# Sudan women's national football team

The Sudan women's national football team (Arabic: منتخب السودان لكرة القدم للسيدات) is the official women's national football team of the country of Sudan. The team was established in 2021, and is controlled by the Sudan Football Association (SFA), the governing body for football in Sudan.
Women were not allowed to officially participate in sports such as football, until the Sudanese revolution of 2018–19 abolished the former restrictive public order laws. In September 2019, a women's league with 21 teams from different cities in Sudan was established. The national team first qualified for the 2021 Arab Women's Cup, organized by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) in Cairo, Egypt.

## History
### Background

The Sudan Football Association, which was founded in 1946, and became FIFA affiliated in 1948, was one of the founding members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and continues to be a member of the Confederation.
According to a 2011 study of the relationship between religious fundamentalism and globalized societies, the fact that some Sudanese women already had started playing football since the early 2000s despite social and legal restrictions was considered a critical step for the development of an unofficial women's league. As part of this informal league, a first national women's team called The Challenge was created in 2006 in Khartoum. In 2006, The Challenge played its first competitive match. It was captained by Sara Edward and played against a team from Sudan University that wore clothes corresponding to Islamic norms. As reported, the quality of play was not high and the game ended in a 2–0 win for The Challenge team.
In response to a question from FIFA regarding the feasibility of creating a women's national team in 2012, the Islamic Fiqh Council issued another fatwa against the creation of a women's soccer team, deeming it an immoral act. The fatwa claimed that football was a men's sport and women should not participate in it, because it challenges the differences between men and women.

### Recognition

Following the establishment of a women's league in 2019 with 21 teams from different cities under the new transitional government, the Sudan Football Association recognized and started to support women's local and national teams. At the start of 2021, Sudan's women's national team continued to lack FIFA recognition. By August of that year, however, it had been recognized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and was invited to participate in the 2021 Arab Women's Cup.
Since its official recognition in 2019, Sudan joined other countries in the Arab and African regions to have a women's league. Due to its membership in the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), the national team's first international competition was in 2021, when they played in the Arab Women's Cup.

## In popular media

The 2019 award-winning documentary Khartoum Offside by Sudanese filmmaker Marwa Zein tells the story of the women who made up The Challenge team under the Islamist government of the time.

## 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.
Source: Goalzz.com

### Legend

Win  Draw  Lose  Fixture

### 2023
## Coaching staff
### Current coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Imed Houjly |
| Assistant coach | Salma Majdi |
| Goalkeeping coach | Khaled Darwich |
| Physical coach | Soujoud Hafedh |

### Manager history

    As of 9 August 2021
* Faroug Jabra (2021–2022)
* Imed Houjly (2022–present)

## Players
### Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly match against South Sudan in February 2022.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Goals | Club |
| 1GK | Amina Omar Liwaa | | 0 | Al Hilal Dalang |
| 1GK | Houda Ali | | 0 | |
| 2DF | Raghda Bader Idin | | 0 | |
| 2DF | Asmaa Abkar Abdallah | | 0 | Al-Difaa |
| 2DF | Rania Babker Babo Amer | (1996-10-28) 28 October 1996 (age 27) | 0 | Al-Tahadi |
| 2DF | Najlaa Saleh | (1988-11-10) 10 November 1988 (age 35) | 0 | Al-Tahadi |
| 2DF | Samia Kassam Hussein | (1995-12-11) 11 December 1995 (age 28) | 0 | Al-Tahadi |
| 3MF | Nidal Fadlallah | (1987-11-10) 10 November 1987 (age 36) | 0 | Al-Tahadi |
| 3MF | Fatima Kidal (captain) | | 0 | Al-Difaa |
| 3MF | Bkhaite Elias | | 0 | Al-Difaa |
| 3MF | Hala Zakaria Mostafi | (1990-07-31) 31 July 1990 (age 34) | 0 | Al-Tahadi |
| 4FW | Rayan Ibrahim Ahmed Ragab | (1993-01-01) 1 January 1993 (age 31) | 1 | Al-Tahadi |
| 4FW | Rawan Samir | | 0 | |
| 4FW | Faten Zaher | | 0 | Alkournuk |
| | Noura Mouhamed | | 0 | |
| | Islem Imad | | 0 | |
| | Ilmhem Baltoun | | 0 | |
| | Fatma Abed Kader | | 0 | |
| | Orjuan Essam | | | |

### Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the squad in the past 12 months.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
| $^{INJ}$ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. $^{PRE}$ Preliminary squad. $^{SUS}$ Player is serving a suspension. $^{WD}$ Player withdrew for personal reasons. |||||||

## Records

*Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 26 August 2021.

## Competitive record
### FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record :
| Year | Round | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | GD |
| 1991 to 2015 | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist |
| 2019 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| 2023 | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew |
| 2027 | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined |
| Total | 0/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
    *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

### Olympic Games

Summer Olympics record :
| Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GS | GA | GD |
| 1996 to 2020 | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist |
| 2024 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| Total | 0/8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
    *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

### Africa Women Cup of Nations

Africa Women Cup of Nations record :
| Year | Round | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | GD |
| 1991 to 2014 | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist |
| 2016 to 2018 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Africa |
| 2022 | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew |
| 2024 | W/D | W/D | W/D | W/D | W/D | W/D | W/D | W/D |
| Total | 0/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
    *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

### African Games

African Games record :
| Year | Result | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | GF | GA | GD |
| 2003 to 2019 | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist |
| 2023 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| Total | 0/5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### CECAFA Women's Championship

CECAFA Women's Championship :
| Year | Round | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | GD |
| 1986 to 2019 | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist |
| 2021 | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| 2022 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| Total | 0/5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Arab Women's Cup

Arab Women's Cup record :
| Appearances: 2 ||||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 2006 | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist | did not exist |
| 2021 | Group stage | 6th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 27 | −25 |
| Total | Groupe stage | 1/2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 27 | −25 | |

## All−time record against FIFA recognized nations

The list shown below shows the Sudan national football team all−time international record against opposing nations. *As of 22 February 2022 after match against South Sudan.

### Key

| Against | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Confederation |
| Algeria | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | −17 | CAF |
| South Sudan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | −9 | CAF |
| Tunisia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | −11 | CAF |
| Egypt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | −10 | CAF |
| Lebanon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 | AFC |