Sierra Leone national football team

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 69.127.134.251 (talk) at 21:54, 27 July 2020 (→‎Current squad). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Sierra Leone women's national football team.

Sierra Leone
Nickname(s)Leone Stars
AssociationSierra Leone Football Association (SLFA)
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationWAFU (West Africa)
Head coachVacant
CaptainUmaru Bangura
Most capsKemokai Kallon (52)
Top scorerMohamed Kallon (14)
Home stadiumFreetown National Stadium
FIFA codeSLE
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 126 Steady (4 April 2024)[1]
Highest50 (August 2014)
Lowest172 (September 2007)
First international
Sierra Leone 0–2 Nigeria 
(Freetown, Sierra Leone; 10 August 1949)[2]
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
Appearances2 (first in 1994)
Best resultGroup stage, 1994 and 1996

The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in men's international association football and it is governed by the Sierra Leone Football Association, The team's nickname is Leone stars, The team is affiliated to the West African Football Union, The team have qualified for the FIFA World Cups and they have qualified for Africa Cup of Nations twice, The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

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.[4]

Sierra Leone's golden period was during the 1990s, qualifying for both the 1994 and 1996 Africa Cup of Nations. However, they were forced to withdraw from the next two editions due to the Sierra Leone Civil War.

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.[5] 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.[6] The Sierra Leonean national team wasn't allowed to play home games and all players had to be foreign-based.[7] In October 2015, Sierra Leone suffered a surprise defeat to Chad in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with their home game having to be played in Nigeria. One year later, Sierra Leone very nearly qualified for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, finishing just one point behind Group I winners Ivory Coast.

On 5 October 2018, the Sierra Leone Football Association was suspended by FIFA and the Leone Stars were excluded from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

Sierra Leone Football Achievements

Amilcar Cabral Cup :
  • 2 Times Champion (1993, 1995)

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 to Mexico 1970 Did not enter Did not enter
West Germany 1974 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 3
Argentina 1978 4 1 1 2 8 9
Spain 1982 2 0 1 1 3 5
Mexico 1986 2 0 0 2 0 5
Italy 1990 Did not enter Did not enter
United States 1994 Withdrew Withdrew
France 1998 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 2
South KoreaJapan 2002 10 2 1 7 6 17
Germany 2006 2 0 1 1 1 2
South Africa 2010 8 3 2 3 5 8
Brazil 2014 6 2 2 2 10 10
Russia 2018 2 1 0 1 2 2
Qatar 2022 2 1 0 1 2 3
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/21 42 10 8 24 37 66

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations record
Host nation(s) / Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad
Sudan 1957 Part of United Kingdom
United Arab Republic 1959
Ethiopia 1962 Not affiliated to CAF
Ghana 1963
Tunisia 1965
Ethiopia 1968 Did not enter
Sudan 1970 Withdrew
Cameroon 1972 Did not enter
Egypt 1974 Did not qualify
Ethiopia 1976 Did not enter
Ghana 1978 Did not qualify
Nigeria 1980 Did not enter
Libya 1982 Did not qualify
Ivory Coast 1984
Egypt 1986 Withdrew
Morocco 1988 Did not qualify
Algeria 1990 Withdrew
Senegal 1992 Did not qualify
Tunisia 1994 Round 1 13th 2 0 1 1 1 3 Squad
South Africa 1996 Round 1 15th 3 1 0 2 2 7 Squad
Burkina Faso 1998 Withdrew
Nigeria Ghana 2000 Disqualified due to civil war
Mali 2002 Did not qualify
Tunisia 2004
Egypt 2006
Ghana 2008
Angola 2010
Gabon Equatorial Guinea 2012
South Africa 2013
Equatorial Guinea 2015
Gabon 2017
Egypt 2019 Disqualified due to FIFA suspension
Cameroon 2021 To be determined
Ivory Coast 2023
Guinea 2025
Total First Round 2/32 5 1 1 3 3 10 −

Recent results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

2019

4 September 2019 (2019-09-04) 2022 WCQ Liberia  3–1  Sierra Leone Paynesville, Liberia
18:00 UTC±0
Report (FIFA)
Stadium: Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Louis Houngnandande (Benin)
8 September 2019 (2019-09-08) 2022 WCQ Sierra Leone  1–0
(2–3 agg.)		  Liberia Freetown, Sierra Leone
16:30 UTC±0
Report (FIFA) Stadium: Siaka Stevens Stadium
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Jean Ouattara (Burkina Faso)
13 November 2019 (2019-11-13) 2021 AFCONQ Sierra Leone  1–1  Lesotho Freetown, Sierra Leone
16:00 UTC±0
Stadium: National Stadium
Attendance: 0
17 November 2019 (2019-11-17) 2021 AFCONQ Benin  1–0  Sierra Leone Porto-Novo, Benin
14:00 UTC+1
Stadium: Stade Charles de Gaulle

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Ethiopia on 9 September 2018.

Caps and goals as of 9 September 2018, after the game against Ethiopia.[8]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Solomon Morris (1990-06-16) 16 June 1990 (age 33) 20 0 France Toulouse Rodéo
1GK Mohamed Kamara (1999-04-29) 29 April 1999 (age 25) 1 0 Sierra Leone Johansen
1GK Alhaji Sesay (1998-10-09) 9 October 1998 (age 25) 0 0 England Bristol City
2DF David Simbo (1989-09-28) 28 September 1989 (age 34) 20 0 Iraq Al-Zawra'a
2DF Mila Sesay (1987-10-22) 22 October 1987 (age 36) 8 0 Finland HIFK Fotboll
2DF Abu Suma (1996-06-06) 6 June 1996 (age 27) 5 0 Unattached
2DF Alie Sesay (1993-07-25) 25 July 1993 (age 30) 5 0 Bulgaria Arda Kardzhali
2DF Osman Kakay (1997-08-25) 25 August 1997 (age 26) 1 0 England Queens Park Rangers
2DF Yeami Dunia (1998-04-17) 17 April 1998 (age 26) 0 0 Unattached
3MF Julius Wobay RET (1984-05-19) 19 May 1984 (age 40) 32 4 Unattached
3MF Medo Kamara (1987-11-16) 16 November 1987 (age 36) 29 1 Kuwait Kazma
3MF Alfred Sankoh (1988-10-22) 22 October 1988 (age 35) 14 0 Oman Majees
3MF John Kamara (1994-02-28) 28 February 1994 (age 30) 11 1 Azerbaijan Keşla FK
3MF Michael Lahoud (1986-09-15) 15 September 1986 (age 37) 4 0 United States San Antonio
4FW Kei Kamara RET (1984-09-01) 1 September 1984 (age 39) 27 4 United States Colorado Rapids
4FW Alhassan Kamara (1993-03-16) 16 March 1993 (age 31) 16 4 Greece Panetolikos
4FW Kwame Quee (1996-07-09) 9 July 1996 (age 27) 15 0 Iceland Víkingur Reykjavík
4FW Sheka Fofanah (1990-10-21) 21 October 1990 (age 33) 5 2 Oman Al-Nasr Salalah
2DF Umaru Bangura (1987-10-07) 7 October 1987 (age 36) 43 4 Switzerland Zürich
4FW Christian Moses (1993-08-10) 10 August 1993 (age 30) 4 0 Denmark Viborg FF
4FW Buya Turay (1995-08-27) 27 August 1995 (age 28) 1 0 Sweden Djurgården
4FW Amadou Bakayoko (1996-01-01) 1 January 1996 (age 28) 0 0 England Coventry City
4FW Ibrahim Conteh (1996-11-02) 2 November 1996 (age 27) 0 0 Indonesia Persipura Jayapura

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Sierra Leone in the last 12 months.

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

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.

Records

As of 1 September 2019
Players in bold text are still active with Sierra Leone.

References

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  2. ^ Courtney, Barrie (15 August 2006). "Sierra Leone – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  3. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Sierra Leone - List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Sierra Leone suspends football matches as Ebola virus spreads". The Independent. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Ebola affecting Sierra Leone team - Michael Lahoud". BBC Sport. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  7. ^ FIFATV (14 October 2014). "The land where football is religion" – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "Sierra Leone Team 2019". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams.

Sources

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sierra_Leone_national_football_team&oldid=969876190"