Réunion national football team

Réunion
Nickname(s)	Club R
Association	Ligue Réunionnaise de Football
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	COSAFA (Southern Africa)
Head coach	Jean-Pierre Bade
Captain	Bertrand Bador
Most caps	Jean-Michel Fontaine (30)
Top scorer	Jean-Michel Fontaine (15)
Home stadium	Stade Jean-Ivoula
FIFA code	REU
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Madagascar 4–2 Réunion ; (Madagascar; Date Unknown, 1947)
Biggest win
	Unofficial; Réunion 11–0 Saint Pierre and Miquelon ; (Saint-Gratien, France; 22 September 2010); Official; Réunion 9–0 Maldives ; (Saint-Denis, Réunion; 28 August 1979); Réunion 9–0 Maldives ; (Curepipe, Mauritius; 30 August 1985)
Biggest defeat
	Mauritius 15–2 Réunion ; (Madagascar; Date Unknown, 1950)

The Réunion national football team (French: Sélection de la Réunion de football) is the regional team of the French overseas department and region of Réunion and is controlled by the Réunionese Football League, 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 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.^[4]

Results and fixtures

Latest squad

The following players were selected to the squad for the 2019 Indian Ocean Island Games.

Caps and goals updated as of 28 July 2019, after the match against Mauritius.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Mathieu Pélops	(1986-11-07) 7 November 1986 (age 37)	13	0	AS Corbeil-Essonnes
1GK	Grégory Pausé	(1979-11-30) 30 November 1979 (age 44)	2	0	SS Jeanne d'Arc

2DF	Sébastien K’Bidy	(1987-02-02) 2 February 1987 (age 37)	16	0	Saint-Denis FC
2DF	Bertrand Bador	(1987-04-16) 16 April 1987 (age 37)	15	0	JS Saint-Pierroise
2DF	Joé Damour	(1990-01-26) 26 January 1990 (age 34)	5	1	JS Saint-Pierroise
2DF	Mickaël Dubaril	(1990-12-02) 2 December 1990 (age 33)	4	0	Trois-Bassins
2DF	Mathieu Sarpedon	(1991-05-25) 25 May 1991 (age 32)	4	1	La Tamponnaise
2DF	Florent Ichiza	(1993-02-02) 2 February 1993 (age 31)	3	0	US Sainte-Marienne

3MF	Yoann Guichard	(1986-09-09) 9 September 1986 (age 37)	9	0	Saint-Denis FC
3MF	Thomas Souevamanien	(1993-09-07) 7 September 1993 (age 30)	8	0	JS Saint-Pierroise
3MF	Jonathan Boyer	(1992-12-09) 9 December 1992 (age 31)	5	0	JS Saint-Pierroise
3MF	Anjy Vardapin	(1994-10-13) 13 October 1994 (age 29)	5	1	JS Saint-Pierroise
3MF	Karim Imira	(1994-04-12) 12 April 1994 (age 30)	3	0	AS Excelsior
3MF	Jean-Thomas Alpou	(1998-07-02) 2 July 1998 (age 25)	2	0	Saint-Denis FC
3MF	Ronan Nédélec	(1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 (age 27)	1	0	La Tamponnaise

4FW	Jean-Michel Fontaine	(1988-08-28) 28 August 1988 (age 35)	26	15	JS Saint-Pierroise
4FW	Alexandre Loricourt	(1992-03-24) 24 March 1992 (age 32)	7	2	JS Saint-Pierroise
4FW	Akbar Assoumani	(1997-01-21) 21 January 1997 (age 27)	4	1	Saint-Denis FC
4FW	Loic Rivière	(1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 29)	4	1	La Tamponnaise
4FW	Sylvain Philéas	(1994-01-24) 24 January 1994 (age 30)	3	1	La Tamponnaise

Records

As of 20 September 2023

Players in bold are still active with Réunion.

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Jean-Michel Fontaine	30	15	2007–present
2	Gérard Hubert	29	1	2003–2015
3	William Mounoussamy	24	1	2003–2015
3	Gäel Payet	24	0	2003–2012
5	Johan Lionel	22	0	2005–2012
6	Éric Farro	21	9	2002–2012
7	John Elcaman	18	1	2002–2011
7	Bertrand Bador	18	0	2010–present
9	Sébastien K'Bidy	16	0	2011–2019
10	Nicolas Hoarau	15	1	2005–2011

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Jean-Michel Fontaine	15	30	0.5	2007–present
2	Éric Farro	9	21	0.43	2002–2012
3	Bernard Lacollay	7	9	0.78	1993–2002
4	Willy Visnelda	5	13	0.38	2005–2011
5	Mickaël Vallant	4	6	0.67	2011–2012
6	Eric Bacco	3	3	1	1998
7	Alexandre Loricourt	2	10	0.2	2015–present

Competitive record

Indian Ocean Island Games

Indian Ocean Island Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1979	Champions	1st	4	4	0	0	20	2
1985	Runners-up	2nd	3	2	1	0	14	4
1990	Group stage	5th	2	0	1	1	0	1
1993	Runners-up	2nd	4	3	0	1	5	1
1998	Champions	1st	4	3	1	0	10	3
2003	Runners-up	2nd	4	3	0	1	7	2
2007	Champions	1st	4	1	3	0	2	1
2011	Third place	3rd	4	2	0	2	4	5
2015	Champions	1st	4	4	0	0	8	1
2019	Champions	1st	5	4	0	1	10	2
2023	Runners-up	2nd	4	1	2	1	3	2
Total	5 Titles	11/11	42	27	8	7	83	24

Triangulaire

Triangulaire record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1947	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	3	6
1948	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	2	7
1949	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	1	9
1950	Runners-up	2nd	2	1	0	1	5	17
1951	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	3	13
1952	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	0	7
1953	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	8	15
1954	Runners-up	2nd	2	1	0	1	6	13
1955	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	3	7
1956	Third place	3rd	2	0	0	2	5	12
1957	Runners-up	2nd	2	1	0	1	1	1
1958	Third Place	3rd	2	0	0	2	1	5
1963	Runners-up	2nd	2	1	0	1	3	6
Total	Runners-up	13/13	26	4	0	22	41	118

Coupe de l'Outre-Mer

Coupe de l'Outre-Mer record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2008	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	9	1
2010	Runners-up	2nd	4	3	1	0	14	1
2012	Champions	1st	4	3	1	0	16	3
Total	Champions	3/3	11	9	2	0	39	5

Head-to-head record

Last update: 7 May 2011 New Caledonia 1–3 Réunion

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Comoros	6	4	1	1	13	3	10
Congo	2	1	0	1	3	5	-2
French Guiana	3	2	1	0	3	0	3
Gabon	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3
Guadeloupe	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Kenya	3	0	0	3	2	7	-5
Madagascar	21	3	4	14	30	53	-23
Malawi	1	0	0	1	2	8	-6
Maldives	2	2	0	0	18	0	18
Martinique	2	1	1	0	1	0	1
Mauritius	35	7	9	19	39	101	-62
Mayotte	4	3	1	0	12	4	8
New Caledonia	2	2	0	0	7	3	4
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	1	1	0	0	11	0	11
Seychelles	15	12	1	2	30	10	20
Tanzania	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Togo	1	1	0	0	1	0	1
Zaire	1	1	0	0	2	1	1
Zimbabwe	3	0	1	2	3	5	-2
Total	106	41	20	45	181	207	–26