Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) have appointed former Sierra Leone international Amidu Karim as head coach of the country’s senior National team, Leone Stars, ahead of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers.
The former Sierra Leone attacking midfielder will be assisted by former home-based coach Francis Zappa Koroma and Bo Rangers tactician Alhaji Foray as Leone Stars would be starting their 2026 World Cup qualifier campaign in November.
According to SLFA, the 49-year-old coach, Karim and his team will take charge of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers with his first assignment scheduled to be a doubleheader against the Walia Ibex of Ethiopia before hosting the African powerhouse Egypt.
Karim and his Leone Stars squad are in Group A along with; Egypt, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and Djibouti. The former Leone Stars player has been one of Coach John Keister’s assistants during the AFCON in Cameroon and the 2023 AFCON qualifiers.
The 2026 World Cup qualifiers Africa Zone will begin on 13 November 2023 and end in November 2025. The African teams will play across two rounds – the first contest of the group stage, with nine groups of six teams each. Each team will play ten home and away matches -the top finisher in each group will qualify for World Cup 2026.
The second round pitted the four best runners-up in two one-off semi-finals, followed by a final. The winner of this second round will participate in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.
