The final match of gameweek four in Group B at the CAF World Cup qualifiers will see South Sudan taking on Sudan at the Juba National Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
Sudan will enter their final World Cup qualification match for the year in second place in the group standings, while the hosts are second-bottom with two points after three games.
Match preview
© Reuters
After playing the majority of their 'home' games in Morocco over the last few years, the old Dar Raida Stadium has been revamped after the intervention of FIFA in March 2024 provided the necessary impetus for the project's completion, and the new stadium will be opened this week with the president of the republic, Salva Kiir, presiding over the ceremony, and he will be joined by the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino.
Undoubtedly, the Bright Stars will want to mark the momentous occasion with a victory, and if they are able to secure all three points, it will also see them move up to fourth place in the group standings, behind Senegal, DR Congo and their opponents in this match.
Since first appearing on the international stage back in 2014, South Sudan have never reached the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations. During qualifying for the last AFCON in the Ivory Coast, they ended bottom of their group, managing just three points from their six group-stage matches.
In this competition, they were beaten comprehensively by African giants Senegal in their opening match before holding a tricky Mauritania and Togo to draws in weeks two and three respectively.
While Frenchman Nicolas Dupuis has yet to win a match since taking up the head coach position in October last year, his side have made notable improvements, particularly in defence since his arrival, and are likely to prioritise keeping a clean sheet in this match.
Owing to the conflict between these nations over the years, they have only ever faced each other twice, both back in 2015 in the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, and both games ended goalless.
Like their neighbours, Sudan also endured a poor AFCON qualifying campaign and finished bottom of their group with six points, behind DR Congo - who went on to finish fourth in the Ivory Coast - as well as Mauritania and Gabon.
However, the Secretarybirds have emerged as one of the surprise packages in World Cup qualifying, as they are still unbeaten after three matches and can end this round of games two points clear at the top of the group with a win here.
Last week, Kwesi Appiah's side defeated Mauritania 2-0 away from home with Saif Thierry's first-half strike and an own goal by Aly Abeid, and that followed a 1-0 win over DR Congo and 1-1 draw at home to Togo in week one.
The Ghanaian boss has achieved some excellent results since being hired as the head coach of the Sudan national team in October 2023. He has conceded only one defeat in seven games and is yet to lose a competitive fixture, with that sole loss coming in an international friendly against Tanzania last month.
Team News
Valentino Yuel, who has scored two goals in seven matches for A-League outfit Western Sydney Wanderers this season, will lead the attack for South Sudan, with Peter Chol operating in the number 10 role.
Peter Maker, Rashid Toha and Samuel Taban have played all three matches in these qualifiers and are likely to be joined by Joseph Dhata in the defensive quartet for this match.
Thierry's goal against Mauritania will likely earn him a starting 11 spot again this week, though, Appiah may consider giving Den Bosch striker Sheddy Barglan a start here after making an eye-catching cameo off the bench last week.
Al-Merrikh left-back Bakhit Khames was reportedly struggling with a knock sustained in the win last week and will undergo a late fitness test ahead of this match. If he is unable to feature, Al-Hilal's Emad Alsini is the most likely to take his place in the four-man defence.
South Sudan possible starting lineup:
Jenaro; Dhata, Taban, Toha, Maker; Loki, Morgan, Sila, Chol, Okello, Yuel
Sudan possible starting lineup:
Mustafa; Agab, Ali, Karshoum, Alsini; Khedr, Abdalla, Raouf; Barglan, Yagoub, Thierry
We say: South Sudan 1-1 Sudan
While South Sudan have not set this competition alight, they have proven a difficult side to beat having taken points off Mauritania and Togo in their last two matches, and we feel they will earn a share of the spoils in this one as well.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
