Member Association Focus: Comoros
Our weekly Member Association focus falls on the Comoros, a member of the Confédération Africaine de Football since 2003.
NATIONAL TEAM
The Comoros are heading to a second TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals appearance after a series of impressive results in their last qualifying matches saw them finish top of Group A, two points ahead of runners-up Tunisia. Comoros went through the three-month campaign unbeaten with three wins and three draws, with their 2-1 victory in Tunisia one of the best results they have attained in some two decades of international competition. In March, they resume World Cup qualification in top place in Group I with home games against Mali and Chad. Comoros’ women’s team competed at the 2024 COSAFA Women’s Championship in South Africa, picking up invaluable experience, but not have entered the qualifiers for the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2026.
CLUBS
US Zilimadjou participated in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for a second time, after their initial appearance in the 2020-21 campaign, when they were drawn against Nigeria’s Enugu Rangers in the first round of the 2024-25 edition. They forfeited home advantage with both legs of the tie hosted in Uyo but despite the disadvantage did themselves proud as they were eliminated only 2-1 on aggregate after the two matches. In the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, Alize Fort made their debut in continental club competition but were heavily beaten 11-0 on aggregate by Black Bulls of Mozambique. Both legs were played in Maputo.
LEADERSHIP
Said Ali Said Athouman was elected as President of the Comoros Football Federation in 2012 and has won much praise for his role in the success of men’s national team plus the building of new technical training centre after the ravages wrought by Cyclone Kenneth in 2019. Athouman also works as the secretary-general of the Chamber of Commerce in the Comoros.
HISTORY
One of the pivotal figures in the history of the Comoros football must be Amir Abdou, who served as national team coach for eight years from 2014 to 2022 and took the island country to their first Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon. He came to the attention of the Comoros federation through his work mentoring children, notably among the island’s large emigrant community in Marseille, and was invited to serve as assistant to Henri Stambouli, the former Olympique de Marseille tactician who was earmarked as the first foreign coach of the Comoros team. But at the last minute, Stambouli chose to take up an offer to run Montpellier’s training centre instead and Abdou was suddenly thrust onto the international stage. He persuaded players from the Diaspora to commit to the team, steadily growing the standard of the side, culminating in qualification for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon, where a 3-2 win over Ghana in Garoua in January 2022 ranks as one of the great upsets in the history of the competition.