Sudan are bracing for a critical clash with Madagascar in the CHAN 2024 semifinals on Tuesday at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Senegal will also take on Morocco in Uganda's Kampala in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Ghanaian football legend James Kwesi Appiah has been part of many great moments in African football. But his latest chapter, coaching Sudan’s CHAN national team while Sudan endures a brutal civil war, may be his most remarkable yet.
Despite the conflict that has displaced more than 12 million people and forced Sudan’s domestic league to shut down, the 64-year-old coach has turned the Falcons of Jediane into a team inspiring hope far beyond the pitch.
Under Appiah, Sudan have reached the semifinal stage of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) PAMOJA 2024, qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations ahead of his native Ghana, and sit just a point behind Senegal and DRC in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying group.
For a nation whose home games are played in either Libya or South Sudan and players train constantly on the move, Sudan’s successes feel almost miraculous.
Appiah is no stranger to making history.
As a player, he was part of Ghana’s 1982 AFCON-winning team. As a coach, he became the first Black African to lead Ghana at a World Cup in 2014. He was also on the bench in 2010 when Ghana reached the quarterfinals, Africa’s best World Cup finish at the time.
Now, with Sudan, he is pushing boundaries again. “Once you are in a tournament, you must aim for the trophy,” he told CAFOnline. “I don’t believe in participating just to add numbers.”
Sudan’s journey through war
When war broke out in April 2023, Sudan’s league stopped. Top clubs like Al Hilal and Al Merrikh joined the Mauritanian league temporarily just to keep players active in competitive football.
Many in Appiah’s squad have lost relatives, while others are separated from their families scattered across refugee camps. Yet, football has become a rare moment of peace for a squad that Appiah assembled four days before the CHAN competition began and trained only 3 times before the tournament.
“Most of the time, we receive messages that one of the boys has lost a relative,” Appiah said.
“But I always remind them: you are the ones who can bring smiles to your people. Even when the fighting continues, when we play, sometimes the guns go silent for a week or two.”
This hope has united Sudanese at home and abroad.
Beating Ghana, inspiring a nation
In a twist of fate, Appiah’s Sudan eliminated his own country, Ghana, from AFCON 2025 qualifying matches — Ghana’s first absence in 20 years.
“As a Ghanaian, of course, I was sad,” Appiah admitted. “But once you are a professional, you look at where you are working. My responsibility is Sudan.”
Sudan’s footballing campaign was a symbol of resilience - despite a 4-0 defeat to Niger, they recovered to secure qualification, sparking widespread joy.
“Everybody put their guns down and danced in the streets,” Appiah recalled of the celebrations.
At CHAN, they stunned Algeria on penalties to reach the semi-finals. Now they stand one game away from a first-ever final.
Appiah’s philosophy goes beyond tactics. “I tell the players to feel like they are Messi or Ronaldo,” he explained. “They should never belittle themselves.”
His approach has transformed players like goalkeeper Mohamed Abooja, striker Mohamed Abdulrahman, and veterans Abuaagla Abdallah and Ramadan Agab into football leaders. Their training camps in Saudi Arabia added fitness and tactical preparation.
As Sudan continue their CHAN campaign, Sudanese fans from rival local clubs cheer as one indivisible entity, with football offering a momentary psychological escape and relief from the horrors of war.
