The Sierra Leone U-20 team, known as the Shooting Stars, secured a commanding 3-0 victory against Gambia’s Young Scorpions in the semifinals of the WAFU Zone A U-20 Championship.
With this win, they not only advanced to the tournament’s grand final but also clinched a spot in the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco.
Idrissa Sesay opened the scoring with a brilliant finish, followed by Samuel Grandi, who doubled the lead with a well-timed strike. Momoh Kamara sealed the win with a spectacular third goal, leaving Gambia’s defense in disarray.
The Shooting Stars’ impressive tournament run saw them top Group A after defeating hosts Liberia and Guinea-Bissau, while their opening match against Guinea ended in a 0-0 draw.
Sierra Leone’s head coach, Mohamed Lamin Kamara, is hopeful of bringing home the title, which would mark the nation’s first qualification for the U-20 AFCON finals.
Historically, the only Sierra Leone youth team to reach a continental final was the U-17 squad, the Sierra Stars, who finished as runners-up in Eswatini (then Swaziland) in 2003 and later qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland.
Sierra Leone will now face either Senegal or Guinea in the grand final, as they aim to continue their dominant performance in the tournament.
