pélops saving all five attempts in the penalty shoot-out.
Latest squad The following players were selected to the squad for the 2023 Indian Ocean Island Games.
Caps and goals updated as of 28 July 2019, after the match against Mauritius.
Records
Players in bold are still active with Réunion.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer 1 Jean-Michel Fontaine 29 15 2007–present 2 Gérard Hubert 27 1 2003–20153 William Mounoussamy 24 1 2003–2015 Gaël Payet 24 0 2003–2012 5 Johan Lionel 22 0 2005–2012 6 Éric Farro 21 9 2002–20127 Bertrand Bador 18 0 2010–present John Elcaman 18 1 2002–2011 Sébastien K'Bidy 18 0 2011–present 10 Nicolas Hoarau 15 1 2005–2011
Top goalscorers
RankNameGoalsCapsRatioCareer 1 Jean-Michel Fontaine 15 29 2007–present2 Éric Farro 9 21 2002–20123 Bernard Lacollay 7 9 1993–2002 Mamoudou Diallo 9 9 2008–20115 Quentin Boesso 4 6 2008–2015 Mickaël Vallant 4 6 2011–2012 Henri-Paul Ah-Yane 4 9 1979–1986 Willy Visnelda 4 13 2005–20119 Eric Bacco 3 3 1998 Mohamed El Madaghri 3 7 2011–2012 Jean Hugues Tossem 3 8 1983–1988
Competitive record Indian Ocean Island Games Indian Ocean Island Games recordYearRoundPosition* 1979Champions1st4400202 1985Runners-up2nd3210144 1990Group stage5th201101 1993Runners-up2nd430151 1998Champions1st4310103 2003Runners-up2nd430172 2007Champions1st413021 2011Third place3rd420245 2015Champions1st440081 2019Champions1st5401102 2023Runners-up2nd412132Total5 Titles11/114227878324
Triangulaire Triangulaire recordYearRoundPosition* 1947Third place3rd200236 1948Third place3rd200227 1949Third place3rd200219 1950Runners-up2nd2101517 1951Third place3rd2002313 1952Third place3rd200207 1953Third place3rd2002815 1954Runners-up2nd2101613 1955Third place3rd200237 1956Third place3rd2002512 1957Runners-up2nd210111 1958Third Place3rd200215 1963Runners-up2nd210136TotalRunners-up13/1326402241118
Coupe de l'Outre-Mer Coupe de l'Outre-Mer recordYearRoundPosition2008Champions1st3300912010Runners-up2nd43101412012Champions1st4310163TotalChampions3/311920395
Head-to-head record Last update: 7 May 2011 1–3
OpponentPldWDLGFGAGD 6 4 1 1 13 3 10 2 1 0 1 3 5 -2 3 2 1 0 3 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3 0 0 3 2 7 -5 21 3 4 14 30 53 -23 1 0 0 1 2 8 -6 2 2 0 0 18 0 18 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 35 7 9 19 39 101 -62 4 3 1 0 12 4 8 2 2 0 0 7 3 4 1 1 0 0 11 0 11 15 12 1 2 30 10 20 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3 0 1 2 3 5 -2 Total 106 41 20 45 181 207 –26
Honours Regional Indian Ocean Island Games Gold medal (5): 1979, 1998, 2007, 2015, 2019 Silver medal (4): 1985, 1993, 2003, 2023 Bronze medal (1): 2011 Indian Ocean Games Triangulaire Runners-up (4): 1950, 1954, 1957, 1963 Third place (9): 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958
Friendly Coupe de l'Outre-Mer (2): 2008, 2012
References
External links Official site – Réunion Island Football Association Réunion at CAF Réunion at FIFA