South Sudan national football team

South Sudan

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
First colours Second colours
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[]

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	1GK		(2000-03-13) 13 March 2000 (age 21)	3	0	Malakia
13	1GK		(1986-01-08) 8 January 1986 (age 35)	8	0
23	1GK	Majak Mawith	(1999-09-18) 18 September 1999 (age 22)	9	0	Port Melbourne
12	2DF		(2002-09-05) 5 September 2002 (age 19)	0	0	Vipers
4	2DF	Peter Maker (captain)	(1994-01-01) 1 January 1994 (age 27)	15	0	ZESCO United
3	2DF		(1997-10-09) 9 October 1997 (age 24)	0	0	Vipers
2	2DF		(1992-08-04) 4 August 1992 (age 29)	9	0	Atlabara
17	2DF		(1998-10-28) 28 October 1998 (age 23)	8	0	Alamal Atbara
10	2DF		(2002-01-01) 1 January 2002 (age 19)	0	0	Munuki
6	3MF		(2000-04-14) 14 April 2000 (age 21)	11	0	Munuki
7	3MF	Chok Dau	(1998-12-31) 31 December 1998 (age 22)	3	0	Vysočina Jihlava
5	3MF	Saad Musa	(1995-08-06) 6 August 1995 (age 26)	4	0	Leopards
21	3MF		(1993-01-07) 7 January 1993 (age 28)	8	0	Munuki
16	3MF		(1999-10-10) 10 October 1999 (age 22)	1	0
18	3MF		(1998-10-28) 28 October 1998 (age 23)	8	0	Atlabara
8	3MF		(1994-07-04) 4 July 1994 (age 27)	2	0	Onduparaka
15	3MF	Abraham Majok	(1998-10-13) 13 October 1998 (age 23)	0	0	PAEEK
14	3MF			0	0
20	4FW			0	0	Adelaide City
22	4FW		(2000-02-10) 10 February 2000 (age 21)	6	0	Mbarara City
9	4FW	Valentino Yuel	(1994-10-12) 12 October 1994 (age 27)	0	0	Newcastle Jets
19	4FW	Aluck Akech	(1994-02-08) 8 February 1994 (age 27)	17	0	Alamal Atbara
11	4FW			1	0	Atlabara

Recent call ups[]

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
FW	Machop Chol	(1998-11-14) 14 November 1998 (age 23)	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 v t	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[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South Sudan national football team.

• Official South Sudan FA website
• South Sudan at FIFA.com
• South Sudan – List of International Matches (in English)