# Réunion national football team

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.

## 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 38) | 13 | 0 | AS Corbeil-Essonnes |
| 1GK | Grégory Pausé | (1979-11-30) 30 November 1979 (age 45) | 2 | 0 | SS Jeanne d'Arc |
| 2DF | Sébastien K’Bidy | (1987-02-02) 2 February 1987 (age 38) | 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 35) | 5 | 1 | JS Saint-Pierroise |
| 2DF | Mickaël Dubaril | (1990-12-02) 2 December 1990 (age 34) | 4 | 0 | Trois-Bassins |
| 2DF | Mathieu Sarpedon | (1991-05-25) 25 May 1991 (age 33) | 4 | 1 | La Tamponnaise |
| 2DF | Florent Ichiza | (1993-02-02) 2 February 1993 (age 32) | 3 | 0 | US Sainte-Marienne |
| 3MF | Yoann Guichard | (1986-09-09) 9 September 1986 (age 38) | 9 | 0 | Saint-Denis FC |
| 3MF | Thomas Souevamanien | (1993-09-07) 7 September 1993 (age 31) | 8 | 0 | JS Saint-Pierroise |
| 3MF | Jonathan Boyer | (1992-12-09) 9 December 1992 (age 32) | 5 | 0 | JS Saint-Pierroise |
| 3MF | Anjy Vardapin | (1994-10-13) 13 October 1994 (age 30) | 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 26) | 2 | 0 | Saint-Denis FC |
| 3MF | Ronan Nédélec | (1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 (age 28) | 1 | 0 | La Tamponnaise |
| 4FW | Jean-Michel Fontaine | (1988-08-28) 28 August 1988 (age 36) | 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 28) | 4 | 1 | Saint-Denis FC |
| 4FW | Loic Rivière | (1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 30) | 4 | 1 | La Tamponnaise |
| 4FW | Sylvain Philéas | (1994-01-24) 24 January 1994 (age 31) | 3 | 1 | La Tamponnaise |

## Records

    As of 2 September 2023
    Players in bold are still active with Réunion.

### Most appearances

| Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
| 1 | Jean-Michel Fontaine | 29 | 15 | 2007–present |
| 2 | Gérard Hubert | 27 | 1 | 2003–2015 |
| 3 | William Mounoussamy | 24 | 1 | 2003–2015 |
| 3 | Gaël Payet | 24 | 0 | 2003–2012 |
| 5 | Johan Lionel | 22 | 0 | 2005–2012 |
| 6 | Éric Farro | 21 | 9 | 2002–2012 |
| 7 | Bertrand Bador | 18 | 0 | 2010–present |
| 7 | John Elcaman | 18 | 1 | 2002–2011 |
| 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 | 29 | 0.52 | 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 |
| 5 | Quentin Boesso | 4 | 6 | 0.67 | 2008–2015 |
| 7 | Eric Bacco | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1998 |
| 7 | Mohamed El Madaghri | 3 | 7 | 0.43 | 2011–2012 |
| 9 | Anjy Vardapin | 2 | 8 | 0.25 | 2015–present |
| 9 | 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 |

## 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
* Triangulaire
** Runners-up (4): 1950, 1954, 1957, 1963
** Third place (9): 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958

### Other titles

* Coupe de l'Outre-Mer
** Champions (2): 2008, 2012
** Runners-up (1): 2010