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 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.

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, 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.
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. 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. The Sierra Leonean national team wasn't allowed to play home games and all players had to be foreign-based.
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

World Cup record

Africa Cup of Nations record

Recent results and fixtures

2019

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.

Recent call-ups

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

#PlayerCapsGoalsCareer
1Kemokai Kallon103?41994–2008
2Komba Yomba60?01997–2001
3Kewullay Conteh52?21996–2011
4Umaru Bangura4342006–
5Marvin Davies]36192006–2015
6Mahmadu Bah35122000–2008
734?252005–2008
8Mohamed Kallon33?141995–2012
9Julius Wobay3242001–2018
10Medo Kamara2912011–

#PlayerGoalsCapsCareer
1Mohamed Kallon14331995–2012
2Mahmadu Bah12352000–2008