Sierra Leone national football team

Sierra Leone
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Leone Stars
Association	Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach	John Keister
Captain	Kei Kamara
Most caps	Umaru Bangura (43)
Home stadium	Freetown National Stadium
FIFA code	SLE
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	114 3 (20 September 2018)
Highest	50 (August 2014)
Lowest	172 (September 2007)
First international
	Sierra Leone 0–2 Nigeria ; (Freetown, Sierra Leone; 10 August 1949)
Biggest win
	Sierra Leone 5–1 Niger ; (Freetown, Sierra Leone; 7 March 1976) ; Sierra Leone 5–1 Niger ; (Freetown, Sierra Leone; 3 June 1995) ; Sierra Leone 4–0 São Tomé and Príncipe (Freetown, Sierra Leone; 22 April 2000)
Biggest defeat
	Mali 6–0 Sierra Leone ; (Bamako, Mali; 17 June 2007)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	2 (first in 1994)
Best result	Group stage, 1994 and 1996

The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in international football and is controlled by the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA). The team is affiliated to the West African Football Union of CAF and they have never qualified for the World Cup.

History

Sierra Leone's first match was at home on 10 August 1949 against another British colony, Nigeria, and was lost 2–0. In 1954 they played another British colony and British administered U.N trust territory, Gold Coast and Trans-Volta Togoland (now Ghana), and lost 2–0 away. On 22 April 1961 they again hosted Nigeria and lost 4–2. On 12 November 1966, they hosted Liberia in their first match against a non-British colony and earned their first draw, 1–1. A week later, they lost 2–0 in Liberia. On 13 January 1971, Sierra Leone played their first match against a non-African team, West Germany's B-team. The match in Sierra Leone was won 1–0 by the Germans. Sierra Leone's first match outside Africa was also their first against an Asian nation, China. They lost 4–1 in China on 5 April 1974.^[3]

2014 Ebola Outbreak

In August 2014, the Sierra Leone FA cancelled all football matches in an effort to stop the spread of the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra Leone, a week after the Liberian FA did the same.^[4] Sierra Leonean players playing outside Sierra Leone, such as Michael Lahoud playing in the United States, were discriminated against, with opposition players refusing to swap shirts, shake hands and allow them to certain places of the stadium just because they fear that they could be carrying the disease.^[5] The Sierra Leonean national team isn't allowed to play home games and all players must be foreign based.^[6] In 2016 Sierra Leone entered the Grecian Shield at Exeter university on Sunday 13 March.

Sierra Leone Football Achievements

Amilcar Cabral Cup :

2 Times Champion (1993, 1995)
2 Times Runners-up

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1970	Did not enter
1974 to 1986	Did not qualify
1990	Did not enter
1994	Withdrew
1998 to 2018	Did not qualify
2022	To be determined
2026	To be determined
Total		0/21

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations record
Host nation(s) / Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad
1957 to 1968	Did not enter
1970	Withdrew
1972	Did not enter
1974	Did not qualify
1976	Did not enter
1978	Did not qualify
1980	Did not enter
1982	Did not qualify
1984	Did not qualify
1986	Withdrew
1988	Did not qualify
1990	Withdrew
1992	Did not qualify
1994	Round 1	13th	2	0	1	1	1	3	Squad
1996	Round 1	15th	3	1	0	2	2	7	Squad
1998	Withdrew
2000	Disqualified due to civil war
2002	Did not qualify
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2013
2015
2017
2019	To be determined
2021
2023
Total	First Round	2/31	5	1	1	3	3	10	−

Results and fixtures

Win Draw Loss

2017

15 July 2017 2018 CHANQ	Sierra Leone	1–1	Senegal	Freetown, Sierra Leone
16:30 GMT	Fofanah 63'	Report	Diop 85' (pen.)	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Manuel Timas (Cape Verde)

22 July 2017 2018 CHANQ	Senegal	3–1 (4–2 agg.)	Sierra Leone	Dakar, Senegal
17:00 GMT	N'Diaye 4' Ndao 51' Diémé 65'	Report	Fullah 5'	Stadium: Stade Al Djigo Referee: Gilberto dos Santos (Guinea-Bissau)

11 September 2017 2017 WAFU Nations Cup 1st round	Nigeria	2–0	Sierra Leone	Cape Coast, Ghana
18:00 GMT	Okoro 85' Peter 87'	Report		Stadium: Cape Coast Sports Stadium Referee: Yanissou Bebou (Togo)

2018

17 March 2018 Friendly	Iran	4–0	Sierra Leone	Tehran, Iran
15:30 IRST	Khanzadeh 14' Gholizadeh 16', 47' Rezaei 35'	Report		Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Mooud Bonyadifard (Iran)

9 September 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Ethiopia	1–0	Sierra Leone	Awasa, Ethiopia
16:00 EAT	Getaneh 35' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Hawassa International Stadium Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia)

11 October 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Ghana	v	Sierra Leone	Kumasi, Ghana
16:00 GMT		Report		Stadium: Baba Yara Stadium Referee: Norman Matemera (Zimbabwe)

15 October 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Sierra Leone	v	Ghana	Freetown, Sierra Leone
15:00 GMT		Report		Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Juste Ephrem Zio (Burkina Faso)

16 November 2018 2019 AFCONQ	Kenya	v	Sierra Leone	Kenya
		Report

2019

22 March 2019 2019 AFCONQ	Sierra Leone	v	Ethiopia	Sierra Leone
		Report

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Ghana on 11 & 15 October 2018. Caps and goals updated as of 15 October 2018 after the game against Kenya.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Solomon Morris	(1990-06-16) 16 June 1990 (age 34)	19	0	Dieppe
16	1GK	Alhaji Sesay	(1998-10-09) 9 October 1998 (age 25)	0	0	Bristol City

17	2DF	Umaru Bangura (captain)	(1987-10-07) 7 October 1987 (age 36)	43	4	Zürich
18	2DF	David Simbo	(1989-09-28) 28 September 1989 (age 34)	18	0	Adana Kiremithanespor
21	2DF	Osman Kakay	(1997-08-25) 25 August 1997 (age 26)	1	0	Queens Park Rangers
5	2DF	Alie Sesay	(1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 29)	4	0	Chania

12	3MF	Julius Wobay	(1984-05-19) 19 May 1984 (age 40)	18	1	Free agent
4	3MF	Medo Kamara	(1987-11-16) 16 November 1987 (age 36)	28	1	Kuwait SC
13	3MF	Alfred Sankoh	(1988-10-22) 22 October 1988 (age 35)	13	0	Al-Jabalain
6	3MF	John Kamara	(1988-05-12) 12 May 1988 (age 36)	10	1	Kaisar
7	3MF	George Davies (footballer, born 1996)	(1996-11-16) 16 November 1996 (age 27)	10	0	Riga

10	4FW	Kei Kamara	(1984-09-01) 1 September 1984 (age 39)	27	4	Vancouver Whitecaps
9	4FW	Alhassan Kamara	(1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 31)	15	4	Panetolikos
19	4FW	Mustapha Bundu	(1997-02-28) 28 February 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Aarhus
3	4FW	Mohamed Buya Turay	(1995-01-10) 10 January 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Sint-Truiden

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

Notes

^DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
^PRE Preliminary Squad.
^RET Player has retired from international football.
^SUS Suspended from the national team.

References

^ Courtney, Barrie (15 August 2006). "Sierra Leone – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
^ "World Football Elo Ratings: Africa". eloratings.net. World Football Elo Ratings. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
^ "Sierra Leone - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
^ "Sierra Leone suspends football matches as Ebola virus spreads". The Independent. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
^ "Ebola affecting Sierra Leone team - Michael Lahoud". BBC Sport. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVjOz-NZZdw&t=4m26s

https://web.archive.org/web/20160305221855/http://www.footballsierraleone.net/sierra-leone-to-host-the-elephants-of-ivory-coast-in-abidjan/

https://web.archive.org/web/20160405190623/http://www.footballsierraleone.net/sierra-leone-1-malawi-1-international-friendly/

External links

Football Sierra Leone official site
Sierra Leone Football Association
Sierra Leone at FIFA.com
Sierra Leone at National-Football-Teams.com

[1] Courtney, Barrie (15 August 2006). "Sierra Leone – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 November 2010.

[2] "World Football Elo Ratings: Africa". eloratings.net. World Football Elo Ratings. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.

[3] "Sierra Leone - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2018.

[4] "Sierra Leone suspends football matches as Ebola virus spreads". The Independent. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2018.

[5] "Ebola affecting Sierra Leone team - Michael Lahoud". BBC Sport. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2018.

[6] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVjOz-NZZdw&t=4m26s

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