How Football Has Carried Sudan Through Empire, Strikes, and War

Led by Kwesi Appiah — former Ghana boss appointed in October 2023 — the team remains unbeaten in six games and sits level on points with football powerhouse Senegal. This improbable World Cup qualification run has sparked a rare wave of national hope in a country torn apart by conflict.

"Every time the national anthem plays during a game, you can see that every player is emotional," Abdelrahman Kuku, Sudan national team defender, tells OkayAfrica. "This demonstrates how much each player cares about playing well and giving it their all to restore happiness to our people."

For a nation that has never qualified for the World Cup, this represents one of their most promising campaigns in decades. With critical fixtures against Senegal and Algeria approaching in September, their dream remains very much alive.

Football in exile

With domestic football completely halted by the war, Sudan's top league teams have been forced to adapt. Al-Hilal and Al-Merrikh have temporarily relocated to neighboring Mauritania to continue competing. Against tremendous odds, Al-Hilal has advanced to the knockout stages of the CAF Champions League, becoming a powerful symbol of Sudanese resilience during wartime.

Meanwhile, the national team's players — many of whom are based abroad — train and compete wherever possible, carrying their nation's hopes with them on foreign pitches.

This moment of sporting achievement emerges against a backdrop of unimaginable hardship. "The recent success of Sudan's national football team in the World Cup qualifiers has been nothing short of inspiring," Sudan FA consultant Badran Albatal tells OkayAfrica. "At a time when our nation is facing immense suffering and displacement, football has managed to do what politics could not — it paused the sound of war, even if just for 90 minutes."

Yet this is not the first time football has served as a unifying force in Sudan. The story of Sudanese football is deeply entangled with the country's colonial past, nationalist movements, and ongoing struggles over identity and resistance.

A proud football heritage

Sudan was among Africa's earliest nations to formally organize its football institutions. The Sudan Football Association was established in 1936, and the country joined FIFA in 1948. Historic clubs like Al-Hilal Omdurman and Al-Merrikh, founded in the 1920s, quickly gained popularity and established the foundation for a thriving football culture. The Khartoum League, established in the 1940s, became the country's first national football competition.

As a founding member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Sudan hosted the inaugural Africa Cup of Nations in 1957. The national team's victory in the 1970 tournament remains a high point in the country's football history. However, decades of political instability and underinvestment in sports infrastructure have made it difficult for Sudan to recapture that former glory.

From colonial tool to resistance symbol

Football in Sudan was never merely a game. Under Anglo-Egyptian colonial rule, it began as a tool of control, designed to discipline and mold Sudanese youth. British administrators incorporated football into school curricula as part of their broader "civilizing mission," hoping to shape Sudanese boys into compliant subjects for colonial service. By the 1910s, matches between elite schools had become routine events.

However, Sudanese students gradually transformed these spaces, turning football fields into venues for political dialogue and quiet defiance. Following the anti-colonial uprisings of 1924, football evolved beyond a school requirement. Students and workers began using clubs as spaces for organizing and resistance. Railway workers in Atbara led this movement, forming football teams that doubled as activist hubs. Parker Stadium, built in 1927, stands today as the oldest football grounds in the country — a testament to Atbara's intertwined sporting and political legacy.

By the 1940s, football clubs across Sudan had become a key engine of nationalist mobilization. In Atbara, the Workers' Affairs Association, recognized by British railway authorities in 1947, organized strikes and political discussions within football spaces. Political parties, such as the Sudanese Communist Party, embedded themselves in clubs to rally support from the working class. Football became a political arena where resistance was not only imagined but actively practiced.

A lifeline amid conflict

Today, the sport remains a powerful site of resilience for the Sudanese people. With the war ongoing for two years, following the national team offers a rare thread of continuity for Sudanese people at home and in the diaspora.

"We play for the people in Sudan and those who had to flee," says Kuku. "Every game we win gives them joy and pride—and helps them forget, even briefly, about the war back home."

For many young Sudanese, this current team represents something extraordinary — a symbol of national pride untarnished by the polarization of war. As the team prepares for the next round of World Cup qualifiers later this year, their journey transcends sport — it's a testament to the endurance of collective spirit. With all its imperfections and politics, football continues to offer Sudanese people a powerful reminder of what unity can look like.

As the war rages on, the national team's success offers more than a fleeting distraction — it symbolizes collective endurance. Every match played under foreign skies is a quiet act of defiance, a reminder that Sudan's dispersed yet connected people still believe in a future beyond war. In the beautiful game, they find pride and a shared rhythm of hope during a time of profound uncertainty.