Sahabo and York Return: Amrouche Names Provisional Squad for Crucial Nigeria, Lesotho Qualifiers

Two midfielders, Hakim Sahabo and Rafael York, have been included in the 28-player preliminary roster called up by newly appointed Amavubi head coach Adel Amrouche. This squad will gather next month to prepare for upcoming matches against Nigeria and Lesotho in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers scheduled for March 21 and March 25 at Amahoro Stadium. Both players had their previous selection on June 11, 2024, when they helped defeat Lesotho 1-0 in South Africa. Former coach Torsten Spittler excluded them from subsequent teams because of discipline issues.
Also returning to the lineup is attacking midfielder Djabel Imanishimwe, currently playing for Naft Al Wassat in Iraq; he hadn’t participated with Amavubi since February 6, 2022, when he appeared in an African Nations Championship qualifier versus Mozambique. Additionally making a comeback are goalkeeper Maxime Wenssens—who missed out on being chosen during Amavubi's qualifying rounds for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations—and APR stopper Pierre Ishimwe, who has established himself as APR’s top goalie.
This initial group under Coach Amrouche includes 15 overseas-based players alongside 13 homegrown talents. Newcomer Yves Habimana received his first-ever summons after scoring eight goals and contributing six assists throughout the current domestic season with Rutsiro FC. As things stand, Rwanda tops Group C in the World Cup qualifiers with seven points and a net difference of two goals across four fixtures.

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