The Zanzibar national football team represents

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

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 A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. The island is part of the nation of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

, 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 The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

. Zanzibar was a provisional member of the N.F.-Board. The team placed second in the

2006 FIFI Wild Cup The FIFI Wild Cup was an alternative FIFA World Cup, held from 29 May to 3 June 2006 in Germany, prior to the official FIFA World Cup which started one week later. It was run by the Federation of International Football Independents (FIFI). FIFI ...

tournament, losing 4–1 on penalties to the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Reco ...

in the final. For that tournament, they were coached by the German comedian

Oliver Pocher Oliver Pocher (born 18 February 1978) is a German comedian, entertainer, television personality and host. Early life and professional training Pocher is the son of Gerhard and Jutta Pocher; he was born and grew up in Hanover, West Germany. Hi ...

. Their U-20 team also played in the 2006

ELF Cup The ELF Cup (''Equality, Liberty, Fraternity'') was an international football tournament organised by the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation (KTFF), a member of the NF-Board. It was played only once in 2006. Among the participants were NF-Board ...

, finishing fourth of eight, winning one game (1–0 against Kyrgyzstan's national football team) and drawing twice (against Gagauzia and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

) before losing 5–0 to Northern Cyprus in the semifinal. They regularly play in the

CECAFA Cup The CECAFA Cup, is the oldest football tournament in Africa. It is organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations ( CECAFA). A FIFA competition, it includes participants of football playing national teams from the East ...

, which includes national teams from Central and East Africa, and in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

they became champions, winning the final match 1–0 against the host nation,

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. In March 2017, Zanzibar were admitted to CAF, becoming its 55th member, 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.

Notable players

* Ally Badru - played for El Qanah FC and Al Bashaer

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:

Africa Cup of Nations

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

Non-FIFA tournaments

World tournaments

Head-to-head record

Records

:''Players in bold are still active with Zanzibar.''

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Managers

* Gheorghe Dungu (1972–1974) *

(2005–2006) * Abdel-Fattah Abbas (2006–2008) *

Souleymane Sané Souleymane "Samy" Jean Sané (born 26 February 1961) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the father of Germany forward Leroy Sané. Playing career Sané was born to Senegalese diplomats, and moved to ...

(2008–2011) * Stewart Hall (2010) * Hemed "Morocco" Suleiman (2017–2021) * Hababuu Ali Omar (2021–present)

References

External links

East and Central African Championship (CECAFA) at RSSSF
{{Confederation of Independent Football Associations members CONIFA member associations African N.F.-Board teams Football in Zanzibar