Rwanda could not make it to the next January's AFCON in Cote d'Ivoire after finishing bottom of Group L with just three points from six matches. It was a journey which started with a draw and ended with a draw as Amavubi failed to make it to Africa's biggest football fiesta since their debut in Tunisia 2004. A lot of factors led to the East African country’s disappointing results that brought it at the centre of criticisms from football pundits and Rwandans in general. Times Sport takes a look at six takeaways from Amavubi’s woeful AFCON qualifying campaign. Amavubi woes persist Rwanda was chasing their second AFCON appearance after making their debut in Tunisia in 2004 but that dream hardly became a reality. ALSO READ: Photos: Niyonzima-header earns Rwanda a point against Senegal in Huye Amavubi started the campaign brightly with an away draw against Mozambique but they faltered as the qualifiers progressed. Rwanda got the needed perfect start to book their qualification ticket but they failed again scoring only four goals and failing to win a single game. A bottom place was nothing but a reward of such a disastrous campaign to the point that the team failed to beat Senegal’s second team in Huye. Hakim Sahabo, Rwanda’s new revelation Despite Rwanda's poor AFCON qualification campaign, teenager Hakim Sahabo was a revelation to go by whom the coach can build a team around in the future. The youngster has his maiden call up for the game with Benin and assisted Gilbert Mugisha to open the scores in Cotonou before the home side equalized to tie the match to a 1-1 draw. At 18, the Standard Liege forward was arguably among Rwanda's top performers in the qualifiers and he is primed to excel in the team ahead of the forthcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers which begin in November. Time for ‘change’! Amavubi have long been at the centre of criticisms due to a string of poor run of results over the years. some have even lost confidence in the team and players alike are convince there is need for change if the country is to return at AFCON. Current Rwanda skipper Djihad Bizimana summed up in an interview before Senegal clash that he hopes responsible officials in the FA and beyond do the needful to bring Amavubi back on track. Amavubi had many issues which did not come in the public domain but it really affected the team as Bizimana emphasized. “For the past eight years that I served the national team, I can say that the football that we played during these qualifiers was arguably the best. We played pretty good football but we ended up losing matches,” Bizimana said. We want to win; we really want to win. There are things that are not going well but we hope the new FA administration is going to work on it. They are normal things; we all know it. I won't go into details because you [journalists] also know that there are things going wrong. I hope things will get better. The new leaders of the Federation should make sure that things are on order before the World Cup qualifiers kick off in November, then the players will surely give their best. Amavubi still need reinforcement It is obvious that Rwanda is short of players at their disposal and the team needs some fresh faces ahead of the World Cup qualifiers. Players such as Noam Emeran, George Ishimwe and a couple of other young talents who are eligible to represent Rwanda must be approached and convinced to join and bring a winning impact in the team. The forfeit that blew Rwanda’s AFCON dreams Rwanda was still standing a chance to play the 2023 AFCON until CAF sanctioned the country with a forfeit which ca in favor of Benin. The return leg with Benin at the Kigali Pele Stadium was very crucial for Rwanda as a win could have put them in pole position to finish at least in the top two of Group L and secure a historic ticket to Cote d’Ivoire for the AFCON. ALSO READ: Amavubi forfeit: Who should take the blame? The game which was played behind closed doors ended 1-1 but Benin was later awarded three points and 3 goals after Rwanda was penalized for fielding Kevin Muhire who was not eligible to play the match, having accumulated two yellow cards enough to serve a one-match suspension. Amavubi never recovered from that forfeit and ended up last in Group L. No attack, no goals and...no results Rwanda started the Qualifiers with Meddie Kagere upfront and ended with Gilbert Mugisha. The former failed to score a single while Mugisha found the back of the net once against Benin. This means that only one goal from the four goals that Rwanda scored in the qualifiers came from a striker. Then head coach Carlos Ferrer on many occasions lamented his side's inability to score goals and his concern was not something new as Rwanda has struggled to find a top attacker who can score goals at any occasion. Ferrer said that his team would create chance but, unfortunately, he had no one upfront to make the best out them. “My job is to help them to create the chances which I do. I am not the one to score the goals, the Spaniard said after 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ethiopian in a friendly match in March. As the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers draw closer, Rwanda needs a top marksman who can bank in the goals. Otherwise, the goal drought trend is likely to persist. If the local talents are not enough, some great prospects who have been consistent in the Rwanda Premier League and overseas but are uncapped by their native countries can be naturalized for the sake of results.
