{"id":4107,"date":"2026-09-30T13:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=4107"},"modified":"2026-09-30T13:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:21:09","slug":"amavubis-winning-run-puts-constantines-afcon-ambition-back-in-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/30\/amavubis-winning-run-puts-constantines-afcon-ambition-back-in-focus\/sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Amavubi\u2019s winning run puts Constantine\u2019s AFCON ambition back in focus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Stephen Constantine says his return to Rwanda is about completing a job he believes was left unfinished, after Amavubi won their first two matches in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and moved to the top of Group K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda’s 2-1 victory over Cape Verde in Praia on Tuesday followed a 3-1 home win against Liberia four days earlier, giving the team six points from two matches and renewing hopes of ending a long wait for an appearance at the continental tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constantine, who first coached Rwanda in 2014 and 2015, said after the Cape Verde victory that qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations remained a personal objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six months after returning to the national team, the English coach said he had told Rwandans he had \u201cunfinished business\u201d and pointed to the team’s recent results as evidence of the progress made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI want to thank the Ministry of Sports and FERWAFA because they helped me do what I have to do, because I could not do this alone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda’s recent form extends beyond the qualifiers. Amavubi have now won four consecutive matches, including victories over Grenada and Estonia during the FIFA Series hosted in Kigali earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The run has also lifted Rwanda in the FIFA rankings. The four wins are expected to earn the country 38.38 ranking points, taking its total to 1,156.16 and moving it from 128th to 119th when the official rankings are released on October 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ranking would put Rwanda back inside the world’s top 120 for the first time since 2017. That year, the team reached 93rd, its highest position since the FIFA rankings were introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constantine’s earlier spell with Rwanda also produced a major rise in the rankings, with the team moving from 134th to 64th between 2014 and 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the next stage of the current campaign will provide a tougher test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda and Mali both have six points after two matches, with Mali beating Liberia 1-0 through Ange Tia’s goal. The two sides will meet twice in November, on the 11th and 15th, in matches that could shape the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before those qualifiers, Rwanda will host Kenya in a friendly at Amahoro Stadium on October 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, giving Rwanda an opportunity to qualify for a tournament in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Constantine says his return to Rwanda is about completing a job he believes was left unfinished, after Amavubi won their first two matches in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,43,53,41,35,27,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news","category-current_affairs","category-featured-stories","category-hot_topics","category-regional","category-sports","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4110,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4107\/revisions\/4110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}