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Zanzibar national football team facts for kids

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This page is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Zanzibar women's national football team.
Quick facts for kids
Zanzibar
Shirt badge/Association crest
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
Elo ranking
Current 112 Increase 5 (3 March 2019)
Highest 90 (1947)
Lowest 171 (November 1992)
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)

The Zanzibar national football team plays international football games for Zanzibar. The Zanzibar Football Federation manages the team.

History of Zanzibar Football

Zanzibar is not a member of FIFA, which is the main world football organization. This means they cannot play in the World Cup. Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, and Tanzania is recognized by FIFA.

Before Zanzibar and Tanganyika joined together in 1964, Zanzibar was a full member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). However, they never made it to the African Nations Cup.

Zanzibar was also a temporary member of the N.F.-Board, which is an organization for teams not in FIFA. In 2006, they came in second place in the 2006 FIFI Wild Cup tournament. They lost to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the final game. A German comedian named Oliver Pocher was their coach for that tournament.

Their Under-20 team also played in the 2006 ELF Cup. They finished fourth out of eight teams. They won one game against Kyrgyzstan and tied two games against Gagauzia and Greenland. They lost to Northern Cyprus in the semi-final.

The Zanzibar team often plays in the CECAFA Cup. This cup includes national teams from Central and East Africa. In 1995, they won the championship! They beat the host team, Uganda, 1–0 in the final.

In March 2017, Zanzibar was accepted into CAF, becoming its 55th member. But just four months later, their membership was taken away. The CAF president said that Zanzibar should not have been allowed in because it is not an independent country.

Recent Games and Schedule

Main article: Zanzibar national football team results

Team Coaches Through the Years

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

Famous Players

  • Zanzibar Ally Badru – He played for El Qanah in Egypt and Al Bashaer in Oman.

Team Records

Players in bold are still playing for Zanzibar.

Tournament Results

CECAFA Cup History

Zanzibar played in the Gossage Cup from 1949 to 1967. This competition was later renamed 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 was accepted into the Confederation of African Football. This meant they could play in the Africa Cup of Nations. However, this invitation was taken back in July. FIFA rules say that two teams from the same country cannot both be members.

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

Non-FIFA Tournaments

These are tournaments for teams that are not part of FIFA.

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

Awards and Achievements

Regional Awards

  • CECAFA Cup
    • Winners (1): 1995
    • Second Place (1): 2017
    • Third Place (3): 2005, 2009, 2012

Non-FIFA Competition Awards

  • FIFI Wild Cup
    • Second Place (1): 2006
  • Viva World Cup
    • Third Place (1): 2012
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