The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in association football and is governed by the Sierra Leone Football Association. It has qualified for Africa Cup of Nations three times.
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 it 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, it hosted Nigeria and lost 4–2. On 12 November 1966, it hosted Liberia in its first match against a non-British colony and earned its first draw, 1–1. A week later, it lost 2–0 in Liberia. On 13 January 1971, it played its 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 its first against an Asian nation, China. It lost 4–1 in China on 5 April 1974.
In August 2014, Sierra Leone FA cancelled all association football matches in an effort to stop the spread of the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra Leone, a week after 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 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.
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
Coaching history
thumb|150px|[[Roger Palmgren, here in a white shirt, became the manager of Sierra Leone in 1994]]
- Burkhard Pape (1966–1968)
- Klaus Ebbighausen (1976–1978)
- Warwick Rimmer (1979)
- Christian Cole (1989)
- Christian Cole (1991)
- Raymond Zarpanelian (1993–1994)
- Roger Palmgren (1994–1996)
- John Sherington (1996–1997)
- Abdulai Sesay (1997–2000)
- Dušan Drašković (2000)
- Christian Cole (2001)
- José Antonio Nogueira (2003)
- John Sherington (2003–2006)
- James Peters (2006–2007)
- Mohamed Kanu (2007–2009)
- Daniel Koroma (2009–2010)
- Christian Cole (2010–2011)
- Lars-Olof Mattsson (2011–2013)
- Johnathan McKinstry (2013–2014)
- Atto Mensah (2014)
- John Ajina Sesay (2014–2015)
- John Sherington (2015)
- Sellas Tetteh (2015–2017)
- John Keister (2017–2019)
- Sellas Tetteh (2019–2020)
- John Keister (2020–2023)
- Amidu Karim (2023–2025)
- Mohamed Kallon (2025-2026)
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA Series matches against Oman and Azerbaijan on 27 and 30 March 2026; respectively in Azerbaijan.
Caps and goals are correct as of 30 March 2026, after the match against Azerbaijan.
Recent call-ups
The following players had been called up in 12 months preceding the above draft.
;Notes
<sup>INJ</sup> Withdrew due to injury.<br/>
<sup>PRE</sup> Preliminary squad / standby<br/>
<sup>RET</sup> Had announced retirement from international association football.<br/>
<sup>SUS</sup> Is serving a suspension.<br />
<sup>PRI</sup> Absent due to private circumstances.<br/>
<sup>WD</sup> Withdrawn.
Records
:Players in bold are still active with Sierra Leone.
Most appearances
200px|right|thumb|[[Umaru Bangura is Sierra Leone's most capped player with 55 appearances.]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
!class="unsortable" style="width:150px;"|Name
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Goals
!class="unsortable" style="width:100px;"|Career
|-
| 1 ||align=left| Umaru Bangura || 55 || 4 || 2006–2022
|-
|rowspan=2| 2 ||align=left| Ibrahim Bah || 45 || 3 || 1986–1998
|-
|align=left| Kei Kamara || 45 || 8 || 2008–present
|-
| 4 ||align=left| Mohamed Kallon || 41 || 8 || 1995–2012
|-
| 5 ||align=left| Sheriff Suma || 37 || 3 || 2006–2015
|-
| 6 ||align=left| Kwame Quee || 35 || 3 || 2012–present
|-
| 7 ||align=left| Yeami Dunia || 34 || 0 || 2012–present
|-
| 8 ||align=left| Medo Kamara || 33 || 1 || 2008–2021
|-
| rowspan=1|9 ||align=left| Julius Wobay || 32 || 4 || 2001–2018
|-
| 10 ||align=left| Ibrahim Kargbo || 30 || 1 || 2000–2013
|-
|}
Top goalscorers
right|200px|thumb|[[Kei Kamara is Sierra Leone's joint-top scorer with 8 goals.]]
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
!class="unsortable" width=150px|Name
!width=50px|Goals
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Ratio
!class="unsortable" width=100px|Career
|-
| rowspan=2|1 ||align=left| Mohamed Kallon || 8 || 41 || || 1995–2012
|-
|align=left| Kei Kamara || 8 || 45 || || 2008–present
|-
| 3 ||align=left| Lamine Conteh || 6 || 20 || || 1993–2006
|-
| rowspan=2|4 ||align=left| Alhaji Kamara || 5 || 19 || || 2012–present
|-
|align=left| Augustus Kargbo || 5 || 24 || || 2021–present
|-
| rowspan=10|6 ||align=left| John Dumbuya || 4 || 4 || || 1984–1987
|-
|align=left| Teteh Bangura || 4 || 12 || || 2011–2014
|-
|align=left| Amadou Bakayoko || 4 || 16 || || 2022–present
|-
|align=left| Alhassan Kamara || 4 || 16 || || 2012–2018
|-
|align=left| Musa Noah Kamara || 4 || 16 || || 2018–present
|-
|align=left| Abu Kanu || 4 || 16 || || 1994–2003
|-
|align=left| Mustapha Bangura || 4 || 17 || || 2005–2016
|-
|align=left| Mustapha Bundu || 4 || 23 || || 2019–present
|-
|align=left| Julius Wobay || 4 || 32 || || 2001–2018
|-
|align=left| Umaru Bangura || 4 || 55 || || 2006–2022
|-
|}
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;"
|- style="color:white;"
! style="background:#e11b22;" colspan=9|FIFA World Cup record
! style="width:2%; background:#e11b22;" rowspan="28"|
! style="background:#e11b22;" colspan=7|Qualification record
|- style="color:white;"
! style="width:120px; background:#e11b22;"|Year
! style="width:70px; background:#e11b22;"|Round
! style="width:60px; background:#e11b22;"|Position
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
! style="width:20px; background:#e11b22;"|
|-
|
|colspan=8 |Not affiliated to CAF
|colspan=6 |Not affiliated to CAF
|-
| 1970
| colspan=8|Did not enter
| colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 1974
| rowspan=4 colspan=8|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
| colspan=8|Did not enter
| colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 1994
| colspan=8|Withdrew
| colspan=6|Withdrew
|-
| 1998
| rowspan=8 colspan=8|Did not qualify
|7
|2
|1
|4
|4
|8
|-
| 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
|10
|4
|3
|3
|12
|10
|-
| 2030
| rowspan=2 colspan=8|To be determined
| rowspan=2 colspan=6|To be determined
|-
| 2034
|-
|-style="color:white;"
|style="background:#e11b22;"|Total
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|
|style="background:#e11b22;"|57
|style="background:#e11b22;"|16
|style="background:#e11b22;"|12
|style="background:#e11b22;"|29
|style="background:#e11b22;"|53
|style="background:#e11b22;"|82
|}
Africa Cup of Nations
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!*
!
!
!
!Squad
|-
| 1962||rowspan=3 colspan=9|Not affiliated to CAF
|-
| 1963
|-
| 1965
|-
| 1968
|colspan=9|Did not enter
|-
| 1970
|colspan=9|Withdrew
|-
| 1972
|colspan=9|Did not enter
|-
| 1974
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|-
| 1976
|colspan=9|Did not enter
|-
| 1978
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|-
| 1980
|colspan=9|Did not enter
|-
| 1982
|rowspan=2 colspan=9|Did not qualify
|-
| 1984
|-
| 1986
|colspan=9|Withdrew
|-
| 1988
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|-
| 1990
|colspan=9|Withdrew
|-
| 1992
|colspan=9|Did not qualify
|-
| 1994
|Round 1
|10th
|2
|0
|1
|1
|0
|4
|Squad
|-
| 1996
|Round 1
|13th
|3
|1
|0
|2
|2
|7
|Squad
|-
| 1998
|colspan=9|Withdrew
|-
| 2000
|colspan=9|Disqualified due to civil war
|-
| 2002
|rowspan=9 colspan=9| Did not qualify
|-
| 2004
|-
| 2006
|-
| 2008
|-
| 2010
|-
| 2012
|-
| 2013
|-
| 2015
|-
| 2017
|-
| 2019
|colspan=9|Disqualified due to FIFA suspension
|-
| 2021
|Group stage
|18th
|3
|0
|2
|1
|2
|3
|Squad
|-
| 2023
|colspan="9" rowspan="2" |Did not qualify
|-
| 2025
|-
| 2027
| colspan="9" rowspan="2" |To be determined
|-
| 2029
|-
!Total
!0 titles
!3/35
!8
!1
!3
!4
!4
!14
!—
|}
Coaching staff
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Head coach|| Amidu Karim
|-
|Assistant coach
| Alusine Sesay
|-
|Assistant coach|| Amara Rahman Bangura
|-
|Sport therapist|| Joris De Vos
|-
|Head of medical|| Osman Fofanah
|-
|Team manager|| Abdulai Kargbo
|}
Honours
Regional
- Amílcar Cabral Cup
- Champions (2): 1993, 1995
- Runners-up (2): 1984, 1986
References
Sources
- Sierra Leone to 'host' the Elephants of Ivory Coast in Abidjan – footballsierraleone.net (archived 5 March 2016)
- Sierra Leone 1–1 Malawi: International Friendly – footballsierraleone.net (archived 5 April 2016)
External links
- Football Sierra Leone
- Sierra Leone Football Association
- Sierra Leone at CAF
- Sierra Leone at FIFA
- Sierra Leone at National-Football-Teams.com