Somali women make international debut at Cecafa U17 finals, marking their exit with a record win

Somali football has been in World Cup news with the US refusal to allow its World Cup referee Omar Artan into the country to officiate. It would have been a first-time engagement in the World Cup finals of anyone from Somalia and a federation that is battling to re-establish the game after years of brutal civil war.

But football is more than just a World Cup and this week the Somali football women’s Under 17 football squad became the first women’s team from the country to compete in international competition at the CECAFA women’s U-17 championship in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The team also registered two milestones for the nation; Somalia’s biggest ever win in any football match in its history (an 8-2 win over Sudan), plus the first hat-trick in a debut international tournament scored by a Somali footballer.

Najmo Mohamed celebrates her hat trick. All pictures by Abdulkadir Muse Osman

Somalia’s women exited the tournament at the group stage but with the records from their final game win.

Sundus Mohamed netted a brace including Somali women’s first ever goal scored in an international tournament, while Najmo Mohamed, scored a hat-trick. Captain Halimo Isse, Maryan Osoble and Hibo Salad, also scored.

Somali Football Federation president, Ali Abdi Mohamed, called the squad by phone minutes after the match. “You did well and I was sure you can” he told the team, while praising captain Halimo Isse, for her leadership on the pitch throughout the tournament.

“Somalia is a developing nation which is recovering from decades of civil wars and we are very new to the women’s football environment, but we are doing better. If our first international appearance was such a beautiful, I am sure we are developing and we will do much better in the months and years to come,” said Somali Football Federation president Ali Abdi Mohamed.

“I would like to thank FIFA and CAF for their constant and continuous financial assistance, education and guidance. Without them we couldn’t have done such an amazing job,” Abdi Mohamed noted.

“We have spent much time, money and energy in women’s football and I am fully committed to increasing our investment in women’s football. Our women and girls are doing excellent job and I am very proud of them.”

Two Somali female officials – referee Fadumo Mohamed Nor and assistant ref, Iqara Ali Ahmed – have stayed on in Tanzania as they continue to receive match appointments.