Comoros 2020 Home (#8-BACHIROU) Jersey/Shirt

This is a Joma Comoros national team 2020 home jersey featuring the number of star midfielder Fouad Bachirou.

Comoros were traditionally one of the weakest members of CAF, with their lack of success being largely due to their small size, inadequate football infrastructure and most importantly having only competed in limited Indian Ocean Games matches since their debut in 1979 until their Arab Nations Cup qualifiers appearance in 2006. Although Comoros became an independent state in 1975, they did not join FIFA until 2005, which led to their first World Cup qualifiers in 2007, where they lost 10-2 on aggregate to Madagascar. Comoros did not win any matches between 2009-2016, however they were quickly improving and had a few impressive results against some of Africa’s top nations. Their rise was led by Amir Abdou, a French coach of Comorian descent who had little experience but developed a plan that saw the national team comprise a squad of mostly French-based players from the Comorian diaspora. This resulted in one of the most unlikely rises in world football, with Comoros qualifying for the 2021 African Cup Nations after finishing above Kenya & Togo in their qualification group. They entered AFCON 2021 as massive underdogs in a difficult group, but pulled off arguably the biggest upset in tournament history, defeating Ghana 3-2 to progress to the Round of 16, where they troubled hosts Cameroon in a 2-1 loss.

Bachirou is one of the key members of the current generation of the Comoros national team that has seen them improve significantly in recent years. He has played most of his club football in Sweden, first for Östersunds FK and later joining Swedish giants Malmö FF in 2018. In August 2020 Bachirou was signed by English Championship club Nottingham Forrest, where he had a brief spell before joining Cyprus First Division side Omonia in 2021. Despite being born in France, he chose to represent Comoros and has played 35 matches for the national team since making his international debut in 2014.