The Tanzania national football team () represents Tanzania in men's international football and is controlled by the Tanzania Football Federation, the governing body for football in Tanzania, Tanzania's home ground is Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar es Salaam and their head coach is Hemed Morocco from Tanzania. They are colloquially known as the Taifa Stars. Tanzania has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Before uniting with Zanzibar, the team played as the Tanganyika national football team. The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The island of Zanzibar, part of Tanzania (and once an independent nation), is also an associate member of CAF and has played matches with other nations, but is not eligible to enter the World Cup or Africa Cup of Nations. See Zanzibar national football team.
History
Since qualifying for the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations, Tanzania endured nearly 40 years without major success, struggling in both African and World Cup qualifiers. Their best effort was in 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, where the Taifa Stars defeated Burkina Faso twice and only finished three points behind group winners Senegal. In 2010 Tanzania won the CECAFA Cup for the third time.
A recent achievement was a 1–0 win against South Africa in the 2017 COSAFA Cup Quarter-finals. But afterwards, Tanzania lost the Semi-finals 2–4 to Zambia. Then, in the Third-place playoff, Tanzania managed to win the match against Lesotho 4–2 in a penalty shootout after the extra time ended in a goalless draw. This Third place was considered Tanzania's biggest football achievement in many years.
On 24 March 2019, Tanzania beat East African rivals Uganda 3–0 to reach the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 39 years. At the Finals the Taifa Stars, being the weakest team in the group, lost all three Group C matches, as predicted. A few months later, Tanzania qualified for the African Nations Championship for only the second time, as well as defeating Burundi in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
On 19 November 2024 Tanzania won a narrow victory of 1–0 against Guinea which secured their fourth times Afcon qualification since 1980. A decisive goal by Simon Msuva sent them to the tournament in 2025. The Afcon finals are scheduled to take place from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026 in Morocco.
In February 2026, Tanzania's Ministry of Sports extended Miguel Ángel Gamondi's contract to coach the national football team.
Team image
Kit suppliers
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Kit supplier
! Period
|-
| Uhlsport
| 2017–2023
|-
| Sandaland
| 2023–
|-
|}
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2025
2026
Coaching staff
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Head coach|| Miguel Ángel Gamondi
|-
|Assistant coach|| Juma Mgunda
|-
|Assistant coach|| Hemed Morocco
|-
|Goalkeeper coach|| Osama Al-Hamdan
|-
|Physical coach|| Mikael Mayoyo
|-
|Sports therapist|| Joris De Vos
|-
|Head of medical|| Lisobine Kisongo
|-
|Team manager|| Reinhard
|-
| Video analysis|| Gabriel Johnson
|}
Coaching history
:Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
- Bert Trautmann (1975)
- Geoff Hudson (1977–1979)
- Sławomir Wolk (1979–1980)
- Mahammed Msomali (1980–1981)
- Rudi Gutendorf (1981)
- Joseph Bendera (1981–1985)
- Paul West (1985–1989)
- Charles Boniface Mkwasa (1989–1992)
- Sunday Kayuni (1993–1995)
- Clóvis de Oliveira (1995–1996)
- Badru Hafidh (1996–1998)
- Sylersaid Mziray (1998–1999)
- Mansour Magram (1999–00)
- Burkhard Pape (2000–01)
- Mshindo Msolla (2001–02)
- James Siang'a (2002)
- Mshindo Msolla (2002–03)
- Badru Hafidh (2003–06)
- Júlio César Leal (2006)
- Márcio Máximo (2006–10)
- Jan Poulsen (2010–12)
- Kim Poulsen (2012–14)
- Salum Madadi (2014)
- Mart Nooij (2014–2015)
- Charles Boniface Mkwasa (2015–2017)
- Salum Mayanga (2017–2018)
- Emmanuel Amunike (2018–2019)
- Etienne Ndayiragije (2019–2021)
- Kim Poulsen (2021–2022)
- Honour Janza (2022)
- Dean Alty (2022)
- Kim Poulsen (2022–2023)
- Adel Amrouche (2023–2024)
- Hemed Morocco (2024–2025)
- Miguel Ángel Gamondi (2025–present)
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA Series (men's matches) matches against Liechtenstein and Macau on 26 and 29 March 2026, respectively.
Caps and goals correct as of 29 March 2026, after the match against Macau.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for Tanzania in the last 12 months.
<sup>DEC</sup> Player refused to join the team after the call-up.<br>
<sup>INJ</sup> Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.<br>
<sup>PRE</sup> Preliminary squad.<br>
<sup>RET</sup> Player has retired from international football.<br>
<sup>SUS</sup> Suspended from the national team.
Player records
:Players in bold are still active with Tanzania.
Most appearances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
!class="unsortable" style="width:175px;"|Name
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Goals
!class="unsortable" style="width:110px;"|Career
|-
|1
|align=left|Erasto Nyoni
|107
|7
|2006–2021
|-
|2
|align=left|Simon Msuva
|103
|25
|2012–present
|-
|3
|align=left|Mrisho Ngassa
|100
|25
|2006–2015
|-
|4
|align=left|Kelvin Yondani
|97
|0
|2008–2021
|-
|5
|align=left|Shomari Kapombe
|95
|2
|2011–present
|-
|6
|align=left|Mbwana Samatta
|89
|22
|2011–present
|-
|7
|align=left|John Bocco
|84
|16
|2009–2023
|-
|8
|align=left|Himid Mao
|81
|2
|2013–present
|-
|9
|align=left|Juma Kaseja
|79
|0
|2002–2021
|-
|10
|align=left|Aishi Manula
|68
|0
|2015–present
|-
|}
Top goalscorers
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
!class="unsortable" width=175px|Name
!width=50px|Goals
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Ratio
!class="unsortable" width=110px|Career
|-
|rowspan="2"|1
|align="left"|Mrisho Ngassa
|25
|100
|
|2006–2015
|-
|align="left"|Simon Msuva
|25
|103
|
|2012–present
|-
|3
|align="left"|Mbwana Samatta
|22
|89
|
|2011–present
|-
|4
|align="left"|John Bocco
|16
|84
|
|2009–2023
|-
|5
|align="left"|John Nteze Lungu
|12
|22
|
|1992–2002
|-
|rowspan=2|6
|align="left"|Jerson Tegete
|8
|28
|
|2006–2011
|-
|align="left"|Danny Mrwanda
|8
|34
|
|2005–2011
|-
|rowspan=3|8
|align="left"|Mohamed Rajab
|7
|20
|
|2002–2011
|-
|align="left"|Thomas Ulimwengu
|7
|51
|
|2010–2021
|-
|align="left"|Erasto Nyoni
|7
|107
|
|2006–2021
|-
|}
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan=9|FIFA World Cup record
!rowspan=30|
!colspan=6|Qualification record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
|1930 to 1962
|Colspan=8|Not a FIFA member
|Colspan=6|Not a FIFA member
|-
|1966 and 1970
|Colspan=8|Did not enter
|Colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 1974
|Colspan=8|Did not qualify
|3
|0
|2
|1
|1
|4
|-
| 1978
|Colspan=8|Withdrew
|Colspan=6|Withdrew
|-
| 1982
|rowspan=2 colspan=8|Did not qualify
|4
|1
|1
|2
|7
|6
|-
| 1986
|2
|0
|2
|0
|1
|1
|-
| 1990
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|colspan=6|Did not enter
|-
| 1994
|colspan=8|Withdrew during qualifying
|colspan=6|Withdrew during qualifying
|-
| 1998
|rowspan=8 colspan=8|Did not qualify
|2
|0
|1
|1
|1
|2
|-
| 2002
|2
|0
|0
|2
|2
|4
|-
| 2006
|2
|0
|1
|1
|0
|3
|-
| 2010
|6
|2
|2
|2
|9
|6
|-
| 2014
|8
|3
|0
|5
|10
|14
|-
| 2018
|4
|1
|1
|2
|4
|10
|-
| 2022
|8
|2
|4
|2
|8
|10
|-
| 2026
|8
|3
|1
|4
|6
|7
|-
| 2030
|rowspan=2 colspan=8|To be determined
|-
| 2034
|-
!Total
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!49
!12
!15
!22
!49
!67
|}
Africa Cup of Nations
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=9|Africa Cup of Nations record
! rowspan="43" |
!colspan=6|Qualification record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
!colspan=9|as
!colspan=6|as
|-
| 1957||colspan=8 rowspan=4|Not affiliated to CAF||colspan=6 rowspan=4|Not affiliated to CAF
|-
| 1959
|-
| 1962
|-
| 1963
|-
!colspan=9|as
!colspan=6|as
|-
| 1965
|colspan=8|Not affiliated to CAF
|colspan=6|Not affiliated to CAF
|-
| 1968||colspan=8|Withdrew during qualifying||colspan=6|Withdrew during qualifying
|-
| 1970||colspan=8 rowspan=4|Did not qualify||4||1||1||2||3||10
|-
| 1972||2||0||1||1||2||6
|-
| 1974||4||1||2||1||5||3
|-
| 1976||2||0||1||1||3||6
|-
| 1978||colspan=8|Withdrew during qualifying||colspan=6|Withdrew during qualifying
|-
| 1980||Group stage ||7th||3||0||1||2||3||6||4||2||1||1||8||4
|-
| 1982||colspan=8|Withdrew||colspan=6|Withdrew
|-
| 1984||colspan=8|Did not qualify||2||0||1||1||3||4
|-
| 1986||colspan=8|Withdrew during qualifying||colspan=6|Withdrew during qualifying
|-
| 1988||colspan=8 rowspan=3|Did not qualify||3||0||1||2||3||6
|-
| 1990||2||0||2||0||2||2
|-
| 1992||6||1||2||3||4||7
|-
| 1994||colspan=8|Withdrew during qualifying||colspan=6|Withdrew during qualifying
|-
| 1996||colspan=8 rowspan=4|Did not qualify||10||4||0||6||14||15
|-
| 1998||6||1||2||3||5||7
|-
| 2000||2||0||0||2||0||2
|-
| 2002||2||0||0||2||2||4
|-
| 2004||colspan=8|Withdrew during qualifying||colspan=6|Withdrew during qualifying
|-
| 2006||colspan=8 rowspan=7|Did not qualify||2||0||1||1||0||3
|-
| 2008||6||2||2||2||4||7
|-
| 2010||6|2||2||2||2||9||6
|-
| 2012||6||1||2||3||6||9
|-
| 2013||2||0||2||0||2||2
|-
| 2015||4||1||2||1||6||6
|-
| 2017||4||0||1||3||0||6
|-
| 2019||Group stage||24th||3||0||0||3||2||8||6||2||2||2||6||5
|-
| 2021||colspan=8|Did not qualify||6||2||1||3||5||6
|-
| 2023||Group stage||22nd||3||0||2||1||1||4||6||2||2||2||3||4
|-
| 2025||Round of 16
|16th
|4
|0
|2
|2
|3
|5
||6||3||1||2||5||4
|-
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2027||colspan=8|Qualified as co-hosts||colspan=6|Qualified as co-hosts
|-
| 2029
| colspan="8" |To be determined
| colspan="6" |To be determined
|-
!Total||Round of 16||4/35||13||0||5||8||9||23||99||25||32||42||100||134
|}
African Nations Championship
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=9|African Nations Championship record
!width=1% rowspan=13|
!colspan=6|Qualification record
|-
!colspan=9|Appearances: 3
!colspan=6|Appearances: 7
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!*
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| 2009||Group stage|| 5th||3||1||1||1||2||2||6||4||1||1||10||4
|-
| 2011||colspan="8" rowspan=4|Did not qualify||3||1||1||1||7||2
|-
| 2014||2||0||0||2||1||4
|-
| 2016||2||0||1||1||1||4
|-
| 2018||2||0||2||0||1||1
|-
| 2020||Group stage||10th||3||1||1||1||3||4||4||1||2||1||2||2
|-
| 2022||colspan="8"|Did not qualify||4||2||0||2||3||5
|-
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 2024||Quarter-finals
|8th
|5
|3
|1
|1
|5
|2|| colspan="6" |Qualified as hosts
|-
!Total
!Quarter-finals
!2/7
!6
!2
!2
!2
!5
!6
!23
!8
!7
!8
!25
!22
|}
African Games
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=9|African Games record
|-
!Year||Result||Pld||W||D||L||GF||GA
|-
| 1973||7th||3||0||0||3||3||7
|-
!Total||1/4||3||0||0||3||3||7
|}
Gossage Cup / CECAFA Cup
Honours
Regional
- CECAFA Cup
- Champions (3): 1974, 1994, 2010
- Runners-up (5): 1973, 1980, 1981, 1992, 2002
- Third place (4): 1975, 1979, 1990, 2008
- COSAFA Cup
- Third place (1): 2017
Friendly
- Gossage Cup / Challenge Cup (5): 1949, 1950, 1951, 1964, 1965
;Notes:
- Shared titles.
References
External links
- Tanzania at CAF
- Tanzania at FIFA