Zanzibar national football team

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

Zanzibar

Association	Zanzibar Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	CECAFA (Central & East Africa)
Head coach	Hababuu Ali Omar
Most caps	Suleiman Selembe (32)
Top scorer	Abdallah Juma Ally (9)
Home stadium	Amaan Stadium
FIFA code	ZAN
First colours Second colours
First international
Tanganyika 3–1 Zanzibar   (Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika; 18 September 1947)
Biggest win
Unofficial   Zanzibar 6–0 Raetia   (Arbil, Iraq; 4 June 2012) Official   Zanzibar 4–0 Burundi   (Mumias, Kenya; 29 November 2009)
Biggest defeat
Kenya 10–0 Zanzibar   (Nairobi, Kenya; 4 October 1961)
VIVA World Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 2012 )
Best result	Third place (2012)
CECAFA Cup
Appearances	58 (first in 1947)
Best result	Champions (1995)
FIFI Wild Cup/ELF Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 2006 )
Best result	FIFI Wild Cup: Runners-up (2006) ELF Cup: Fourth place (2006)
Mapinduzi Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 2025 )
Best result	Champions (2025)

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In March 2017, Zanzibar were admitted to CAF, becoming its 55th member, ^[1] only for their membership to be rescinded four months later, with CAF president Ahmad Ahmad claiming the region should never have been admitted as it is not a sovereign nation. ^[2]

Zanzibar won their first international trophy with the 2025 Mapinduzi Cup after defeating Burkina Faso 2–1 in the final. ^[3]

Results and fixtures

Tanzania   v   Zanzibar

27 December 2023 Friendly

Tanzania

0–0

Zanzibar

2025

Zanzibar   v   Tanzania

3 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup GS	Zanzibar	1–0	Tanzania	Tanzania
18:15	Salum 51'	Report		Stadium: Gombami Stadium

Zanzibar   v   Burkina Faso

6 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup GS	Zanzibar	0–1	Burkina Faso	Tanzania
18:15		Report	74' Sagne	Stadium: Gombami Stadium

Zanzibar   v   Kenya

10 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup GS	Zanzibar	1–0	Kenya	Tanzania
18:15	Khatib 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Gombami Stadium

Zanzibar   v   Burkina Faso

13 January 2025 2025 Mapinduzi Cup F	Zanzibar	2–1	Burkina Faso	Tanzania
17:15	Hilika 41' Cheda 90+2'	Report	74' Traore	Stadium: Gombami Stadium

Coaching history

• Gheorghe Dungu (1972–1974)
• Oliver Pocher (2005–2006)
• Abdel-Fattah Abbas (2006–2008)
• Souleymane Sané (2008–2011)
• Stewart Hall (2010)
• Hemed "Morocco" Suleiman (2017–2021)
• Hababuu Ali Omar (2021–present)

Notable players

• Ally Badru – played for El Qanah and Al Bashaer ^{[4] [5]}

Records

As of 14 December 2019

Players in bold are still active with Zanzibar.

Most appearances Rank Player Caps Goals Career 1 Suleiman Selembe 32 5 2009–present 2 Aggrey Morris 30 6 2004–2012 3 Nadir Haroub 28 1 2005–2015 4 Abdulghani Gulam Abdallah 18 1 2009–2012 Khamis Mcha Khamis 18 5 2007–2015 6 Ally Mwadini 17 0 2009–2015 7 Soud Abdallah Juma 14 1 2002–2007 Abdi Kassim 14 2 2002–2010 9 Abdallah Juma Ally 13 9 2002–2007 10 Issa Haidar Dau 11 0 2015–present Mwinyi Mngwali 11 0 2015–present Waziri Omar 11 0 2009–2013 Nassor Said 11 0 2009–2013 Mudathir Yahya 11 1 2015–present

Top goalscorers Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career 1 Abdallah Juma Ally 9 13 0.69 2002–2007 2 Aggrey Morris 6 30 0.2 2004–2012 3 Khamis Mcha Khamis 5 18 0.28 2007–2015 Suleiman Selembe 5 32 0.16 2009–present 5 Alek Mohammed 2 1 2 2006 Ali Shiboli 2 2 1 2010 Kassim Suleiman Khamis 2 3 0.67 2017–present Ahmed Ali Mkweche 2 4 0.5 2005–2007 Khamis Mussa Makame 2 7 0.29 2017–present Salum Ussi 2 7 0.29 2002–2006 Mohammed Juma 2 8 0.25 2017–present Abdulaziz Makame 2 9 0.22 2017–present Abdi Kassim 2 14 0.14 2002–2010

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
1947	Fourth Place	4th	1	0	0	1	1	3
1948	Third Place	3rd	1	0	0	1	1	3
1949	Fourth Place	4th	1	0	0	1	2	3
1950	Fourth Place	4th	1	0	0	1	0	4
1951	Third Place	3rd	1	0	0	1	0	1
1952	Third Place	3rd	2	1	0	1	4	8
1953	Third Place	3rd	1	0	0	1	1	5
1954	Fourth Place	4th	1	0	0	1	0	5
1955	Third Place	3rd	1	0	0	1	-	-
1956	Third Place	3rd	2	1	0	1	5	7
1957	Third Place	3rd	2	0	1	1	4	8
1958	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	1	2	3	8
1959	Runners-Up	2nd	3	1	1	1	3	7
1960	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	3	11
1961	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	1	15
1962	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	0	19
1963	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	1	5
1964	Fourth Place	4th	3	1	0	2	5	10
1965	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	2	12
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
1967	Third Place	3rd	3	1	0	2	3	8
1968	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	0	8
1969	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	1	12
1970	Third Place	3rd	3	1	0	2	4	5
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
1973	Group stage	5th	2	0	0	2	0	6
1974	Third place	3rd	2	1	0	1	3	3
1975	Group stage	6th	2	0	0	2	1	7
1976	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	1	4
1977	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	1	4
1978	Did not enter
1979	Fourth place	4th	4	0	2	2	3	8
1980	Group stage	5th	3	1	0	2	2	5
1981	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	3	9
1982	Fourth place	4th	4	1	1	2	3	8
1983	Group stage	8th	3	0	1	2	3	6
1984	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	1	4
1985	Did not enter
1987	Fourth slace	4th	5	1	2	2	2	3
1988	Group stage	7th	3	1	0	2	1	3
1989	Group stage	6th	3	0	2	1	0	1
1990	Fourth place	4th	5	1	1	3	3	5
1991	Group stage	7th	3	0	0	3	4	7
1992	Group stage	8th	4	1	0	3	2	14
1994	Did not enter
1995	Champions	1st	5	3	1	1	5	4
1996	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	3	3
1999	Group stage	10th	2	0	1	1	1	3
2000	Did not enter
2001	Group stage	10th	2	0	0	2	0	8
2002	Group stage	7th	4	1	1	2	1	3
2003	Group stage	5th	2	0	1	1	2	6
2004	Group stage	7th	4	1	0	3	7	11
2005	Third place	3rd	6	3	2	1	7	6
2006	Group stage	9th	2	0	1	1	0	4
2007	Quarter-finals	7th	3	1	2	0	5	3
2008	Group stage	8th	4	1	1	2	3	5
2009	Third place	3rd	6	2	2	2	6	3
2010	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	2	1	4	3
2011	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	1	2	5	4
2012	Third place	3rd	6	1	4	1	5	6
2013	Group stage	9th	3	1	0	2	3	6
2015	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	3	6
2017	Runners-up	2nd	6	3	2	1	9	6
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. ^[1] The invitation was rescinded in July when FIFA rules forbade two teams from one nation. ^[2]

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
2006	Fourth place	4th	5	1	3	1	5	9
VIVA World Cup
2006	Did not enter
2008
2009
2010
2012	Third Place	3rd	4	3	0	1	16	4
CONIFA World Football Cup
2014	Withdrew
2016	Did not enter
2018
Total	Third Place	3/10	13	6	4	3	28	19

Honours

Regional

• CECAFA Cup
  • Winners (1): 1995
  • Runners-up (1): 2017
  • Third place (3): 2005, 2009, 2012

Non-FIFA competitions

• FIFI Wild Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2006
• Viva World Cup
  • Third place (1): 2012

• Mapinduzi Cup
  • Champions (1): 2025

References

1. "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.
2. "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.
3. "Zanzibar stop Burkina Faso to win Mapinduzi Cup". CECAFA. 13 January 2025.
4. "Huyu ndiye Ali Badru: Straika aliyekimbia vurugu Misri akiamini Simba itampeleka Ulaya". Archived from the original on 2021-12-07.
5. "Badru mchezaji bora wa Februari Ligi Kuu Zanzibar". mwanachi.co.tz. Archived from the original on 2023-01-27. Retrieved 2023-01-27.

External links

• Zanzibar at CAF
• Zanzibar at FIFA
• East and Central African Championship (CECAFA) at RSSSF