Despite not being able to play at home in Mogadishu since the mid-1980s, Somalia have bravely battled in each of the last four FIFA World Cup™ qualifying campaigns. In the preliminaries for Korea Republic/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006, the Somalis were out-matched in the draw, going out 6-0 and 7-0 on aggregate to Cameroon and Ghana respectively. Ahead of South Africa 2010, however, they took on a side more in their own weight group: regional rivals Djibouti. But in a single-leg tie in November of 2007, the Ocean Stars’ hopes were undone by an 84th-minute goal from Hussein Yassin. They were similarly drawn with an east African rival in the 2014 campaign, and Ethiopia proved too much over two legs with a 5-0 aggregate victory. However, the Ocean Stars can take heart from the scoreless first match, and that four of the five goals against them came in the second half of the second match when they were tiring.

Best performance in a FIFA competition: None
Former stars: None