Sierra Leone national football team

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 never qualified for the FIFA World Cup; however, they have qualified for Africa Cup of Nations thrice. The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

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 coachJohn Keister
CaptainUmaru Bangura
Most capsUmaru Bangura (51)
Top scorerMohamed Kallon (9)
Home stadiumFreetown National Stadium
FIFA codeSLE
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 108 1 (19 November 2021)[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
Appearances3 (first in 1994)
Best resultGroup stage, 1994 and 1996

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]

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.[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 wasn't allowed to play home games and all players had to be foreign-based.[6] 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.

Recent results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

2021
24 March 2021 AFCONQ Lesotho  0–0  Sierra Leone Maseru,Lesotho
Stadium: Setsoto Stadium
Referee: Andofetra Rakotojaona (Madagascar)
15 June 2021 AFCONQ Sierra Leone  1–0  Benin Conakry, Guinea
16:00 UTC±0
Report Stadium: Stade du 28 Septembre
Referee: Haythem Guirat (Tunisia)
12 October Friendly Gambia  1–2  Sierra Leone
13 November Friendly Sierra Leone  0–2  Comoros Sapanca, Turkey
Report
  • Ben  34', 89'
 Stadium: Sapanca Atatürk Stadyumu

2022
11 January 2021 AFCON Algeria  v  Sierra Leone Douala, Cameroon
Stadium: Japoma Stadium
16 January 2021 AFCON Ivory Coast  v  Sierra Leone Douala, Cameroon
Stadium: Japoma Stadium
20 January 2021 AFCON Sierra Leone  v  Equatorial Guinea Limbe, Cameroon
Stadium: Limbe Stadium

Players

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Benin on 15 June 2021.

Caps and goals as of 15 June 2021, after the game against Benin.[7]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Mohamed Kamara (1999-04-29) 29 April 1999 6 0 East End Lions
1GK Unisa Conteh (1996-05-26) 26 May 1996 0 0 Johansen
1GK Abubakarr Toma Unknown 0 0 Bo Rangers
2DF Umaru Bangura (1987-10-07) 7 October 1987 46 4 Neuchâtel Xamax
2DF Yeami Dunia (1996-12-16) 16 December 1996 23 0 East End Lions
2DF Mustapha Dumbuya (1987-08-07) 7 August 1987 17 0 Free agent
2DF Alie Sesay (1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 9 0 Persebaya Surabaya
2DF Osman Kakay (1997-08-25) 25 August 1997 6 0 Queens Park Rangers
2DF Kevin Wright (1995-12-28) 28 December 1995 3 0 Örebro SK
2DF Abu Bakarr Samura (1995-08-10) 10 August 1995 2 0 Kallon
3MF Kwame Quee (1996-07-09) 9 July 1996 20 3 Víkingur Reykjavík
3MF John Kamara (1988-05-12) 12 May 1988 18 1 Keşla FK
3MF Sorie Barrie (1996-09-11) 11 September 1996 9 0 East End Lions
3MF Alimamy Bundu (1997-02-24) 24 February 1997 4 0 East End Lions
3MF Abu Dumbuya (1999-01-29) 29 January 1999 3 0 East End Lions
3MF Sallieu Tarawallie (1995-01-03) 3 January 1995 2 1 Kallon
3MF Hassan Koroma (1998-11-07) 7 November 1998 2 1 Kallon
3MF Julius Goba (1999-05-19) 19 May 1999 1 0 Ports Authority
3MF Sullay Kaikai (1995-08-26) 26 August 1995 1 0 Wycombe Wanderers
4FW Kei Kamara (1984-09-01) 1 September 1984 35 7 HIFK
4FW Alhaji Kamara (1994-04-16) 16 April 1994 7 5 Randers
4FW Mohamed Buya Turay (1995-01-10) 10 January 1995 5 0 Henan Songshan Longmen
4FW Mustapha Bundu (1997-02-27) 27 February 1997 6 2 AGF
4FW Alhassan Koroma (1997-06-09) 9 June 1997 4 0 Real Balompédica Linense
4FW Prince Barrie (1997-08-18) 18 August 1997 5 0 Bo Rangers
4FW Augustine Williams (1997-08-03) 3 August 1997 1 0 Free agent

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
MF Medo (1987-11-16) 16 November 1987 33 2 Free agent v.  Lesotho, 27 March 2021
FW Idris Kanu (1999-12-05) 5 December 1999 1 0 Peterborough United v.  Comoros, 13 November 2021

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 15 June 2021[8]
Players in bold are still active with Sierra Leone.

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
1962 Not affiliated to CAF Not affiliated to CAF
1966
1970 Did not enter Did not enter
1974 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 3
1978 4 1 1 2 8 9
1982 2 0 1 1 3 5
1986 2 0 0 2 0 5
1990 Did not enter Did not enter
1994 Withdrew Withdrew
1998 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 2
2002 10 2 1 7 6 17
2006 2 0 1 1 1 2
2010 8 3 2 3 5 8
2014 6 2 2 2 10 10
2018 2 1 0 1 2 2
2022 2 1 0 1 2 3
2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/22 42 10 8 24 37 66

Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad
1957Part of United Kingdom
1959
1962Not affiliated to CAF
1963
1965
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
1986 Withdrew
1988 Did not qualify
1990 Withdrew
1992 Did not qualify
1994 Round 1 13th 2 0 1 1 0 4 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 Disqualified due to FIFA suspension
2021 Qualified
2023 To be determined
2025
TotalFirst round3/335113211−

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

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. Courtney, Barrie (15 August 2006). "Sierra Leone – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  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. FIFATV (14 October 2014). "The land where football is religion" – via YouTube.
  7. "Sierra Leone Team 2019". national-football-teams.com. National Football Teams.
  8. "Sierra Leone". National Football Teams.

Sources
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