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.

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South Sudan

Nickname(s)	Bright Stars[1]
Association	South Sudan Football Association (SSFA)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	CECAFA (East & Central Africa)
Head coach	Nicolas Dupuis
Captain	Peter Maker
Most caps	Peter Chol (34)
Top scorer	James Moga (6)
Home stadium	Juba National Stadium
FIFA code	SSD
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	167 1 (4 April 2024)[2]
Highest	134 (November 2015)
Lowest	205 (September 2013)
First international
South Sudan 2–2 Uganda  (Juba, South Sudan; 10 July 2012)
Biggest win
South Sudan 6–0 Djibouti  (Juba, South Sudan; 28 March 2017)
Biggest defeat
Mozambique 5–0 South Sudan  (Maputo, Mozambique; 18 May 2014)

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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

2023

South Sudan  v  Congo

27 March 2023 AFCON qualification	South Sudan	0–1	Congo	Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
16:00 UTC+3		Report	Charpentier 90'	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Joseph Odey Ogabor (Nigeria)

South Sudan  v  Gambia

14 June 2023 AFCON qualification	South Sudan	2–3	Gambia	Ismailia, Egypt
--:-- UTC+2	Yuel 21' Chol 90+1'	Report	Angier 4' (og) Jallow 62' Hamza 90+6'	Stadium: Suez Canal Stadium

Egypt  v  South Sudan

18 June Friendly	Egypt	3–0	South Sudan	Cairo, Egypt
20:00 UTC+2	M.Fathi 19' Kahraba 45' Trézéguet 72'	Report		Stadium: Cairo International Stadium Referee: Abdullah Jamali (Kuwait)

Mali  v  South Sudan

8 September 2023 AFCON qualification	Mali	4–0	South Sudan	Bamako, Mali
19:00 UTC±0	Koné 10' K. Doumbia 29', 57' Dorgeles 82'	Report		Stadium: Stade du 26 Mars Referee: Mehrez Melki (Tunisia)

Kenya  v  South Sudan

12 September Friendly	Kenya	0–1	South Sudan	Nairobi, Kenya
		Report	Okello 2'	Stadium: Moi International Sports Centre Referee: Abdoul Karim Twagirumukiza (Rwanda)

Senegal  v  South Sudan

18 November 2026 World Cup qualification	Senegal	4–0	South Sudan	Diamniadio, Senegal
19:00 UTC±0	P. Sarr 1' Mané 5', 56' (pen.) L. Camara 45'	Report		Stadium: Diamniadio Olympic Stadium Referee: Retselisitsoe David Molise (Lesotho)

South Sudan  v  Mauritania

21 November 2026 World Cup qualification	South Sudan	0–0	Mauritania	Diamniadio, Senegal
16:00 UTC±0		Report		Stadium: Diamniadio Olympic Stadium Referee: Patrice Milazare (Mauritius)

2024

São Tomé and Príncipe  v  South Sudan

22 March 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

São Tomé and Príncipe

1–1

South Sudan

South Sudan  v  São Tomé and Príncipe

26 March 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

South Sudan

0–0

São Tomé and Príncipe

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

As of 22 March 2024^[19]

Players in bold are still active with South Sudan.

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.

2011 Home

2011 Home

2012 Home

2012 Home

2012 Away

2013 Home

2014 Home

2014 Away

2014 Third

2015 Home

2015 Away

2015 Third

2017 Home

2017 Away

2017 Third

2020 Home

2020 Away

2021 Home

2021 Away

2021 Home

2021 Away

2022 Home

2022 Away

2023 Home

2023 Away

Sources:^{[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]}