Sierra Leone’s Augustus Kargbo discusses his nation’s World Cup dreams, creating change at home and meeting his idols.
- Augustus Kargbo is dreaming of the World Cup
- Sierra Leone forward has netted twice in qualifying so far
- Believes ‘all hell will break loose’ if the nation make it to a first-ever finals
At FIFA World Cup 26™, more teams than ever will be invited to football’s biggest party. While that extended 48-nation guest list is yet to be finalised, more than 150 teams are still in with a chance of making the cut, including Sierra Leone.
The Leone Stars have never competed at the tournament,but are currently sat in fourth in Group A of CAF qualifying, and are only outside of a potential second-round spot by a point.
They’ve been fired into contention in part thanks to Augustus Kargbo, who leads the team’s scoring ranks with two from the opening four games. FIFA sat down with the forward to discuss their start to qualifying, the nation’s World Cup ambitions and a burning desire to give back.
FIFA: Sierra Leone have never qualified for the World Cup. How desperate are you to change that?
Augustus Kargbo: For us it’s a dream. We want to try but we know that it will not be easy with Egypt and Burkina Faso in our group. In the national team we are a close-knit group, like a family, and we dream of doing something big. Not long after my first international match in 2021, we qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations, which hadn’t happened for 25 years. When we came back from Guinea (where the qualifying match was played), there were so many people on the streets in Sierra Leone that we couldn’t get the coach through the crowd! Imagine what would happen if we get to the World Cup. We are a small country and the one thing that unites us is football. All hell will break loose in Sierra Leone if we qualify for the World Cup.
For a player of your generation, who was the role model in Sierra Leone?
Mohamed Kallon is the greatest player we have ever had. He played for big clubs like Inter and Monaco and is certainly a role model for our youngsters. I hope I can follow his example. I want to put all my effort into trying to reach his level.
How much has your experience in Italian football helped you become such an important player in your national team?
I was reborn at Cesena. I found a family, a sense of peace and I have started to have fun playing football again. Italian football is very popular in Sierra Leone. I dream of playing in Serie A but we must remember that we have only just been promoted to Serie B. Our journey has been a long one – we came from the amateur leagues and this is a big step up. The first priority is to avoid relegation and then we will take stock.
You play as a striker for your club but as a winger for the national team. How does your skill set allow you to play across the forward line?
I like to switch between the forward positions, explosiveness is the defining feature of my football. I like to keep my opponents guessing. I’m good at dribbling, it’s something I learned on the street, where I played until I was 12. There were no football schools or teams I could train with where I lived. I played with friends and we used shoes as goal posts. One day a manager came and organised a match and it was there I was spotted – I was very lucky. As a child I tried to imitate Kallon and I really loved the Premier League. I was a Liverpool supporter. Luis Suarez was the player who inspired me the most, while Sadio Mane has a similar story to mine and helped motivate me on my journey. Then I had a photo with Mohamed Salah when I played against him and Egypt!
How does it feel to play against big players like Salah in FIFA World Cup qualifiers?
I started in the Italian third division and have now played against a Liverpool striker. At the beginning I felt the pressure, almost intimidated, but after the first game I loosened up and started to feel confident. That’s the beauty of international football, it’s a special moment playing on the same level as these stars that you usually see on TV.
Does this kind of experience help you to be a leader on the pitch?
My way of being a leader is to run more than everyone else… (laughs.). I don’t talk much. I try to help others, like (young Cesena players) Steven Shpendi and Tommaso Berti. I am the most experienced member of the team and I try and give them a hand, because these guys have a great future ahead of them. I think that we can all reach the highest level together.
How does it feel to score for your country compared to your club?
I want to entertain the fans, but scoring for Sierra Leone means representing your family and where I come from. It’s a great source of pride for my mother and my brothers. Football in Sierra Leone has improved a lot, even from a logistical point of view. Now, it has all changed. Facilities and travel have improved and we have many players in Europe. Reaching the World Cup would help us develop even further. The visibility of reaching the FIFA World Cup would help people understand that in Sierra Leone, above everything else, there’s football.
Do you think football can help the nation as a whole?
We footballers are lucky, in our country there are people who suffer and don’t have access to health care or food. Through football we try to give something back to society. One of my career goals is to be remembered in the future as a good person, not just as a footballer.
At home, my mother cooks for lots of people, and she makes sacrifices to help others. When I was little and played in the street, my friends came to us to eat. Now, when I score a goal for the national team, my Mum cooks rice and beans for everyone!