Far from the World Cup, a girls team tries to revive soccer dreams for war-ravaged Sudan

CASABLANCA: Their red jerseys stood out against the green pitch. Most were teenage girls.

Some had fled war. Others had never played in an organized soccer league or set foot in a major stadium before.
Yet when they took the field at Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, they marked Sudan’s first appearance in international women’s soccer since a civil war erupted in a country where women’s participation in sports has long been controversial.
“My goal is to lift up soccer in my country,” Nura Mohamed, the 17-year-old team captain, told The Associated Press.
“It’s a beautiful, unique feeling because, at the end of the day, I just love playing.”
With the men’s World Cup unfolding on the other side of the planet, Sudan’s under-17 women’s national team traveled to Morocco last week for qualifying matches on the road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The inexperienced squad suffered heavy defeats against Comoros, conceding 30 goals in two matches.

Many of the players broke down in tears after the final whistle in front of a dozen cheering fans.
They faced an older, fitter, and more experienced opponent. Unable to assemble a senior women’s squad in time, Sudan’s soccer federation entered a younger team to avoid forfeiting their place in the qualifiers.

They only started training weeks ago.
“The difference between us and the others is huge. We cannot yet compete at the highest level,” Burhan Tia, a veteran Sudanese soccer coach who oversees all of Sudan’s women’s national teams, said after the first match, a 17–0 defeat.
“Comoros has many players competing in Europe, our team are mainly made up of schoolgirls.”
This team represent hope for Sudan’s future
Sudan’s women’s soccer collapsed when civil war erupted in 2023.