Category: Football Africa

Simba FC through to CAF Confed final after goalless draw
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Simba through to CAF Confed final after goalless draw

Simba secured a place in the final of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup after battling to a goalless draw against Stellenbosch FC at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.

The Tanzanian giants advanced 1-0 on aggregate due to their first-leg victory in Zanzibar, and their disciplined defensive display was enough to keep the South Africans at bay in Durban.

Needing a win to overturn the deficit, Stellenbosch pushed forward aggressively but were unable to penetrate an inspired Simba defense and goalkeeper Moussa Camara, who stood tall throughout the tense encounter.

Stellenbosch came closest to scoring in the closing stages, with Fawaaz Basadien and Ismaรซl Tourรฉ both missing crucial opportunities late in the game. Devin Titus and Sanele Barns also saw their efforts narrowly miss the target as the hosts searched desperately for a breakthrough.

Simba continues to pursue their dream of winning a continental title for the first time since 1993 by reaching the final, where they will face the winner of CS Constantine and RS Berkane.

For Stellenbosch, this marks the end of their historic Confederation Cup campaign, achieving the last four in their first continental venture. Simba will rely on their strong defense as they prepare for the final, aiming to secure the trophy.

Simba’s victory keeps alive their dream of winning a continental title for the first time since 1993, when they were runners-up in the old CAF Cup. They will now face the winner of CS Constantine and RS Berkane in the final.

For Stellenbosch, their historic Confederation Cup campaign ends in the semi-finals, exceeding expectations in their first venture into continental football. Simba will build on their solid defense as they prepare for the final, aiming to complete their journey with a trophy.

Shooting Stars keeper Mamadou Jalloh lauds teamwork in goalless with Zambia
by Football Sierra Leone

Shooting Stars’ Mamadou Jalloh lauds teamwork in goalless with Zambia

Sierra Leone debutant and IF Bromby goalkeeper Mamadou Walle Jalloh noted his joy after Sierra Leone and Zambia played to a scoreless draw at the Suez Canal Stadium on Sunday.

Keeper Jalloh stressed in international competitions the need for teamwork after both sides played to a draw in their first game of Group A in the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

“๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ž.โ€ Jalloh said in the post-game interview, “๐€๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐š ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐š๐ ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐š ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐ฆ, ๐ˆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ฌ ๐š ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ. “๐–๐ž ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ฎ๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ. ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ž.โ€

When asked about his composure during several moments when Zambia was on the break, he replied, “๐ˆ ๐š๐ฆ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐š๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ญ๐š๐œ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ. ๐๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐ˆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ˆ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ.”

Sierra Leone’s next match is against the host nation Egypt, who defeated South Africa at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday, topping the table.

๐ˆ ๐š๐ฆ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐š๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ญ๐š๐œ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ. ๐๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐ˆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ˆ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ
๐ˆ ๐š๐ฆ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐š๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ญ๐š๐œ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ. ๐๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐ˆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ˆ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ
๐‚๐จ๐š๐œ๐ก ๐Œ๐จ๐ก๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐‹๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ง ๐Š๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐š ๐’๐ญ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐€๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ƒ๐ซ๐š๐ฐ
by FSL News

๐‚๐จ๐š๐œ๐ก ๐Œ๐จ๐ก๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐‹๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ง ๐Š๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐š ๐’๐ญ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐€๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ƒ๐ซ๐š๐ฐ

Sierra Leone U20 head coach Mohamed Lamin Kamara spoke after Sundayโ€™s goalless draw against Zambia in their opening match of the CAF TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

Reflecting on the result, Kamara admitted that no team wants to start a tournament without a win. He said: โ€œ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’…๐’๐’†๐’”๐’โ€™๐’• ๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’‚๐’”๐’† ๐’–๐’” ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’•๐’†๐’๐’š, ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’• ๐’˜๐’† ๐’˜๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’”๐’•๐’–๐’…๐’š ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’† ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’‘๐’Š๐’„๐’Œ ๐’‚๐’‘๐’‚๐’“๐’• ๐’„๐’†๐’“๐’•๐’‚๐’Š๐’ ๐’„๐’“๐’Š๐’•๐’Š๐’„๐’‚๐’ ๐’Ž๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’•๐’”.โ€

The head coach emphasized the need to understand why, despite dominating possession, his side struggled to score. Looking ahead, Kamara acknowledged the challenge of facing hosts Egypt but remained determined. โ€œ๐‘ป๐’ ๐’‚๐’…๐’—๐’‚๐’๐’„๐’†, ๐’๐’๐’† ๐’Ž๐’–๐’”๐’• ๐’…๐’†๐’‡๐’†๐’‚๐’• ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‡๐’Š๐’๐’†๐’”๐’• o๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‡๐’Š๐’†๐’๐’…. ๐‘พ๐’†โ€™๐’“๐’† ๐’–๐’‘ ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’ˆ๐’†. ๐‘ถ๐’–๐’“ ๐’๐’‚๐’”๐’• ๐’•๐’‰๐’“๐’†๐’† ๐’ˆ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’†๐’” ๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’—๐’† ๐’–๐’” ๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’๐’•๐’š ๐’Ž๐’๐’“๐’† ๐’•๐’ ๐’‘๐’๐’‚๐’š ๐’‡๐’๐’“,โ€ he added.

Meanwhile, IF Bromby goalkeeper Mamadou Wurie Jalloh, who made his CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations debut, expressed satisfaction with his performance. Wurie backed his team to go all out for wins in the upcoming matches, confident they can reach the next round of the tournament.

Sierra Leone’s next match is against the host nation Egypt, who defeated South Africa at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday, topping the table.

Winning U20 Cup of Nations start for host nation Egypt
by Football Sierra Leone

Winning U20 Cup of Nations start for host nation Egypt

Egypt began the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt 2025, with a 1-0 win over South Africa at Cairo International Stadium on Sunday evening.

This match followed an exciting opening ceremony and was the second game of Group A, after Zambia and Sierra Leone played to a goalless draw earlier in the day.

Mohamed Abdallah scored the winning goal for Egypt in the 62nd minute. He received a great pass from Mohamed Raafat during a quick counterattack and calmly finished to put the ball past the South African goalkeeper, exciting the home fans.

Egypt controlled most of the early game, but South Africa started to find their rhythm and almost scored when Mfundo Vilakazi hit the post from long range within the first 10 minutes.

The South African team created several chances but faced strong defense from Egyptโ€™s players and goalkeeper. Gopolang Taunyanaโ€™s late header nearly equalized the score, but the goalkeeper made the save, and Egypt stood firm under pressure.

Despite dealing with multiple injuries and making three substitutions in the first half, Egypt showed resilience. They stuck to their game plan and earned the three points.

With this win, Egypt sits at the top of Group A after the first round of matches. Their next game is against Sierra Leone on Wednesday, while South Africa will play Tanzania.

Egypt is aiming for their fifth U-20 continental title, having won it in 1981, 1991, 2003, and 2013. In this tournament, the top four teams will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile later this year, making this strong start important for Egypt as they begin their campaign in front of enthusiastic home supporters.

Zambia and Sierra Leone share opening U20 AFCON spoils
by Alie Bittar @bittar32

Zambia and Sierra Leone share opening U20 AFCON spoils

Sierra Leone made their U20 AFCON debut was impressive in the 0-0 draw of the opening match in Group A at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, held in Egypt in 2025.

The match, which took place at the Suez Canal Stadium on Sunday, was closely contested, with both teams struggling to capitalize on their chances. The game was energetic but lacked the clinical finishing necessary to secure a win.

Zambia, the winners of the 2017 edition, controlled possession for large portions of the match but faced frustration from a determined Sierra Leone defense. Joseph Sabobo stood out for the Young Chipolopolo, making several attempts that required saves from Sierra Leone goalkeeper Samba Bah, but he was unable to break through.

Sierra Leone, in their first appearance at this level, showcased their composure and created opportunities of their own. Samba Bah and Nathaniel Jalloh consistently threatened Zambia’s defense, while Alpha Turay nearly scored with a header early in the first half.

As the second half progressed, both teams became increasingly eager to find a winning goal. Zambia thought they had clinched a victory late in the game, with Emmanuel Mutale and David Simukonda coming close, but neither could find the net.

Sierra Leone came close to scoring as Samba Bah’s header was saved in the final moments of the match, resulting in a draw.

This leaves Group A competitive ahead of the later match between hosts Egypt and South Africa. While Zambia created several chances, they will regret their finishing, while Sierra Leone can be proud of their strong debut performance and look to build on it.

Both teams will now focus on their next matches to secure advancement to the quarter-finals, where the top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed teams will progress.