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Zanzibar national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Zanzibar women's national football team.

The Zanzibar national football team represents Zanzibar in international football and is controlled by the Zanzibar Football Federation.

History

Zanzibar is not a member of FIFA and is therefore not eligible to enter the World Cup. The island is part of the nation of the United Republic of Tanzania, which holds FIFA recognition at the international level. Prior to the union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika in 1964, Zanzibar was a fully independent member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), but never qualified for the African Nations Cup.

Zanzibar was a provisional member of the N.F.-Board. The team placed second in the 2006 FIFI Wild Cup tournament, losing 4–1 on penalties to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the final. For that tournament, they were coached by the German comedian Oliver Pocher.

Their U-20 team also played in the 2006 ELF Cup, finishing fourth of eight, winning one game (1–0 against Kyrgyzstan's national football team) and drawing twice (against Gagauzia and Greenland) before losing 5–0 to Northern Cyprus in the semifinal. They regularly play in the CECAFA Cup, which includes national teams from Central and East Africa, and in 1995 they became champions, winning the final match 1–0 against the host nation, Uganda.

In March 2017, Zanzibar were admitted to CAF, becoming its 55th member,[2] only for their membership to be rescinded four months later, with CAF president Ahmad Ahmad claiming the region should never have been admitted as it is not a sovereign nation.[3]

Zanzibar won their first international trophy with the 2025 Mapinduzi Cup after defeating Burkina Faso 2–1 in the final.[4]

Results and fixtures

27 December 2023 Friendly Tanzania  0–0  Zanzibar

2025

3 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup GS Zanzibar  1–0  Tanzania Tanzania
18:15 
Report Stadium: Gombami Stadium
6 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup GS Zanzibar  0–1  Burkina Faso Tanzania
18:15 Report
Stadium: Gombami Stadium
10 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup GS Zanzibar  1–0  Kenya Tanzania
18:15
Report Stadium: Gombami Stadium
13 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup F Zanzibar  2–1  Burkina Faso Tanzania
17:15
Report
Stadium: Gombami Stadium

2026

Coaching history

Notable players

Records

As of 14 December 2019
Players in bold are still active with Zanzibar.

Competition records

CECAFA Cup

Zanzibar competed in the Gossage Cup from 1949 to 1967, when the competition was renamed to the East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup:

Gossage Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
Tanganyika Territory 1947 Fourth Place 4th 1 0 0 1 1 3
Uganda 1948 Third Place 3rd 1 0 0 1 1 3
Zanzibar 1949 Fourth Place 4th 1 0 0 1 2 3
Kenya 1950 Fourth Place 4th 1 0 0 1 0 4
Tanganyika Territory 1951 Third Place 3rd 1 0 0 1 0 1
Uganda 1952 Third Place 3rd 2 1 0 1 4 8
Zanzibar 1953 Third Place 3rd 1 0 0 1 1 5
Kenya 1954 Fourth Place 4th 1 0 0 1 0 5
Tanganyika Territory 1955 Third Place 3rd 1 0 0 1 - -
Uganda 1956 Third Place 3rd 2 1 0 1 5 7
Zanzibar 1957 Third Place 3rd 2 0 1 1 4 8
Kenya 1958 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 1 2 3 8
Tanganyika Territory 1959 Runners-Up 2nd 3 1 1 1 3 7
Uganda 1960 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 0 3 3 11
Kenya 1961 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 0 3 1 15
1962 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 0 3 0 19
Kenya 1963 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 0 3 1 5
Tanzania 1964 Fourth Place 4th 3 1 0 2 5 10
Uganda 1965 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 0 3 2 12
Zanzibar 1966 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 1 2 1 7
Total Runners-up 20/37 41 4 4 33 37 141
East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D * L GF GA
Kenya 1967 Third Place 3rd 3 1 0 2 3 8
Tanzania 1968 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 0 3 0 8
Uganda 1969 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 0 3 1 12
Zanzibar 1970 Third Place 3rd 3 1 0 2 4 5
Kenya 1971 Fourth Place 4th 3 0 1 2 2 8
Total Third place 5/5 15 2 1 12 10 41
CECAFA Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D * L GF GA
Uganda 1973 Group stage 5th 2 0 0 2 0 6
Tanzania 1974 Third place 3rd 2 1 0 1 3 3
Zambia 1975 Group stage 6th 2 0 0 2 1 7
Zanzibar 1976 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 1 4
Somalia 1977 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 1 4
Malawi 1978 Did not enter
Kenya 1979 Fourth place 4th 4 0 2 2 3 8
Sudan 1980 Group stage 5th 3 1 0 2 2 5
Tanzania 1981 Group stage 8th 3 0 0 3 3 9
Uganda 1982 Fourth place 4th 4 1 1 2 3 8
Kenya 1983 Group stage 8th 3 0 1 2 3 6
Uganda 1984 Group stage 8th 3 0 0 3 1 4
Zimbabwe 1985 Did not enter
Ethiopia 1987 Fourth slace 4th 5 1 2 2 2 3
Malawi 1988 Group stage 7th 3 1 0 2 1 3
Kenya 1989 Group stage 6th 3 0 2 1 0 1
Zanzibar 1990 Fourth place 4th 5 1 1 3 3 5
Uganda 1991 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 4 7
Tanzania 1992 Group stage 8th 4 1 0 3 2 14
Kenya 1994 Did not enter
Uganda 1995 Champions 1st 5 3 1 1 5 4
Sudan 1996 Group stage 5th 3 1 1 1 3 3
Rwanda 1999 Group stage 10th 2 0 1 1 1 3
Uganda 2000 Did not enter
Rwanda 2001 Group stage 10th 2 0 0 2 0 8
Tanzania 2002 Group stage 7th 4 1 1 2 1 3
Sudan 2003 Group stage 5th 2 0 1 1 2 6
Ethiopia 2004 Group stage 7th 4 1 0 3 7 11
Rwanda 2005 Third place 3rd 6 3 2 1 7 6
Ethiopia 2006 Group stage 9th 2 0 1 1 0 4
Tanzania 2007 Quarter-finals 7th 3 1 2 0 5 3
Uganda 2008 Group stage 8th 4 1 1 2 3 5
Kenya 2009 Third place 3rd 6 2 2 2 6 3
Tanzania 2010 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 4 3
Tanzania 2011 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 1 2 5 4
Uganda 2012 Third place 3rd 6 1 4 1 5 6
Kenya 2013 Group stage 9th 3 1 0 2 3 6
Ethiopia 2015 Group stage 10th 3 1 0 2 3 6
Kenya 2017 Runners-up 2nd 6 3 2 1 9 6
Uganda 2019 Group stage 8th 3 0 1 2 1 3
Total 1 title 36/40 124 29 32 63 100 184

Africa Cup of Nations

In March 2017, Zanzibar were admitted to the Confederation of African Football, becoming eligible for the Africa Cup of Nations.[2] The invitation was rescinded in July when FIFA rules forbade two teams from one nation.[3]

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
African Cup of Nations
1957–1963 Did not enter
1965–2023 Ineligible

Non-FIFA tournaments

World tournaments

World tournaments record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
FIFI Wild Cup and ELF Cup
2006 Runners-up 2nd 4 2 1 1 7 6
Northern Cyprus 2006 Fourth place 4th 5 1 3 1 5 9
VIVA World Cup
Occitania 2006 Did not enter
Sápmi 2008
Padania 2009
Gozo 2010
Kurdistan Region 2012 Third Place 3rd 4 3 0 1 16 4
CONIFA World Football Cup
Sápmi 2014 Withdrew
Abkhazia 2016 Did not enter
Barawa 2018
Total Third Place 3/10 13 6 4 3 28 19

Honours

Regional

Non-FIFA competitions

References

  1. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 26 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Zanzibar admitted as full member of African soccer body". indianexpress.com. Indian Express. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Zanzibar loses Caf membership in embarrassing U-turn". bbc.com. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Zanzibar stop Burkina Faso to win Mapinduzi Cup". CECAFA. 13 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Huyu ndiye Ali Badru: Straika aliyekimbia vurugu Misri akiamini Simba itampeleka Ulaya". Archived from the original on 2021-12-07.
  6. ^ "Badru mchezaji bora wa Februari Ligi Kuu Zanzibar". mwanachi.co.tz. Archived from the original on 2023-01-27. Retrieved 2023-01-27.