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.
History Zoran Đorđević was appointed on 25 May 2011 to oversee the national team. For their inaugural year the team was featured in a 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. However, in the event the opposition was provided by Tusker of the Kenyan Premier League, 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. South Sudan was officially admitted as a CAF member on 10 February 2012, at the 34th CAF Ordinary General Assembly hosted in Libreville, Gabon.South Sudan admitted as a member of CAF , SuperSport.com, Retrieved 10 February 2012. 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.
On 10 July 2012, South Sudan competed in its first full international match, a friendly against Uganda in Juba. 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.
The South Sudanese took part in their first ever international football tournament when they took part in the 2012 CECAFA Cup in Uganda.South Sudan set for international debuts at Cecafa cups BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012World newest state set for CECAFA début Futaa.com. Retrieved 12 November 2012 They were drawn in Group A alongside Ethiopia, Kenya, and hosts Uganda.Ethiopia get tough draw for 2012 Cecafa Challenge Cup BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2012 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. 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.
South Sudan is invited by FIFA to take part in FIFA Arab Cup qualification.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2025
2026
2027
Coaches
Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
Stephen Constantine (2009–2011) Malesh Soro (2011–2012) Ismail Balanga (2012) Zoran Đorđević (2012–2013) Ismail Balanga (2013–2014) Salyi Lolaku Samuel (2014) Lee Sung-jea (2014–2015) Leo Adraa (2015–2016) Joseph Malesh (2016) Elya Wako (2017) Bilal Felix Komoyangi (2017–2018) Ahcene Aït-Abdelmalek (2018) Ramsey Sebit (2018) Cyprian Besong Ashu (2019–2021) Stefano Cusin (2021–2023) Deng Aleer (2023) Nicolas Dupuis (2023–2026) Cyprian Besong Ashu (2026-)
Players
Current squad The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group B matches against DR Congo and Sudan on 21 and 25 March 2025.
Caps and goals correct as of 25 March 2025, after the match against Sudan.
Recent call-ups
Player records
Players in bold are still active with South Sudan.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer1Peter Chol4642015–present2Juma Genaro3802012–present3Peter Maker3302018–present4Dominic Abui Pretino3042013–2021Athir Thomas3012012–presentIvan Wani3002020–present7Leon Uso Khamis2932012–2022Tito Okello2962020–present9Majak Mawith2502019–presentRashid Toha2512021–present
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer1James Moga6182012–2017Tito Okello6292020–present3Ebon Ezibon562024–present4Joseph Kuch Nyuar482017–2019Dominic Abui Pretino4302013–2021Peter Chol4462015–present7Sebit Bruno3102015–2016Atak Lual3132014–2018Valentino Yuel3242022–presentLeon Uso Khamis3292012–2022
Notes:
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition*1930 to 1938Part of Part of 1950 to 2010Part of Part of 2014Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member 2018Did not qualify201115 2022201112 202610055319 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034Total 14077526
Africa Cup of Nations Africa Cup of Nations recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1957Part of Part of 1959 1962 1963 1965 1968 1970 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012Did not enterDid not enter 2013 2015Did not qualify201105 20176105315 20198107820 2021830557 202383051015 20258125713 2027To be determinedTo be determined 2029Total 0/350000004093283375
African Nations Championship African Nations Championship recordAppearances: 0YearRoundPosition 2009Part of 2011 2014Did not qualify 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024Total–0/8––––––
CECAFA Cup CECAFA Cup recordAppearances: 4YearRoundPosition 1973 to 2010Part of 2011Did not enter 2012Group stage11th300307 2013Group stage10th300327 2015Quarter-finals6th422040 2017Group stage9th301218 2019Did not enterTotalQuarter-finals4/4013238722
FIFA Arab Cup FIFA Arab Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1963 to 2009Part of Part of 2012Not invitedNot invited 2021Did not qualify000103 2025Did not qualify1 00102Total 0/3000000100205 The 2009 edition was cancelled during qualification.
Head-to-head record
Dual-internationals The following South Sudanese international footballers have also played for Sudan national football team 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 six 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 & references Notes
References
External links
South Sudan at CAF South Sudan at FIFA South Sudan – List of International Matches