A team uniting a divided nation: War-torn Sudan’s remarkable rise to the precipice of World Cup history
By Rory Fleming, CNN
(CNN) — For over two years, Sudan has endured a brutal civil war which has divided towns and families across the African nation.
The conflict, which the UN has labeled the “world’s largest humanitarian disaster,” has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, with morgues in the capital of Khartoum reaching their capacity, aid workers say, leaving thousands of corpses to rot on the streets.
Humanitarian organizations estimate over 13 million people have been displaced by the fighting between the government’s military forces and the rebel RSF fighters, with famine and disease a by-product of the struggle for power.
However, a surprise uniting force has begun to emerge from the rubble of the conflict, as the Sudanese national soccer team continues to defy the odds and stands on the precipice of a first-ever FIFA World Cup qualification.
Tied in second place in Group B of CAF qualifying with 2021 Africa Cup of Nations champion Senegal, Sudan remains unbeaten after six games and lies just one point away from the top of the group – and automatic qualification to next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The story of how the Falcons of Jediane soared to such lofty heights is a remarkable one.
War
When the first shots of the conflict were fired in April 2023, domestic soccer within Sudan was immediately halted, with the majority of the country’s teams ceasing to compete at any meaningful level.
Sudan’s two most successful clubs, Al-Hilal and Al-Merrikh, were seen as so pivotal to the national team’s success, however , that an agreement was reached with the neighboring Mauritanian Football Association for both teams to compete in its Premier League while the war continued to rage back across the border.
This decision has proved pivotal in providing Sudanese national team stars the opportunity to continue to play, with over 70% of the most recent squad being composed of players from the two clubs.
That consistency and ability to compete at a high level is a key reason to the national team’s burgeoning success, according to the Head of Development at the Sudanese FA, Mazin Abusin.
Speaking to CNN Sports, Abusin detailed just how the national team’s success has managed to provide glimmers of optimism even in Sudan’s darkest days.
“The national team has become a symbol of hope, attracting people from both sides of the political divide and bringing them together behind one common cause: World Cup qualification,” he said.
“Our success so far is probably the only uniting force within Sudan currently. The entire nation has been split down the middle between army and RSF supporters, but that is all put aside for 90 minutes when the national team plays.
“The players and staff have truly become an icon of hope across the country.”
According to Abusin, there is a palpable impact across Sudan when the national team has taken to the pitch during the qualification campaign.
“It has been beautiful to witness people from opposing ideologies and ethnicities, who agree on virtually nothing, set aside these vast differences and back the national team together,” he said.
Home away from home
Despite this bilateral support for the national team, the Falcons have been unable to play any of their qualification fixtures inside of Sudan due to safety concerns.
Instead, they have been playing their home games in neighboring Libya, where a large Sudanese expat community resides.
Given Libya’s Mediterranean-facing coastline, it is seen by many refugees fleeing Sudan as a gateway to Europe, with over 200,000 Sudanese people arriving into the country since the outbreak of the civil war, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to African soccer journalist Alasdair Howorth, one positive outcome of this mass migration has been that when Sudan does play its “home” fixtures in the Libyan city of Benghazi, the Falcons have been backed by thousands of supporters from their homeland in the stands.
“Given the size of Sudanese diaspora across the rest of the continent – and in particular Libya – this team are seen in many ways as ‘Africa’s team,’ with supporters in the stands no matter where they play,” Howorth told CNN Sports.
Support has not just been confined to just the stands though, with Sudan last year facing off against traditional rival South Sudan. Usually a heated encounter, the fixture brought sport’s uniting force to the fore, as the South Sudanese squad joined in singing the Sudanese national anthem in a moving act of solidarity.
Meeting again in the last international window, the rivals played out a 1-1 draw which saw Sudan maintain its unbeaten status in this qualification campaign.
Rapid rise to brink of history
It was just three years ago that Sudan, whose side contained many of the same players still in the squad today, went through all of 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifying without winning a single game, finishing bottom of the group in the process.
A major catalyst in this upturn in fortune has been manager James Appiah’s willingness to lean on Sudan’s extensive diasporic soccer community.
“Sudan have re-built their team around brother duo Mohamed and Abo Eisa,” Howorth explained.
A story familiar to many Sudanese families, the Eisa brothers relocated to London in their early childhood years, going on to eventually establish themselves in the lower tiers of the English soccer pyramid.
The undisputed stars of the qualification campaign so far, older brother Mohamed finds himself sitting as his side’s top scorer after six games.
Veteran forward Mohamed Abdelrahman has been another central piece to his side’s success, with the Al-Hilal captain currently sitting in third place in the nation’s all-time goalscorer list.
What makes Sudan’s unbeaten qualifying streak all the more impressive from a soccer perspective has been the quality of opposition, Howorth added.
“Senegal have probably been Africa’s most consistent performers at major tournaments over the last decade and the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the (Africa Cup of Nations) semifinals,” he said.
“We aren’t talking about beating inferior opposition or qualifying on a technicality – if Sudan make it to the World Cup, they’ll have done it in one of the hardest ways possible.”
Belief in going all the way
With long-suffering fans scarcely believing their rapid rise, Abusin says that many still wonder if they’ll be able to stay the course and create history.
“Some people from the outside may think Sudan will fall away at the final hurdle, but that is not what the players and staff think,” Abusin remarked. “Within the squad, everyone is dreaming about the moment (of potential qualification).
“How the team has been able to get to this point in such difficult circumstances is a testament to how hard they have worked.
“Our dream is a big one, especially considering no Sudanese side has achieved it before, but it is one which lives on and one we will keep fighting for.”
Within the Sudanese FA, there is a belief that being unable to play in Khartoum at present could actually prove to be a real boost to the squad’s qualification hopes.
With their training camp set up in Saudi Arabia, the Falcons currently enjoy facilities which far exceed those available back in Sudan.
And while the team misses playing on home soil, the players’ enforced exodus has meant that they have so far been shielded from the expectations of media and fans alike.
“It is a double-edged sword of sorts,” said Abusin. “Of course, the team wishes it was playing in Sudan in front of their fans, but at the same time, they currently have many opportunities and privileges they don’t usually experience at home.”
The journey to safety
Given the unprecedented numbers of people displaced by the conflict, many members of the Falcons’ squad and staff were also forced to flee to safety.
Abusin is one such case, with the Sudanese FA official recalling the panic and scramble eastwards which the early stages of the civil war brought about.
Fleeing Khartoum for the coastal city of Port Sudan, Abusin remembers the “surprise” felt by most when they awoke one Saturday morning to find their country plunged into war.
“There was no indication that anything of this scale would happen. It came as such a shock to me,” he said. “The night before the war broke out, I was actually playing in a Ramadan soccer tournament in my local neighborhood.
“We reached the final which was due to be played the next day on Saturday 15th, so we went back to our homes and went to bed expecting to wake up the next morning and play it.
“But when we woke up everything was different and Sudan as we knew it had changed – two years later and we are still waiting to play that final.”
However, Abusin is hopeful that, through the success of the national team, common ground can be reached between the rival SAF and RSF factions.
“Hopefully, our success can show what we can all achieve when working together,” he said.
“We put our differences aside and united under the goal of World Cup qualification, so we hope those fighting can do the same and agree to a truce for the good of Sudan.”
With less than a year to go until the 2026 World Cup kicks off, just four matches now separate this Sudanese side from completing one of the most astonishing achievements in the history of international soccer.
“It would be the greatest achievement in the history of World Cup qualification – without a doubt. I’m not aware of another nation that would have made it to the World Cup in the circumstances Sudan is currently facing,” Howorth said.
“From millions displaced, to famine and natural disasters, to accomplish that would be beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”
A first World Cup appearance is always an impressive feat, but for a nation like Sudan, which has endured so much hardship over the course of this qualification cycle, the boost it would provide to its struggling population is hard to quantify.
“If we do it, if we qualify, it will go down in history,” added a sanguine Abusin.
“There has been so much destruction and pain. Qualification would not erase that, but it would hopefully set us on the path to rebuilding our nation.”
The-CNN-Wire
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