Western Sahara national football team

The Western Sahara national football team (, ) represents Western Sahara (SADR), a disputed territory, in association football. Controlled by the Sahrawi Football Federation, they are members of World Unity Football Alliance for non-FIFA-affiliated nations.

History

Origins (1976–2003)
Many teams have represented Western Sahara, or the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), in unofficial matches. One of the earliest known football game of the Sahrawi national team took place in 1976, when they faced off against veterans of the FLN football team. The historic match was held at the iconic 20 August Stadium in Algiers, and the Saharawi team was coached by Rachid Mekhloufi, an esteemed figure in Algerian football 

More friendlies would be played later on in 1984 against different teams of the Algerian football league. In 1986-87, the Saharawi selection would go to face different Italian and Spanish teams before formally establishing the Sahrawi Football Federation in 1989. A year before that In 1988, the Sahrawi selection would even face Le Mans UC 72 in France, in a game they would lose 3–2. More games would be played in 1994 as part of a friendlies tour of Algeria, before disappearing off the radars in the following years.

On 27 February 2001, during the 25th anniversary of the proclamation of the SADR, a match was played in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria between a Sahrawi Republic team and a Basque Country veterans team. The match was attended by more than 4,000 fans, and was abandoned during the second half owing to the temperature (38 °C) with the score at 2–2.

A year later on the 8th of May 2002, another game was set between "Rock no war", a foundation dedicated to promoting peace through music and sports, and the newly established Saharawi national team. The game ended on a victory of the latter on the score of 6 - 2.

NF-Board membership and foundation (2003–2012)
On 12 December 2003, the Sahrawi Football Federation became one of the first members to be provisionally affiliated to the Nouvelle Fédération Board. The SFF failed to attend the 2006 N.F.-Board AGM but were present in the 6th General Assembly held on the 5 December 2009 in Paris, France. In 2007, a team representing Western Sahara beat Macau 1–0. 

On 23 December 2011, a mixed-sex team from the Spanish region of Galicia beat a team composed of members of the Sahrawi diaspora in Spain 2–1, in a match played in Teo that was attended by 1,500 fans.

2012 VIVA World Cup
On the 25 March 2012, Mohamed Moulud Mohamed Fadel, SADR Minister for Youth and Sports, announced the official creation of the Sahrawi national football team. After which, the minister announced that the national team would be participating in the upcoming VIVA World Cup held in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Trials were held a few days later in the camps and eventually a team of 20 players was selected, all of them playing for local teams. The team held a five-day internship at the "Chahid Am-mi Lamjeilil" Officer Training School in preparation, and on the 30th of May, the Saharawi selection traveled to the Algerian capital, where they conducted a short training session at Omar Hamadai Stadium in Bologhine before leaving for the competition.

All members of the Sahrawi mission traveled to Arbil using Sahrawi passports. However, when presented to the Kurdish authorities, the later initially refused to grant the selection entry, stating that this document was not recognized. They insisted that they could only enter under the name of Morocco which the team refused, stating that they would rather wait for a plane back then do so. After some negotiations with the Kurdistan government however, the team was finally granted entry.

Thus, the Sahrawi national football team made its official international debut at the inauguration match of the VIVA World Cup, playing against the host team, Kurdistan at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Arbil, Iraq on 4 June 2012. The Dromedaries lost 6–0 to the team which went on to win the tournament. Their next match was against Occitania, a 6–2 defeat, and the team finished in third position in Group A.
The next match was a play-off against Darfur, and ended in a 5–1 victory, Saharawi's first official international victory. They beat Raetia 3–0 before losing the fifth place match 3–1 to Occitania.

The Sahrawi national football team and federation had to face a deal made between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Government of Morocco, which consisted of avoiding the display of the SADR flag during ceremonies and matches of the VIVA tournament. Despite this, the SADR team managed to arrange extraofficial deals with all their rivals to fly the Sahrawi flag wave on the stadiums where they played their matches.

ConIFA and Zamenhof Cup (2012–2020)
On 31 July 2015, the Sahrawi team beat the Esperanto Team by 4–0 at the Stadium Lille Métropole. The match was part of the Zamenhof Cup, event made during the 100th World Esperanto Congress.

On 13 April 2018, the ConIFA announces the death of El-Mahfoud Welad, the goalkeeper of the Western Sahara national team, who was killed during the 2018 Algerian Air Force Il-76 crash.

In 2020, Western Sahara would participate in the 2020 CONIFA World Football Cup, but due to logistical problems, they withdrew from playing in the competition. The competition would later be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Present (2020–present)
In June 2020, Western Sahara joined the World Unity Football Alliance.

The ambassador of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Algeria, Abdelkader Taleb Omar, announced on 18 May 2023 in Algiers the "official birth" of the Sahrawi football team, on the occasion of the festivities marking the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Polisario Front.   

Lead by Mohandi Abdelahy Mulay, the Saharawi selection played against the dean of Algerian clubs, the historic Mouloudia Club of Algiers, at the new 'Nelson Mandela' stadium in Baraki, on the outskirts of the Algerian capital. The match ended 6-1 in favor of the Algerian club. Mustafa Troncoso, a skilled striker representing Coria CF in Spain, managed to find the back of the net in the first minutes of the game and secured the sole goal for the Sahrawi team. Most of Saharawi players in the selection compete in various football leagues in Spain, France, Germany, and Sweden, with the addition of three other players who play in teams from the Refugee camps in Tindouf.  

The second game in the Western Sahara national football team's friendly series in Algeria was played three days later at the Mabrouki Salem Stadium in Rouiba. They faced against MC Rouiba, a club that evolves in the Honour Division 1 of the Algerian Championship. The match ended on a score of 3 - 3 with Fadili Deich, Ali Radjel and Boulahi Nan scoring the goals for the Saharawi selection.        

The Saharawi national football team was honored at the headquarters of Algerian newspaper El Moudjahid, overseen by the Mishaal El Shaheed Association. The ceremony was attended by several dignitaries including the Algerian Minister of Mujahideen, and the Sahrawi Ambassador to Algeria, along with other ambassadors from several countries. The team received honorary medals, and their achievements were praised as a step towards international recognition. The event highlighted pledges of future support and the establishment of internships for the team in participating countries.

Selected internationals

Key to matches
 Att. = Match attendance
 (H) = Home ground
 (A) = Away ground
 (N) = Neutral ground

Key to record by opponent
 Pld = Games played
 W = Games won
 D = Games drawn
 L = Games lost
 GF = Goals for
 GA = Goals against

Notes
 The game was abandoned half way due to equipment being stolen from the Esperanto team locker room.

 The game was cancelled due to the Saharaui team not getting the required authorisations in time.

All-time record
As of 23 May 2023 after the match against  MC Rouiba

Against other nations

Against club sides

Coaching Staff
As of May 2023.

Players

Current squad
 The following players were called up for the friendly game against MC Alger ()
 Match dates: 20 May 2023
 Caps and goals correct as of: 23 May 2023, after the match against MC Rouiba ().

Notable players

  Sahia Ahmed Budah – national team top scorer

Managers

 Sidahmed Erguibi Ahmed Baba Haiai (2010  2017)
 Mohandi Abdelay Mulay (2018  present)

Competitive record

World tournaments

National stadium 
Stade Sheikh Mohamed Laghdaf in Laayoune seats 15,000

References

External links
 Sahrawi national football team Official Facebook Page
 Sahrawi national football team on Fedefutbol.net

CONIFA member associations
African N.F.-Board teams
Football in Western Sahara
2012 establishments in Western Sahara