The Western Sahara national football team (Arabic: منتخب الصحراء الغربية لكرة القدم, Spanish: Selección de fútbol del Sahara Occidental) represents Western Sahara (SADR), a disputed territory, in association football. Controlled by the Sahrawi Football Federation, they are members of ConIFA for non-FIFA-affiliated nations.
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Nickname(s) | Los Dromedarios (The Dromedaries)[1] | ||
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Association | الاتحاد الصحراوي لكرة القدم Federación Saharaui de Fútbol | ||
Confederation | ConIFA World Unity Football Alliance | ||
Head coach | Mohandi Abdalahi | ||
Most caps | El-Mahfoud Welad (5) | ||
Top scorer | Sahla Ahmed Budah (4) | ||
Home stadium | Stade de Tindouf | ||
FIFA code | ESH | ||
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First international | |||
Unofficial![]() ![]() (France; Date Unknown 1988) Official ![]() ![]() (Erbil, Iraq; 4 June 2012) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Arbil, Iraq; 7 June 2012) ![]() ![]() (Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; 31 July 2015) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Marseille, France; 23 June 2013) | |||
Viva World Cup | |||
Appearances | 1 (first in 2012) | ||
Best result | Sixth place (2012) |
Many teams have represented Western Sahara, or the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), in unofficial matches. The first known games were played against Algerian league teams in 1984, before the creation of the Sahrawi Football Federation.[2] In 1986, 1987 and 1994, friendly matches were played against Algerian, Spanish and Italian league teams. In 1988, a Sahrawi Republic team played with Le Mans UC 72 in France, losing 3–2. 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.[3]
On 12 December 2003, the Sahrawi Football Federation became provisionally affiliated to the Nouvelle Fédération Board.[4] 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.[5] On 5 December 2009, three Sahrawi representatives participated in the 6th General Assembly of the N.F.-Board in Paris, France.[6]
On 25 March 2012, Mohamed Moulud Mohamed Fadel, SADR Minister for Youth and Sports, announced the official creation of the Sahrawi national football team.[7]
The Sahrawi national football team made its official international début at the inauguration match of the 5th VIVA World Cup, playing against the host team, Kurdistan at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Arbil, Iraq on 4 June 2012.[8] 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.[9] The next match was a play-off against Darfur, and ended in a 5–1 victory, Sahrawi's first official international victory. They beat Raetia 3–0 before losing the fifth place match 3–1 to Occitania.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12][13][14]
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.[15]
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 canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June 2020, Western Sahara joined the World Unity Football Alliance.
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No. | Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Competition | Western Sahara scorers | Att. | Ref. |
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1 | 1988 | France | ![]() |
2–3 | Friendly | Unknown | – | |
2 | 27 February 2001 | Tindouf | ![]() |
2–2 | 25th anniversary of the SADR proclamation | Unknown | 4,000 | [3] |
3 | 2007 | ![]() |
1–0 | Friendly | Unknown | – | ||
4 | 23 December 2011 | Cacherias, Teo | ![]() |
1–2 | Friendly | Unknown | 1,500 | [5] |
5 | 4 June 2012 | Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil | ![]() |
0–6 | 2012 Viva World Cup | 9,000 | [16] | |
6 | 5 June 2012 | Ararat Stadium, Salahaddin | ![]() |
2–6 | 2012 Viva World Cup | Budah, Malum | 200 | [14] |
7 | 7 June 2012 | Franso Hariri Stadium, Arbil | ![]() |
5–1 | 2012 Viva World Cup | Budah (2) Malum, Maaruf, El Mami | – | |
8 | 8 June 2012 | Franso Hariri Stadium, Arbil | ![]() |
3–0 | 2012 Viva World Cup | Ali, El Mami, Boiah | – | [13] |
9 | 9 June 2012 | Ararat Stadium, Salahaddin | ![]() |
1–3 | 2012 Viva World Cup | Bijah | – | |
10 | 23 June 2013 | Marseille | ![]() |
3–17 | 2013 International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes | Budah, unknown goals (2) | – | [17] |
11 | 24 June 2013 | Marseille | ![]() |
0–6 | 2013 International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes | – | [17] | |
12 | 28 June 2013 | Marseille | ![]() |
2–12 | 2013 International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes | Raghoua (2) | – | [17] |
13 | 28 March 2014 | Sarria | ![]() |
3–1 | Friendly | Daf (2), Nazy | – | [18] |
14 | 29 March 2014 | Vigo | ![]() |
–[A] | Friendly | – | ||
15 | 30 March 2014 | Noia | ![]() |
–[A] | Friendly | – | ||
16 | 31 July 2015 | Stadium Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d'Ascq | ![]() |
4–0 | 2015 Zamenhof Cup | Unknown | – | |
17 | 13 August 2016 | Algiers | ![]() |
–[A] | Friendly | – | ||
18 | 17 June 2017 | Stade de Tindouf, Tindouf | ![]() |
3–3 | Friendly | Boglaida (2), Mohammed | – | |
19 | 10 August 2018 | Valencia | ![]() |
1–6 | Friendly | Unknown | – | |
20 | 20 February 2019 | Stade de Tindouf, Tindouf | ![]() |
0–1 | Friendly | – | ||
21 | 3 August 2022 | Stade Océane, Le Havre | ![]() |
2–1 | Friendly | Unknown | – | [19] |
22 | 6 August 2022 | Stade Océane, Le Havre | ![]() |
2–2 | Friendly | Sidahmed (2) | – | [20] |
As of 6 August 2022 after the match against ESM Gonfreville
Positive Record Neutral Record Negative Record
Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 |
![]() | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
![]() | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 |
![]() | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 |
![]() | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | −12 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 |
![]() | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
![]() | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 |
![]() | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
![]() | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 | −10 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | −5 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 17 | −14 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Total | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 37 | 72 | −35 |
As of 20 February 2019
Rank | Name | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
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1 | Sahia Ahmed Budah | 4 | — | — | ? |
2 | Selma Iarba Malum | 2 | — | — | ? |
Mohamed El Mami | — | — | ? | ||
Brahim Raghoua | — | — | ? | ||
Mohamed Daf | — | — | ? | ||
Mohamed Boglaida | — | — | ? | ||
7 | Cori Maaruf | 1 | — | — | ? |
Moulay Aba Ali | — | — | ? | ||
Ba Boiah | — | — | ? | ||
Abdullah Bijah | — | — | ? | ||
Hassanna Nazy | — | — | ? | ||
Hamid Mohammed | — | — | ? | ||
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* No longer N.F Board affiliated |
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