South Sudan national football team

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.

South Sudan

Nickname(s)	Bright Stars[1]
Association	South Sudan Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	CECAFA (East & Central Africa)
Head coach	Cyprian Besong Ashu
Captain	Jumma Genaro
Most caps	Jumma Genaro (28)
Top scorer	James Moga (6)
Home stadium	Juba National Stadium
FIFA code	SSD
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	163 (10 December 2020)[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)

History

Zoran Đorđević was appointed on 25 May 2011 to oversee the national team.[3] 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.[4][5] However, in the event the opposition was provided by Tusker of the Kenyan Premier League,[6] 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.[7] South Sudan was officially admitted as a CAF member on 10 February 2012, at the 34th CAF Ordinary General Assembly hosted in Libreville, Gabon.[8] 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.[9][10]

On 10 July 2012, South Sudan competed in its first full international match, a friendly against Uganda in Juba.[11] 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.[11]

The South Sudanese took part in their first ever international football tournament when they took part in the 2012 CECAFA Cup in Uganda.[12][13] They were drawn in Group A alongside Ethiopia, Kenya, and hosts Uganda.[14] 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.[15][16] 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.

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 to 2010	Part of  Sudan									Part of  Sudan
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		0/21								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 2019	Did not qualify
2021	To be determined
2023
2025
Total	–	0/32	–	–	–	–	–	–

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	To be determined
2022
Total	–	0/5	–	–	–	–	–	–

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
Total	Quarter-finals	4/39	13	2	3	8	7	22

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

2020

12 November 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	Uganda	1–0	South Sudan	Entebbe, Uganda
16:00 UTC+3	Lwaliwa  86'	Report		Stadium: St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende Referee: Messie Nkounkou (DR Congo)

16 November 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	South Sudan	1–0	Uganda	Nairobi, Kenya[note 1]
16:00 UTC+3	Okello  35' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Nyayo National Stadium Referee: Louis Houngnandande (Benin)

2021

22 March 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	South Sudan	v	Malawi
--:-- UTC+3

30 March 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	Burkina Faso	v	South Sudan
--:-- UTC±0

Head-to-head records against other countries

As of 16 November 2020

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Benin	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	000.00
Burkina Faso	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Burundi	5	0	1	4	3	12	−9	000.00
Djibouti	3	2	0	1	8	2	+6	066.67
Equatorial Guinea	4	2	1	1	2	6	−4	050.00
Ethiopia	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	000.00
Gabon	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	000.00
Kenya	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	000.00
Malawi	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	050.00
Mali	4	0	0	4	0	11	−11	000.00
Mauritania	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	000.00
Mozambique	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	000.00
Seychelles	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Somalia	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3	050.00
Sudan	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Uganda	5	1	1	3	3	11	−8	020.00
Zanzibar	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
17 Countries	43	9	5	29	31	80	−49	020.93

Coaches

Dates	Name
2009–2011	Stephen Constantine
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	Joseph Malesh
2017	Elya Wako
2017–2018	Bilal Felix Komoyangi
2018	Ahcene Aït-Abdelmalek
2018	Ramsey Sebit (caretaker)
2019–	Cyprian Besong Ashu

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the match against Uganda on 12 November 2020.[17]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Ramadan John Mayik	17 March 2000	0	0	Malakia
23	GK	Majak Mawith	18 September 1999	6	0	Port Melbourne
2	DF	Majok Bak Mathiang				Amarat United
3	DF	Godfrey Okello	2 May 1997			Altona Magic
4	DF	Peter Maker (captain)	1 January 1994	5	0	Amarat United
14	DF	Rehan Angier	1 January 2002			Munuki
15	DF	John Kuol Chol	9 November 1999	7	0	Kariobangi Sharks
17	DF	David Omot	28 October 1998			Alamal Atbara
29	DF	Mutwakil Yom	4 August 1992	3	0	Atlabara
6	MF	Dominic Angelo Kornelio	14 April 2000	2	0	Munuki
7	MF	Ivan Wani	12 December 1998			Busoga United
8	MF	Manyumow Achol	10 December 1999			Eastern Suburbs
11	MF	Dominic Abui	1 January 1991			Al Khartoum
16	MF	Jackson Morgan	18 August 1998	4	0	Stirling Lions
21	MF	Emmanuel Thomas Lumeri	16 May 1993	2	0	Amarat United
24	MF	Saad Musa	6 August 1999			Leopards
25	MF	Stephen Pawaar	7 January 1993	3	0	Munuki
9	FW	Kenny Athiu	5 August 1992	6	0	Unattached
10	FW	Tito Okello	7 January 1997	0	0	Gor Mahia
12	FW	Joseph Kuch Nyuar	24 September 1998	6	3	Amarat United
19	FW	Aluck Akech	8 February 1994	15	0	Alamal Atbara
20	FW	Denis Yongule	3 June 1998	4	0	Eastern Lions
22	FW	Makueth Wol	10 February 2000	1	0	Mbarara City

Recent call ups

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Robert Joseph	1 January 1989	0	0	Al-Salam Wau	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020
DF	Hassan James Martin	28 August 1997	6	0	Al-Hilal	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020
DF	Salah Abubaker	1 January 1996	2	0	Al-Salam Wau	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020
MF	Koang Thok Kerjok	27 July 1993	5	1	Al-Hilal Kadougli	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020
MF	Jimmy Michael Omer	7 July 1998	3	0	Atlabara	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020
MF	Justin John				Super Eagles	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020
MF	Daniel Warabek				Al-Salam Bor	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020
FW	Sabri Mutawakil				Amarat United	v.  Cameroon (local-based), 10 October 2020

Dual-internationals

The following South Sudanese international footballers have also played for Sudan 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 five 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

1. South Sudan will play their home matches outside the country due to renovation of Juba Stadium.

References

1. "BBC Storyville 2014 Soccer Coach Zoran and his African Tigers". 18 December 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
3. Jacobs, Sean (25 May 2011). "Zoran and his African Tigers". Africas Country. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
5. Martell, Peter (6 July 2011). "World's Newest Nation Set to Step Into Sporting Arena". Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
6. Rice, Xan (10 July 2011). "South Sudan marks statehood with football match". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
7. "Independent South Sudan play first football match". Kickoff.com. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
8. South Sudan admitted as a member of CAF, SuperSport.com, Retrieved 10 February 2012.
9. "FIFA Congress fully backs reform process, appoints first woman to Executive; welcomes South Sudan as 209th FIFA member". FIFA Congress. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
10. Mensah, Kent (27 May 2012). "South Sudan become Fifa's 209th member". Goal.com. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
11. "South Sudan enter FIFA rankings". Reuters. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
12. South Sudan set for international debuts at Cecafa cups BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012
13. World newest state set for CECAFA début Futaa.com. Retrieved 12 November 2012
14. Ethiopia get tough draw for 2012 Cecafa Challenge Cup BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012
15. "Eritrea withdraws from Nations Cup Qualification". Reuters.com. 30 March 2014.
16. "Eritrea withdraws from Can 2015". Cafonline.com. 30 March 2014.
17. "Aluk Dropped While Warabek, Tingba Makes Cuts As Besong Releases Final National Squad Ahead Of Cameroon Friendly Game".

External links

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