South Sudan national football team
Nickname(s) | Bright Stars[1] | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | South Sudan Football Association | ||
Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
Sub-confederation | CECAFA (East & Central Africa) | ||
Head coach | Stefano Cusin | ||
Captain | Peter Maker | ||
Most caps | Leon Uso Khamis (29) | ||
Top scorer | James Moga (6) | ||
Home stadium | Juba National Stadium | ||
FIFA code | SSD | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 167 (23 December 2021)[2] | ||
Highest | 134 (November 2015) | ||
Lowest | 205 (September 2013) | ||
First international | |||
South Sudan 2–2 Uganda (Juba, South Sudan; 10 July 2012) | |||
Biggest win | |||
South Sudan 6–0 Djibouti (Juba, South Sudan; 28 March 2017) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
Mozambique 5–0 South Sudan (Maputo, Mozambique; 18 May 2014) |
The South Sudan national football team represents South Sudan in international football and is controlled by the South Sudan Football Association, the governing body for football in South Sudan.
The majority of the squad is usually derived from either the domestics South Sudan Football Championship and South Sudan Premier League, or various clubs in the Australian football league system, from among the South Sudanese-Australian diaspora.
History[]
Zoran Đorđević was appointed on 25 May 2011 to oversee the national team.[4] For their inaugural year the team was featured in Storyville episode called Soccer Coach Zoran and his African Tigers. The national team's first international fixture was due to be against the Kenya national team on 10 July 2011 as part of the country's independence celebrations.[5][6] However, in the event the opposition was provided by Tusker of the Kenyan Premier League,[7] alongside the first international fixture of the national basketball team. The match was played at the Juba Stadium. South Sudan scored within ten minutes, but they later conceded three goals in a 3–1 defeat.[8] South Sudan was officially admitted as a CAF member on 10 February 2012, at the 34th CAF Ordinary General Assembly hosted in Libreville, Gabon.[9] South Sudan was admitted as a FIFA member on 25 May 2012 at the second session of the 62nd FIFA Congress hosted in Budapest, Hungary.[10][11]
On 10 July 2012, South Sudan competed in its first full international match, a friendly against Uganda in Juba.[12] The match ended in a 2–2 draw, with James Moga and Richard Justin Lado scoring for South Sudan. This match resulted in South Sudan entering the FIFA rankings at the start of August in 199th place.[12]
The South Sudanese took part in their first ever international football tournament when they took part in the 2012 CECAFA Cup in Uganda.[13][14] They were drawn in Group A alongside Ethiopia, Kenya, and hosts Uganda.[15] The national team played their first match against Ethiopia, losing 1–0 through a Yonathan Kebede goal. In their next match, they lost 2–0 against Kenya. Their final match saw them suffer a 4–0 loss to Uganda.
South Sudan entered its first major international tournament in 2014, taking part in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification. As one of the four lowest ranked national teams in Africa, it entered in the preliminary stage and was scheduled to play against Eritrea, who withdrew, thus qualifying South Sudan for the first qualifying round.[16][17] There, they played Mozambique over two legs, losing 5–0 at the Estádio do Zimpeto in Maputo, but hosting a goalless draw in the second leg which was held at the Khartoum Stadium in Sudan due to the South Sudanese Civil War.
On 5 September 2015, South Sudan achieved their first official victory, a 1–0 home win against Equatorial Guinea in 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification. One month later South Sudan played their first ever match in FIFA World Cup Qualification, a 1–1 draw at home to Mauritania. South Sudan would lose both return matches 4–0.
During 2019 AFCON qualifying the Bright Stars achieved their record win, defeating Djibouti 6–0 in Juba, however they lost all seven of their other matches meaning they remained among the lowest ranked teams in Africa.
In October 2019, in the 2021 AFCON preliminary round, South Sudan won an away game for the first time, beating Seychelles 1–0 in Victoria to secure a 3–1 aggregate victory. This sees the Bright Stars advance to the qualifying group stage for the third consecutive edition.
South Sudan have been invited to taking part in 2021 FIFA Arab Cup which will held in Qatar. The team eventually forfeited the competition after several players tested positive on COVID -19.
Results and fixtures[]
Win Draw Loss
2021[]
13 March Friendly | Kenya | 1–0 | South Sudan | Nairobi, Kenya |
12:00 UTC+2 |
|
Report | Stadium: Nyayo National Stadium Referee: (Kenya) |
24 March 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | South Sudan | 0–1 | Malawi | Omdurman, Sudan |
16:00 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: Al-Hilal Stadium Referee: Anthony Ogwayo (Kenya) |
29 March 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | Burkina Faso | 1–0 | South Sudan | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso |
16:00 UTC±0 |
|
Report | Stadium: Stade du 4 Août Referee: George Rogers (Liberia) |
21 June 2021 FIFA Arab Cup qualification | Jordan | 3–0 (forfeited) | South Sudan | Doha, Qatar |
19:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium |
12 October FIFA Friendly | Gambia | 2–1 | South Sudan |
Coaches[]
Dates | Name |
---|---|
2009–2011 | Stephen Constantine[citation needed] |
2011–2012 | Malesh Soro |
2012 | Ismail Balanga |
2012–2013 | Zoran Đorđević |
2013–2014 | Ismail Balanga |
2014 | Salyi Lolaku Samuel |
2014–2015 | Lee Sung-jea |
2015–2016 | Leo Adraa |
2016 | |
2017 | Elya Wako |
2017–2018 | |
2018 | Ahcene Aït-Abdelmalek |
2018 | (caretaker) |
2019-2021 | Cyprian Besong Ashu |
2021– | Stefano Cusin |
Players[]
Current squad[]
The following players were called up for the match against Jordan on 21 June 2021.[18]
- Caps and goals as of 29 March 2021, after the match vs. Burkina Faso.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GK | 13 March 2000 | 3 | 0 | Malakia | |
13 | GK | 8 January 1986 | 8 | 0 | ||
23 | GK | Majak Mawith | 18 September 1999 | 9 | 0 | Port Melbourne |
12 | DF | 5 September 2002 | 0 | 0 | Vipers | |
4 | DF | Peter Maker (captain) | 1 January 1994 | 15 | 0 | ZESCO United |
3 | DF | 9 October 1997 | 0 | 0 | Vipers | |
2 | DF | 4 August 1992 | 9 | 0 | Atlabara | |
17 | DF | 28 October 1998 | 8 | 0 | Alamal Atbara | |
10 | DF | 1 January 2002 | 0 | 0 | Munuki | |
6 | MF | 14 April 2000 | 11 | 0 | Munuki | |
7 | MF | Chok Dau | 31 December 1998 | 3 | 0 | Vysočina Jihlava |
5 | MF | Saad Musa | 6 August 1995 | 4 | 0 | Leopards |
21 | MF | 7 January 1993 | 8 | 0 | Munuki | |
16 | MF | 10 October 1999 | 1 | 0 | ||
18 | MF | 28 October 1998 | 8 | 0 | Atlabara | |
8 | MF | 4 July 1994 | 2 | 0 | Onduparaka | |
15 | MF | Abraham Majok | 13 October 1998 | 0 | 0 | PAEEK |
14 | MF | 0 | 0 | |||
20 | FW | 0 | 0 | Adelaide City | ||
22 | FW | 10 February 2000 | 6 | 0 | Mbarara City | |
9 | FW | Valentino Yuel | 12 October 1994 | 0 | 0 | Newcastle Jets |
19 | FW | Aluck Akech | 8 February 1994 | 17 | 0 | Alamal Atbara |
11 | FW | 1 | 0 | Atlabara |
Recent call ups[]
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FW | Machop Chol | 14 November 1998 | 0 | 0 | Atlanta United | v. Gambia, 5 November 2021 |
Player records[]
- As of 29 March 2021
- Players in bold are still active with South Sudan.
|
|
Competitive record[]
FIFA World Cup[]
FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup qualification record | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
1930 | Part of United Kingdom | Part of United Kingdom | |||||||||||||
1934 | |||||||||||||||
1938 | |||||||||||||||
1950 | |||||||||||||||
1954 | |||||||||||||||
1958 | Part of Sudan | Part of Sudan | |||||||||||||
1962 | |||||||||||||||
1966 | |||||||||||||||
1970 | |||||||||||||||
1974 | |||||||||||||||
1978 | |||||||||||||||
1982 | |||||||||||||||
1986 | |||||||||||||||
1990 | |||||||||||||||
1994 | |||||||||||||||
1998 | |||||||||||||||
2002 | |||||||||||||||
2006 | |||||||||||||||
2010 | |||||||||||||||
2014 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
2018 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
2022 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
2026 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
Total | 0/22 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Africa Cup of Nations[]
Africa Cup of Nations record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances: 0 | ||||||||
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
1957 to 2010 | Part of Sudan | |||||||
2012 to 2013 | Did not enter | |||||||
2015 to 2021 | Did not qualify | |||||||
2023 | To be determined | |||||||
2025 | ||||||||
Total | – | 0/33 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
African Nations Championship[]
African Nations Championship record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances: 0 | ||||||||
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
2009 | Part of Sudan | |||||||
2011 | ||||||||
2014 | Did not qualify | |||||||
2016 | ||||||||
2018 | ||||||||
2020 | ||||||||
2022 | To be determined | |||||||
Total | – | 0/6 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
CECAFA Cup[]
CECAFA Cup record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances: 4 | ||||||||
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
1973 to 2010 | Part of Sudan | |||||||
2011 | Did not enter | |||||||
2012 | Group stage | 11th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
2013 | Group stage | 10th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
2015 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
2017 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
2019 | Did not enter | |||||||
Total | Quarter-finals | 4/40 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 22 |
Arab Cup record[]
Arab Cup | Arab Nations Cup Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | ||
1963 to 20091 | Part of Sudan | Part of Sudan | ||||||||||||||
2012 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
2021 | Did not qualified | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
Total | 0/9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
^1 The 2009 edition was cancelled during qualification.
Head-to-head record[]
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | WPCT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Benin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 0.00 |
Botswana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
Burkina Faso | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0.00 |
Burundi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0.00 |
Djibouti | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 66.67 |
Equatorial Guinea | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 25.00 |
Ethiopia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0.00 |
Gabon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0.00 |
Jordan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
Kenya | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0.00 |
Mali | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | −11 | 0.00 |
Malawi | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 33.33 |
Mauritania | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0.00 |
Mozambique | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0.00 |
Seychelles | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
Sudan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Uganda | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | −8 | 20.00 |
Zanzibar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 |
Total | 46 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 27 | 87 | −60 | 15.22 |
Dual-internationals[]
The following South Sudanese international footballers have also played for Sudan national football team before the country's independence:
- James Moga – forward for Sudan. Played for them in 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification and 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. Played 14 matches and scored six goals.
- Richard Justin Lado – Experienced defender in club football for Khartoum 3 and played for Sudan between 2008 and 2012.
- Athir Thomas – defender in Sudan before the country's partition.
- Roy Gulwak – Goalkeeper who represented Sudan in two 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches in 2009, conceding two goals.
- Khamis Martin – Played one international game for Sudan in 2010.
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ "BBC Storyville 2014 Soccer Coach Zoran and his African Tigers". YouTube. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 26 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ Jacobs, Sean (25 May 2011). "Zoran and his African Tigers". Africas Country. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Martell, Peter (6 July 2011). "World's Newest Nation Set to Step Into Sporting Arena". Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ Rice, Xan (10 July 2011). "South Sudan marks statehood with football match". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ^ "Independent South Sudan play first football match". Kickoff.com. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ South Sudan admitted as a member of CAF, SuperSport.com, Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "FIFA Congress fully backs reform process, appoints first woman to Executive; welcomes South Sudan as 209th FIFA member". FIFA Congress. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ Mensah, Kent (27 May 2012). "South Sudan become Fifa's 209th member". Goal.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
- ^ a b "South Sudan enter FIFA rankings". Reuters. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
- ^ South Sudan set for international debuts at Cecafa cups BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012
- ^ World newest state set for CECAFA début Futaa.com. Retrieved 12 November 2012
- ^ Ethiopia get tough draw for 2012 Cecafa Challenge Cup BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012
- ^ "Eritrea withdraws from Nations Cup Qualification". Reuters.com. 30 March 2014.
- ^ "Eritrea withdraws from Can 2015". Cafonline.com. 30 March 2014.
- ^ "The final Squad for South Sudan National Team (Bright Star) to face Jordan in the FIFA Arab World Cup 2021 Qatar on 21st June, 2021". Twitter. South Sudan Football Association.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to South Sudan national football team. |
- South Sudan national football team
- Football in South Sudan
- African national association football teams
- 2011 establishments in South Sudan