Baku, Azerbaijan – The Sierra Leone national football team, affectionately known as the Leone Stars, has arrived in Azerbaijan and is gearing up for a high-stakes international friendly against the Azerbaijan national team** as part of the FIFA Series 2026.
The match is scheduled for Monday, 30 March 2026, with kick-off at 3:00 PM local time (15:00 UTC) at the Mehdi Huseynzade Stadium (also known as Sumgayit City Stadium) in Sumqayit, near Baku.
The venue, home to Sumgayit FK, boasts a capacity of approximately 10,000–15,000 spectators and features a natural grass pitch.
This encounter forms part of the FIFA Series 2026, a series of international friendlies designed to give national teams valuable match practice and FIFA ranking points outside their usual confederation schedules. Sierra Leone is also scheduled to face Oman earlier in the window, while Azerbaijan recently thrashed Saint Lucia 6-1 in their opening FIFA Series fixture.
Squad and Preparation Highlights
The Leone Stars delegation, led by Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) First Vice President Alie Badara Tarawallie, landed in Baku after linking up in Istanbul. The squad blends home-based talents and foreign-based professionals, including notable names such as:
– Juma Bah
– Sulaiman Kaikai
– Daniel Kanu
– Idris Kanu
– Kamil Conteh
– Yayah Kallon
– John T. Kamara
Other players already in camp include Alhassan Koroma, Abdul Jarju Kabia, Alpha Turay, Samuel Ghandi, and Mamadou Jalloh. Head Coach Mohamed Kallon has been putting the team through rigorous training sessions, focusing on tactical cohesion, sharpness, and integrating the mix of local and diaspora players.
Sierra Leone enters the match with mixed recent form in 2026 World Cup qualifiers, including a 2-0 win over Ethiopia, a draw against Guinea-Bissau, and a narrow loss to Burkina Faso. The team will be eager to build momentum and confidence ahead of future competitive campaigns.
Azerbaijan, meanwhile, will look to leverage home advantage and their strong recent result against Saint Lucia to test themselves against African opposition.
What’s at Stake
For the Leone Stars, this friendly offers a prime opportunity to showcase rising talents, experiment with formations, and demonstrate the team’s fighting spirit on the international stage. Fans back home in Sierra Leone and the global diaspora are expected to rally behind the green, white, and blue colors, anticipating a display of skill, passion, and teamwork.
Both sides will use the match to fine-tune their squads ahead of upcoming competitions, with the game promising intensity and national pride.
The clash is set to be a thrilling encounter in the heart of Azerbaijan, as Sierra Leone aims to make a bold statement in the FIFA Series 2026.
