then, Sudan continued to struggle qualifying for the African Cup of Nations for the next 7 years. They also had no success qualifying for the African Nations Championship after their 3rd-place finish in 2011 for a while until 2018. Fluctuation (2018–present) In 2018 they qualified for the 2018 African Nations Championship after failing to do so in two previous competitions and finished 3rd place, and it was seen as a signal heralding a new era of Sudanese football. Shortly after, with an almost identical crop of players, Sudan succeeded in qualifying for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, finishing ahead of powerhouse South Africa, including two famous wins at home against Ghana and South Africa and eliminated the South Africans in process, successfully returned to the AFCON after nine years. The optimism increased when Sudan beat Libya 1–0 in the qualification for the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup, under the same management of French coach Hubert Velud, making impressions that Sudan would soon recover its glorious place among Arab and African football nations. However, Sudan has a disastrous opening during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. Being drawn with the likes of a fellow Arab state and powerhouse Morocco, as well as Guinea-Bissau and Guinea which have never taken part in a World Cup like Sudan, the Sudanese were still being regarded as somewhat better than the two Guineas and could be a potential competitor against Morocco. Sudan started its quest with a 0–2 away to the Moroccans in Rabat, which was seen as acceptable. Yet in the home fixture against Guinea-Bissau, Sudan was completely trashed by the Bissau-Guineans 2–4, to leave the team in the bottom place and reducing hopes to qualify for a maiden World Cup. Sudan's hope was completely dashed after winning only two points after two consecutive draws over Guinea, effectively making Sudan the first team to be eliminated in the group. Team image Recent results and fixtures 2022 2023 Coaching history Saleh Rajab (1956) Jozsef Hada (1957–1959) Lozan Kotsev (1959–1964) Jiří Starosta (1964–1968) Muhamed Hassan Kheiri (1968–1970) Abdel Fatah Hemed (1970–1974) Ivan Yanko (1974–1976) Ebrahim Kabir (1976–1978) Burkhard Ziese (1978–1980) Muhamed Mazda (1996) Nasreldin Jaksa (1996) Sharafeldin Musa (1998) Muhamed Mahmoud (1999) Fawzi Almardi (2000) Zoran Đorđević (2000) Ahmed Babeker (2000-2002) Wojciech Lazarek (2002–2004) Muhamed Mazda (2005-2008) Stephen Constantine (2009–2010) Ahmed Babeker (2010) Muhamed Mazda (2010–2015) Ahmed Babeker (2015) Hamdan Hemed (2016) Muhamed Mazda (2016) Zdravko