The Sudan national football team ( ar, منتخب السودان الوطني لكرة القدم) represents
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
in international
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and is controlled by the
Sudan Football Association
The Sudan Football Association (S.F.A.) ( ar, الإتحاد السوداني لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Sudan. It was established in 1936 and affiliated with FIFA in 1948.
Along with the national associations of Eg ...
, the governing body for football in Sudan. Its home ground is
Khartoum Stadium
The Khartoum International Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Khartoum, Sudan. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 23,000 people. It is also the home stadium of the Sudanese national football te ...
in the capital
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
. In
1957, it was one of the three teams to participate in the inaugural
Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
, the other two being
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
.
Sudan is one of the oldest teams in Africa and won the
1970 Africa Cup of Nations
The 1970 African Cup of Nations was the seventh edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Sudan. Just like in 1968, the field of eight teams was split into two groups of four. Sudan won it ...
as hosts.
History
Beginning and an African giant (1946–1970)
The
Sudan Football Association
The Sudan Football Association (S.F.A.) ( ar, الإتحاد السوداني لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Sudan. It was established in 1936 and affiliated with FIFA in 1948.
Along with the national associations of Eg ...
was founded in 1936 and thus it became one of the oldest football associations to exist in Africa. However, before the foundation of the Football Association, Sudan had started experiencing football brought to the country by the British colonizers since early 20th century via Egypt. Other Sudanese clubs founded at that time include
Al-Hilal Omdurman
Al Hilal Educational Club ( ar, نادي الهلال للتربية), known as Al Hilal Omdurman or simply Al Hilal, is based in Omdurman that competes in the Sudan Premier League.
Name and history
The name ''Hilāl'' is the Arabic word for ...
,
Al-Merrikh
Al-Merrikh Sporting Club ( ar, نادي المريخ الرياضي) is a Sudanese football club based in Omdurman. Their home stadium is Al-Merrikh Stadium, which is locally known as The Red Castle. Founded in 1908, Al-Merrikh is one of the ol ...
, which led to popularization of football in the country. The
Khartoum League became the first national league to be played in Sudan, laying ground for the future development of Sudanese football.
Being experienced early with football, Sudan was quick to affiliate itself with
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
in 1948, and soon after, Sudanese officials were instrumental, along with Ethiopian, South African and Egyptian counterparts, forming the
Confederation of African Football
The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...
in the Sudanese capital of
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
in 1957.
Following the establishment of CAF, Sudan participated in the
1957 African Cup of Nations, the first historic
Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
which Sudan was host. The national team finished third, as South Africa was banned over
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.
During that early era, Sudan produced some of the finest players, most notably Mustafa Azhari, the captain of Sudan during this period;
Nasr El-Din Abbas
Nasr Eddin Abbas ( ar, نصر الدين عباس; born 13 August 1944), known by his nickname Jaksa ( ar, جكسة), is a Sudanese former footballer who played with Al-Hilal Club. He participated in the Africa Cup of Nations 1963 and 1970 and ...
, who became Sudan's top scorer in the country's football team;
Siddiq Manzul
Siddiq Mohammed Manzul ( ar, صديق محمد منزول) (1932 – 11 April 2003) was a Sudanese footballer who played with Al-Hilal Club. He participated in the first Africa Cup of Nations in 1957 and again in 1959.
Honours
Club
;Al-Hilal ...
, who was an instrumental leader in Sudan's forward;
Ali Gagarin
Haydar Hassan Haj Al-Sidig known as Ali Gagarin (born 1 April 1949 in Omdurman) is a Sudanese former footballer who played with Al-Hilal Club. He participated in the Africa Cup of Nations 1970 and 1976.
He earned his nickname of Ali Gagarin wh ...
with his meteoric ability. Sudan then won the
1970 African Cup of Nations, their only African trophy up to date.
Decline (1970–2008)
With the retirement of a significant number of Sudanese football star at the time, the national team of Sudan deteriorated. Sudan participated in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
editions, but Sudan wasn't able to get out of the group stage. At the time, Sudan was plagued by the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
second civil wars that led to football in the country being largely unable to retain its status. Likewise, Sudan also suffered from series of political upheavals that drained the country's football resources.
As such, Sudan struggled to qualify for another AFCON, and the country has yet to qualify for a single
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
. Only Libya being the other major Arab country in Africa to have never achieved the feat. Often Sudan participated in AFCON qualification and majority finished in bottom or near bottom of their qualification. This was totally contrasted to their successes in club competition, as Sudanese clubs were omnipresent in
CAF Champions League.
Small resurgence (2008–2012)
On 9 September 2007, Sudan beat World Cup participant Tunisia 3–2 at home, making Sudan the top finisher in the
2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
This page details the process of qualifying for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
Qualified teams
The 16 qualified teams were:
* as hosts.
* as group 1 winner.
* as group 2 winner.
* as group 3 winner.
* as group 4 winner.
* as group 5 winner.
* a ...
Group 4. This meant Sudan had finally returned to the AFCON after 32 years. In the
2008 Africa Cup of Nations, their first in 32 years, Sudan was grouped in group C, which they shared with Egypt, Cameroon and Zambia. Sudan lost all three competitive games finishing at the bottom of their group.
Sudan reached the final round of the
2010 World Cup qualifiers but finished last with only a point, failing to reach AFCON and World Cup.
Sudan (as hosts) automatically qualified for the
2011 African Nations Championship. They finished top of their group which consisted of Algeria, Uganda and Gabon to then advance to the knockout stages. After defeating Niger on penalties in the quarterfinals, they lost against Angola in the semifinals (also on penalties) to then win 1–0 against former groupmates Algeria (who also lost on penalties in the semifinals) and finish third in the Championship, their first top 4 finish in a major African tournament since 1970.
In the
2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Sudan was once again in the same group with Ghana, alongside Swaziland and Congo. Sudan lost only one game and reached the tournament In the
2012 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football ( ...
, in
group B
Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...
, Sudan finished second behind Ivory Coast, and overcame Angola by goal difference to reach the knockout stage for the first time since 1970. Sudan played Zambia in the last eight, and lost 0–3. Zambia would go on to win the tournament for the first time.
Downfall (2012–2018)
In
2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Sudan suffered a huge blow when they lost to neighbor Ethiopia by away goal, losing 0–2 in
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
after a very eventful 5–3 win at home, thus missed out the competition. Since then, Sudan continued to struggle qualifying for the African Cup of Nations for the next 7 years. They also had no success qualifying for the African Nations Championship after their 3rd-place finish in 2011 for a while until 2018.
Fluctuation (2018–present)
In 2018 they qualified for the
2018 African Nations Championship after failing to do so in two previous competitions and finished 3rd place, and it was seen as a signal heralding a new era of Sudanese football. Shortly after, with an almost identical crop of players, Sudan succeeded in qualifying for the
2021 Africa Cup of Nations, finishing ahead of powerhouse
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, including two famous wins at home against
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
and South Africa and eliminated the South Africans in process, successfully returned to the AFCON after nine years. The optimism increased when Sudan beat
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
1–0 in the qualification for the
2021 FIFA Arab Cup, under the same management of French coach
Hubert Velud, making impressions that Sudan would soon recover its glorious place among Arab and African football nations.
However, Sudan has a disastrous opening during the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. Being drawn with the likes of a fellow Arab state and powerhouse
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, as well as
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
and
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
which have never taken part in a World Cup like Sudan, the Sudanese were still being regarded as somewhat better than the two Guineas and could be a potential competitor against Morocco. Sudan started its quest with a 0–2 away to the Moroccans in
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...
, which was seen as acceptable. Yet in the home fixture against Guinea-Bissau, Sudan was completely trashed by the Bissau-Guineans 2–4, to leave the team in the bottom place and reducing hopes to qualify for a maiden World Cup. Sudan's hope was completely dashed after winning only two points after two consecutive draws over Guinea, effectively making Sudan the first team to be eliminated in the group.
Team image
Recent results and fixtures
2021
2022
2023
Coaching history
*
Saleh Rajab
Saleh or Salih ( ar, صالح, or ) is an Arabic masculine given name which means "Pious".
Given name
* Salih, Arabian prophet
* Salih ibn Ali (711–769 CE), was the Abbasid general and governor in Syria and Egypt.
* ''Salih ibn Harun al-Rash ...
(1956)
*
Jozsef Hada (1957–1959)
*
Lozan Kotsev (1959–1964)
*
Jiří Starosta (1964–1968)
*
Muhamed Hassan Kheiri (1968–1970)
*
Abdel Fatah Hemed (1970–1974)
*
Ivan Yanko (1974–1976)
*
Ebrahim Kabir (1976–1978)
*
Burkhard Ziese
Burkhard Ziese (1 February 1944 – 19 April 2010) was a German association football, football manager (association football), manager.
Ziese managed Malawi national football team, Malawi during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying round. ...
(1978–1980)
*
Muhamed Mazda (1996)
*
Nasreldin Jaksa (1996)
*
Sharafeldin Musa (1998)
*
Muhamed Mahmoud (1999)
*
Fawzi Almardi (2000)
*
Zoran Đorđević (2000)
*
Ahmed Babeker (2000-2002)
*
Wojciech Lazarek (2002–2004)
*
Muhamed Mazda (2005-2008)
*
Stephen Constantine (2009–2010)
*
Ahmed Babeker (2010)
*
Muhamed Mazda (2010–2015)
*
Ahmed Babeker (2015)
*
Hamdan Hemed (2016)
*
Muhamed Mazda (2016)
*
Zdravko Logarušić
Zdravko Logarušić (born 21 October 1965) is a Croatian football manager, who was the manager of the Zimbabwe national team from January 2020 to September 2021.
Overall, he has coached in four continents: Europe, Asia, Oceania and North Ame ...
(2017–2019)
*
Khaled Bakhit (2020)
*
Hubert Velud (2020–2021)
*
Burhan Tia (2021–present)
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the
Friendly matches against
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
on 19 November 2022.
''Caps and goals are correct as of 19 November 2022, after the match against
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
.''
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for Sudan in the last 12 months.
;Notes
*
INJ = Withdrew due to injury
*
PRE = Preliminary squad / standby
*
RET = Retired from the national team
Records
.
:''Players in bold are still active with Sudan.''
Most appearances
Top goalscorers
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup record
Olympic Games record
*
Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since the 1992 edition.
Africa Cup of Nations record
African Games record
*
Prior to the Cairo 1991 campaign, the Football at the All-Africa Games
The men's Association football tournament has been held at every session of the African Games since 1965. Women's competition was added in 2003.
Since 1991, age limit for men teams is under-23, same as the age limit in football competitions at ...
was open to full senior national teams.
African Nations Championship record
CECAFA Cup record
Arab Cup record
Pan Arab Games record
Honours
*
Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
** Champion (1):
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
** Runners-up (2):
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
,
1963
** Third place (1):
1957
*
CECAFA Cup
The CECAFA Cup, is the oldest football tournament in Africa. It is organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations ( CECAFA). A FIFA competition, it includes participants of football playing national teams from the East ...
** Champion (3):
1980,
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
,
2007
** Runners-up (2):
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
** Third place (3):
1996,
2004,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
*
Pan Arab Games
The Arab Games ( ar, الألعاب العربية), also called the Pan Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Gam ...
** Runners-up (1):
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
References
External links
Sudan Football Association – الاتحاد السوداني لكرة القدمat FIFA.com
Sudan national football team image
{{Navboxes, , title=Finalists, list1=
{{2008 Africa Cup of Nations finalists
African national association football teams
S