South Sudan national football team

Zoran Đorđević was appointed on 25 May 2011 to oversee the national team.^[3] 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.^[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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

South Sudan were invited by FIFA to take part in 2021 FIFA Arab Cup as the only non-Arab League nation. However, they forfeited the qualifiers after several players tested positive on COVID-19.^[17]

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2024

South Africa  v  South Sudan

19 November 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	South Africa	3–0	South Sudan	Cape Town, South Africa
14:00 UTC+2	Rayners 7' Maswanganyi 22' Mokoena 50' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Cape Town Stadium Referee: Adalbert Diouf (Senegal)

2025

DR Congo  v  South Sudan

21 March 2026 FIFA WC Qualifier	DR Congo	1–0	South Sudan	Kinshasa, DR Congo
17:00 UTC+1	Bongonda 45+3'	Report		Stadium: Stade des Martyrs Referee: Celso Alvação (Mozambique)

Sudan  v  South Sudan

25 March 2026 FIFA WC Qualifier	Sudan	1–1	South Sudan	Benghazi, Libya
21:00 UTC+2	Eisa 76'	Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	David 90+8'	Stadium: Benina Martyrs Stadium

Eritrea  v  South Sudan

28 May Friendly	Eritrea	Cancelled	South Sudan	Asmara, Eritrea
				Stadium: Cicero Stadium

South Sudan  v  DR Congo

5 September 2026 FIFA WC Qualifier	South Sudan	1–4	DR Congo	Juba, South Sudan
2026-03-22 09:02 UTC	Majak 68'	Report	Bakambu 13', 36' Mbuku 45+1' Wissa 57'	Stadium: Juba Stadium Referee: Brighton Chimene (Zimbabwe)

Mauritania  v  South Sudan

9 September 2026 FIFA WC Qualifier	Mauritania	0–0	South Sudan	Nouadhibou, Mauritania
19:00 UTC+0		Report		Stadium: Nouadhibou Municipal Stadium Referee: Mehrez Malki (Tunisia)

South Sudan  v  Senegal

10 October 2026 FIFA WC Qualifier	South Sudan	0–5	Senegal	Juba, South Sudan
15:00 UTC+2		Report	I. Sarr 29', 54' Mané 46' Jackson 60' (pen.) Ndiaye 75'	Stadium: Juba Stadium Referee: Abdou Abdel Mefire (Cameroon)

South Sudan  v  Togo

13 October 2026 FIFA WC Qualifier	South Sudan	0–0	Togo	Juba, South Sudan
14:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Juba Stadium Referee: Lamin Jammeh (Gambia)

Syria  v  South Sudan

25 November 2025 FIFA Arab Cup qualification	Syria	2–0	South Sudan	Doha, Qatar
19:00 UTC+3	Al-Hallaq 52' Al Mawas 59'	Report		Stadium: Grand Hamad Stadium Attendance: 7,294 Referee: Amin Omar (Egypt)

2026

Djibouti  v  South Sudan

25-31 March 2027 AFCON Qualifier	Djibouti	v	South Sudan	TBD
				Stadium: TBD

South Sudan  v  Djibouti

25-31 March 2027 AFCON Qualifier	South Sudan	v	Djibouti	TBD
				Stadium: TBD

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

As of 10 October 2025^[19]

Players in bold are still active with South Sudan.

Top goalscorers

More information Rank, Player ...

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	James Moga[b]	6	18	0.33	2012–2017
	Tito Okello	6	29	0.21	2020–present
3	Ebon Ezibon	5	6	0.83	2024–present
4	Joseph Kuch Nyuar	4	8	0.5	2017–2019
	Dominic Abui Pretino	4	30	0.13	2013–2021
	Peter Chol	4	46	0.09	2015–present
7	Sebit Bruno	3	10	0.3	2015–2016
	Atak Lual	3	13	0.23	2014–2018
	Valentino Yuel	3	24	0.13	2022–present
	Leon Uso Khamis	3	29	0.1	2012–2022

Close

Notes:

1. [a]

   Athir Thomas also appeared in 4 matches for Sudan
2. [b]

   James Moga also appeared in 26 matches for Sudan, scoring 6 goals

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.