Known by the nickname ‘Leone Stars’, Sierra Leone will be appearing at their third WAFU Nations Cup tournament.

They were part of the eight-team field at the inaugural competition in Ivory Coast in 2002 which was cancelled due to the outbreak of civil war, while their second appearance was at the 2013 finals in Ghana where they finished bottom of their group.

This year Sierra Leone will face Nigeria in the opening knockout round and look to advance into the group stage alongside the region’s heavyweights.

Listed 76th on FIFA’s official world rankings, the Leone Stars’ locally-based side was last in action in July when they were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Senegal in their first round qualifying tie for the 2018 African Nations Championship.