The Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA), led by President Shema Fabrice, has announced that it will invest heavily in developing young talent as a long-term solution to the challenges facing the national team, Amavubi.
This comes as Amavubi is in South Africa for a match scheduled on October 14, 2025, in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where the team is set to face South Africa in the final match of Group C. This game follows a loss in the previous match against Benin, where Amavubi was defeated 1–0 due to a defensive lapse.
President Shema Fabrice, who led the delegation to South Africa, stated that FERWAFA is preparing to reorganize the national team by prioritizing programs that support coaching and development of young players. This new approach will focus on building a strong foundation starting with children, instead of constantly rebuilding the senior team without a pipeline of promising future talent.
In this new strategy, changes are expected, including increasing youth competitions, supporting schools and junior teams in properly preparing their players, and improving the scouting and monitoring of talent from an early age all with the goal of producing experienced players accustomed to competition early on.
FERWAFA says it is also considering revamping the senior national team by bringing in fresh talent, as part of efforts to better prepare for upcoming competitions.
The match between Rwanda and South Africa is scheduled to take place at Mbombela Stadium and will be Amavubi’s final game in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, which will be held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America.
