The report says women’s football in Sudan largely stopped after war broke out, leaving coaches to rebuild from the most basic foundations. Tia reportedly travelled across Sudan and into Egypt looking for players among families displaced by the fighting.
The difficulties went beyond training. Some potential players lacked the identity documents required for international age verification, while parents had to be persuaded to release school-age girls for football commitments. With domestic competition suspended, there was no straightforward pathway from local clubs to the national team.
Sudan’s young squad was therefore not simply inexperienced. It was assembled in the middle of a national emergency.
For captain Nura Mohamed, representing Sudan carries significance far beyond the result. “My goal is to lift up football in my country,” she said.
That ambition gives the team’s return a different measure of success. The players may have been outmatched by opponents with greater access to established academies and footballers based in Europe, but their presence keeps open a door that conflict and social resistance could easily have closed.
The report also describes sexist abuse directed at the players after the defeats, underlining that Sudan’s women are confronting hostility both on and off the pitch.
Plans for facilities in safer areas could provide a foundation, but progress will depend on continuity: regular training, reliable competition, safeguarding and a pathway for girls beyond school football.
The next test for Sudan will not only be its next qualifying result. It will be whether this emergency team can become the first step towards a functioning women’s football structure again.