On December 29, 2023, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre inaugurated the first national tournament at Mogadishu Stadium in thirty years. The pitch – built by the Chinese in the 1970s, later used by al-Shabaab as a training ground and execution site – was now covered in artificial turf. Ethiopian troops had occupied the ground between 2007 and 2009. Al-Shabaab held it after that. Thousands of fans walked in anyway, and the stands filled.
Hirshabelle fan Khadro Ali said she felt as though they had been emancipated. Jubbaland player Mohamud Abdirahim called the tournament exceptionally special. Younger fans who grew up without access to organized football now follow every fixture – signing up through a 1xbet promo code somalia to track odds, check live scores, and stay connected to a domestic game that barely existed a decade ago. The ground that held executions now holds crowds of thousands, and the football inside it is competitive, broadcast, and connected to the wider African game.
The Stadium as a Measure of Where Somalia Is
Mogadishu Stadium was built in 1977 during the presidency of Siad Barre, with Chinese assistance, designed to hold 65,000 people. In its first decade, it was a working venue – the national league played there, and crowds came regularly. Then the civil war started in 1991. The stadium was damaged by fighting, occupied by Ethiopian troops between 2007 and 2009, then held by al-Shabaab until 2011.
Al-Shabaab banned football, declaring it un-Islamic. Watching a match became dangerous. For a country where football had been the dominant sport since the 1920s and the Somali Football Federation was established in 1951, that ban was not just a sporting inconvenience it cut one of the few things Somalis shared across clan lines and regional divisions.
The restoration took years. Artificial turf was installed in 2020. When the December 2023 tournament ran, it brought together teams from Jubbaland, South West State, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, and Banadir. Puntland sat out over a political dispute. Somaliland, as always, remained separate. Even in a football tournament, Somalia’s political geography showed. That did not stop the crowds.
The Peace Match of May 2025
In May 2025, the stadium hosted a FIFA-supported peace exhibition match featuring Samuel Eto’o, Jay Jay Okocha, and Emmanuel Adebayor. Thousands attended. Somalia formally requested that FIFA and CAF reassess its security situation to allow competitive international fixtures back in Mogadishu – home matches for the national team are currently played abroad, meaning Somali fans cannot watch the Ocean Stars in person on home soil. The request would not have been made five years ago.
The National Team: Where Things Actually Stand
Somalia’s FIFA ranking, World Cup qualifying record, and youth performance tell a more precise story than general impressions of progress. The table below shows the key numbers.
A team ranked 198th, which has never qualified for a major tournament, competing in a World Cup qualifying group with Algeria and Guinea, is not expected to win. The significance lies elsewhere – in goalkeeper Abdirahman Mohamud Jama making 15 saves in March 2025 to hold Guinea goalless, earning Man of the Match against a side containing Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy. Somalia was outshot 27–2 that night and still did not concede.
| Category | Detail |
| FIFA Ranking (April 2026) | 198th |
| Highest ever ranking | 65th (April–June 1996) |
| World Cup 2026 qualifying group | Group G: Algeria, Botswana, Guinea, Mozambique, Uganda |
| Best qualifying result | 0–0 draw vs Guinea, Abidjan, March 2025 |
| Home matches | Played abroad (security reasons) |
| Squad composition | 16 of 26 senior players born outside Somalia |
| U-17 CECAFA title | 2022 (first ever) |
| U-17 AFCON appearances | 2023, 2025 |
That draw against Guinea was Somalia’s first point in the 2026 qualifying campaign, after four consecutive defeats. Coach Yusuf Ali Nur said before the match, they had failed previously but were hoping to do their best. The result came from a defensive structure specifically prepared for that fixture – not from luck.
Sixteen of the twenty-six senior squad members were born abroad. Elyas, one of those players, told TRT Afrika: “When you represent the national team, initially people underestimate you based on their perception of Somalia as a nation.” Performing consistently against that expectation is part of what the current generation of Ocean Stars is doing.
The Domestic League and the Clubs Behind It
Somalia’s First Division runs with 12 clubs, almost all based in Mogadishu. It has a promotion and relegation structure, a domestic cup, broadcast coverage on Astaan TV and Bile TV, and a continental pathway – league champions enter CAF Champions League qualification. Horseed FC reached the CAF Confederation Cup 2024/25 preliminary draw. Dekedaha FC have appeared in the CAF Champions League twice.
Fans following the First Division every weekend through the 1xbet promo code on their phones include supporters at Banadir Stadium, those watching on TV, and diaspora fans checking scores across European time zones late on Saturday nights. The clubs they follow survived the civil war years either by ceasing operations entirely or continuing in reduced form, and came back.
Foreign players have begun arriving in Somalia because the league offers competitive minutes unavailable elsewhere. Local Mogadishu businesses now compete to sponsor First Division clubs. The commercial layer is thin, but it exists.
The clubs currently competing at the top level and the histories behind them:
- Mogadishu City Club – founded 1963, 11 First Division titles, 2024–25 champions; known as Minishiibiyo, the oldest club in continuous operation.
- Elman FC – founded 1996, named after peace activist Elman Ali Ahmed, 15 official trophies; the most decorated club in Somalia’s recent history.
- Horseed FC – founded 1971, seven-time champions, Somalia Armed Forces club revived in 2013; first Somali club to reach a CECAFA Club Cup final.
- Dekedaha FC – founded 1973, four Somalia Cup titles, two CAF Champions League appearances; physical style, loyal traveling support.
- Gaadiidka FC – founded 1976; consistent First Division presence across multiple eras of Somali football.
Each of those clubs is still here. Given what Somali football went through between 1991 and 2011, that is not a given.
What Identity Means When the Team Plays
In a country divided by clan loyalties, regional politics, and the legacy of thirty years of conflict, the national team is one of the few institutions that operates across all those lines at once. When the Ocean Stars play in Abidjan or Kampala, they carry something a flag alone does not convey.
Somali diaspora communities in Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, and the Gulf follow the national team with an intensity that goes beyond the team’s ranking. Supporting Somalia from abroad is how many diaspora Somalis – people who left as children or refugees – stay connected to a country they follow through news, family contact, and sport.
Those same communities follow both domestic Somali football and international competitions across time zones. Many sign up with a 1xbet promo code somalia when registering to bet on fixtures – a habit that has spread through diaspora networks as quickly as the matches themselves. A match in Abidjan at 8pm is watched at 7pm in Stockholm, 2pm in Toronto, and on a phone screen in Mogadishu by anyone who cannot get a ticket.
The Road Still Ahead
The progress is documented. The stadium is open. The league is running. The women’s programme has 600 players. The U-17 team attended two consecutive AFCONs. The SFF president met Infantino in Paris.
The structural constraints have not gone away. Home international matches are still played abroad. Infrastructure outside Mogadishu is thin. Referee standards are inconsistent across the First Division. FIFA’s annual allocation – roughly $500,000 – covers basic operations with little left for anything above the minimum. Federation staff wages were reportedly in arrears as recently as 2025.
What would move things forward most directly:
- International hosting clearance – FIFA and CAF approving the Mogadishu Stadium for competitive matches would bring home support to a team that has never had it in a qualifying campaign.
- Referee certification at scale – more certified officials across the First Division, addressing the inconsistency that clubs and broadcasters both flag.
- Development center expansion – completing the SFF youth center network across all federal states, not only Baidoa and Kismayo.
- Stable federation finances – clearing wage arrears and reducing dependence on FIFA Forward disbursements alone.
- Women’s league launch – giving the 600 registered players a sustained competition rather than a single annual tournament.
Khadro Ali said she felt emancipated. Mohamud Abdirahim said the day would become part of history. Both were right. The football is back. The work of keeping it there continues.
