Sierra Leone national football team
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 | ||
Home stadium | Freetown National Stadium | ||
FIFA code | SLE | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 114 ![]() | ||
Highest | 50 (August 2014) | ||
Lowest | 172 (September 2007) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Freetown, Sierra Leone; 10 August 1949)[1] | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Freetown, Sierra Leone; 7 March 1976) ![]() ![]() (Freetown, Sierra Leone; 3 June 1995) ![]() ![]() | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (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 | |
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Did not enter | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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Did not enter | ||||||||
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Withdrew | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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To be determined | ||||||||
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To be determined | ||||||||
Total | 0/21 |
Africa Cup of Nations record
Africa Cup of Nations record | |||||||||
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Host nation(s) / Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad |
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Did not enter | ||||||||
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Withdrew | ||||||||
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Did not enter | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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Did not enter | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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Did not enter | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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Withdrew | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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Withdrew | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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Round 1 | 13th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Squad |
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Round 1 | 15th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | Squad |
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Withdrew | ||||||||
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Disqualified due to civil war | ||||||||
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Did not qualify | ||||||||
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To be determined | ||||||||
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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 | ![]() | Freetown, Sierra Leone |
16:30 GMT |
|
Report | Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Manuel Timas (Cape Verde) |
22 July 2017 2018 CHANQ | Senegal ![]() | 3–1 (4–2 agg.) | ![]() | Dakar, Senegal |
17:00 GMT | Report |
|
Stadium: Stade Al Djigo Referee: Gilberto dos Santos (Guinea-Bissau) |
11 September 2017 2017 WAFU Nations Cup 1st round | Nigeria ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() | Cape Coast, Ghana |
18:00 GMT | Report | Stadium: Cape Coast Sports Stadium Referee: Yanissou Bebou (Togo) |
2018
17 March 2018 Friendly | Iran ![]() | 4–0 | ![]() | Tehran, Iran |
15:30 IRST | Khanzadeh ![]() Gholizadeh ![]() Rezaei ![]() |
Report | Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Mooud Bonyadifard (Iran) |
9 September 2018 2019 AFCONQ | Ethiopia ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() | Awasa, Ethiopia |
16:00 EAT | Getaneh ![]() |
Report | Stadium: Hawassa International Stadium Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia) |
11 October 2018 2019 AFCONQ | Ghana ![]() | v | ![]() | Kumasi, Ghana |
16:00 GMT | Report | Stadium: Baba Yara Stadium Referee: Norman Matemera (Zimbabwe) |
15 October 2018 2019 AFCONQ | Sierra Leone ![]() | v | ![]() | Freetown, Sierra Leone |
15:00 GMT | Report | Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Juste Ephrem Zio (Burkina Faso) |
16 November 2018 2019 AFCONQ | Kenya ![]() | v | ![]() | Kenya |
Report |
2019
22 March 2019 2019 AFCONQ | Sierra Leone ![]() | v | ![]() | 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 | GK | Solomon Morris | 16 June 1990 | 19 | 0 | ![]() |
16 | GK | Alhaji Sesay | 9 October 1998 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
17 | DF | Umaru Bangura (captain) | 7 October 1987 | 43 | 4 | ![]() |
18 | DF | David Simbo | 28 September 1989 | 18 | 0 | Free agent |
21 | DF | Osman Kakay | 25 August 1997 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
5 | DF | Alie Sesay | 2 August 1994 | 4 | 0 | ![]() |
12 | MF | Julius Wobay | 19 May 1984 | 18 | 1 | Free agent |
4 | MF | Medo Kamara | 16 November 1987 | 28 | 1 | ![]() |
13 | MF | Alfred Sankoh | 22 October 1988 | 13 | 0 | ![]() |
6 | MF | John Kamara | 12 May 1988 | 10 | 1 | ![]() |
7 | MF | George Davies (footballer, born 1996) | 16 November 1996 | 10 | 0 | ![]() |
10 | FW | Kei Kamara | 1 September 1984 | 27 | 4 | ![]() |
9 | FW | Alhassan Kamara | 13 January 1993 | 15 | 4 | ![]() |
19 | FW | Mustapha Bundu | 28 February 1997 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
3 | FW | Mohamed Buya Turay | 10 January 1995 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
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
External links
- Football Sierra Leone official site
- Sierra Leone Football Association
- Sierra Leone at FIFA.com
- Sierra Leone at National-Football-Teams.com