- Sierra Leone to open Afcon 2021 campaign at home
- The Leone Stars will face Lesotho Crocodiles for the first time
- Leone Stars last home match was a 2-1 win over Kenya in 2017
Sierra Leone play their first competitive home international match in over two years when the Leone Stars open there Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Crocodiles of Lesotho November 11th in Freetown.
The fixture will be the opening Group L qualifying match of both sides’ in the race for the 2021 AFCON which will be staged in Cameroon.
The two sides have never previously met at any international level, but one thing they do have in common is the colours of their national flags are the same.
Sierra Leone will be hoping to make use of home advantage and open their campaign with a victory at home replicating their 2019 opener against Kenya on June 2017.
Their opponent Lesotho has never qualified for the final stages of the Afcon.
Sierra Leone, on the other hand, participated in the continental big stage 23 years ago during the 1996 Afcon in South Africa.
The country’s soccer team in Dec 2018, were disqualified from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign because of alleged government interference in running the country’s football association.
Leone Stars lost to Ethiopia in their last Afcon 2019 qualifier before the suspension.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone second contest in the qualifiers will be away in Benin against The Squirrels eight days after their opener.
During the just-concluded Afcon in Egypt, The Squirrels of Benin were superb unbeaten in their group along Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Cameroon.
They dismissed one of the tournaments big guns Morocco in the round of 16 4-1 on penalties before losing to Senegal in the Quarter-final.
Group L: Nigeria, Benin Sierra Leone Lesotho
Match Day 1 & 2 fixtures
Match Day 1: November 11, 2019
Nigeria vs. Benin
Sierra Leone vs. Lesotho
Match Day 2: November 19, 2019
Lesotho vs. Nigeria
Benin vs. Sierra Leone
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