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In March 2017, Zanzibar were admitted to CAF, becoming its 55th member, only for their membership to be rescinded four months later, with CAF president Ahmad Ahmad claiming the region should never have been admitted as it is not a sovereign nation.
Zanzibar won their first international trophy since 1995 with the 2025 Mapinduzi Cup after defeating Burkina Faso 2–1 in the final.
Results and fixtures
2025
2026
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 (2021–2023)
Notable players
- Ally Badru – played for El Qanah and Al Bashaer
Records
:Players in bold are still active with Zanzibar.
Most appearances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
! style="width:200px;"|Player
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Goals
! style="width:100px;"|Career
|-
| 1
|align=left| Suleiman Selembe
| 32
| 5
| 2009–2019
|-
| 2
|align=left| Aggrey Morris
| 30
| 6
| 2004–2012
|-
| 3
|align=left| Nadir Haroub
| 28
| 1
| 2005–2015
|-
| rowspan=2|4
|align=left| Abdulghani Gulam Abdallah
| 18
| 1
| 2009–2012
|-
|align=left| Khamis Mcha Khamis
| 18
| 5
| 2007–2015
|-
| 6
|align=left| Ally Mwadini
| 17
| 0
| 2009–2015
|-
| rowspan=2|7
|align=left| Soud Abdallah Juma
| 14
| 1
| 2002–2007
|-
|align=left| Abdi Kassim
| 14
| 2
| 2002–2010
|-
| 9
|align=left| Abdallah Juma Ally
| 13
| 9
| 2002–2007
|-
| rowspan=5|10
|align=left| Issa Haidar Dau
| 11
| 0
| 2015–present
|-
|align=left| Mwinyi Mngwali
| 11
| 0
| 2015–present
|-
|align=left| Waziri Omar
| 11
| 0
| 2009–2013
|-
|align=left| Nassor Said
| 11
| 0
| 2009–2013
|-
|align=left| Mudathir Yahya
| 11
| 1
| 2015–present
|-
|}
Top goalscorers
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!width=30px|Rank
! style="width:200px;"|Name
!width=50px|Goals
!width=50px|Caps
!width=50px|Ratio
!width=100px|Career
|-
| 1
|align="left"| Abdallah Juma Ally
| 9
| 13
|
| 2002–2007
|-
| 2
|align="left"| Aggrey Morris
| 6
| 30
|
| 2004–2012
|-
| rowspan=2|3
|align="left"| Khamis Mcha Khamis
| 5
| 18
|
| 2007–2015
|-
|align="left"| Suleiman Selembe
| 5
| 32
|
| 2009–2019
|-
| rowspan=9|5
|align="left"| Alek Mohammed
| 2
| 1
|
| 2006
|-
|align="left"| Ali Shiboli
| 2
| 2
|
| 2010
|-
|align="left"| Kassim Suleiman Khamis
| 2
| 3
|
| 2017–present
|-
|align="left"| Ahmed Ali Mkweche
| 2
| 4
|
| 2005–2007
|-
|align="left"| Khamis Mussa Makame
| 2
| 7
|
| 2017–present
|-
|align="left"| Salum Ussi
| 2
| 7
|
| 2002–2006
|-
|align="left"| Mohammed Juma
| 2
| 8
|
| 2017–present
|-
|align="left"| Abdulaziz Makame
| 2
| 9
|
| 2017–present
|-
|align="left"| Abdi Kassim
| 2
| 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:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan=9|Gossage Cup record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1947
|Fourth Place
|4th
|1
|0
|0
|1
|1
|3
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 1948
|Third Place
|3rd
|1
|0
|0
|1
|1
|3
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1949
|Fourth Place
|4th
|1
|0
|0
|1
|2
|3
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1950
|Fourth Place
|4th
|1
|0
|0
|1
|0
|4
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 1951
|Third Place
|3rd
|1
|0
|0
|1
|0
|1
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 1952
|Third Place
|3rd
|2
|1
|0
|1
|4
|8
|- style="background:#c96;"
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1953
|Third Place
|3rd
|1
|0
|0
|1
|1
|5
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1954
|Fourth Place
|4th
|1
|0
|0
|1
|0
|5
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 1955
|Third Place
|3rd
|1
|0
|0
|1
|-
|-
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 1956
|Third Place
|3rd
|2
|1
|0
|1
|5
|7
|- style="background:#c96;"
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1957
|Third Place
|3rd
|2
|0
|1
|1
|4
|8
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1958
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|1
|2
|3
|8
|- style="background:silver;"
| 1959
|Runners-Up
|2nd
|3
|1
|1
|1
|3
|7
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1960
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|3
|11
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1961
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|1
|15
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
|1962
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|0
|19
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1963
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|1
|5
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1964
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|1
|0
|2
|5
|10
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1965
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|2
|12
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1966
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|1
|2
|1
|7
|-
!Total
!Runners-up
!20/37
!41
!4
!4
!33
!37
!141
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan=9|East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
! *
!
!
!
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 1967
|Third Place
|3rd
|3
|1
|0
|2
|3
|8
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1968
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|0
|8
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1969
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|0
|3
|1
|12
|- style="background:#c96;"
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1970
|Third Place
|3rd
|3
|1
|0
|2
|4
|5
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 1971
|Fourth Place
|4th
|3
|0
|1
|2
|2
|8
|-
!Total
!Third place
!5/5
!15
!2
!1
!12
!10
!41
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!colspan=9|CECAFA Cup record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
! *
!
!
!
|-
| 1973
|Group stage
|5th
|2
|0
|0
|2
|0
|6
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 1974
|Third place
|3rd
|2
|1
|0
|1
|3
|3
|-
| 1975
|Group stage
|6th
|2
|0
|0
|2
|1
|7
|-
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1976
|Group stage
|6th
|3
|1
|0
|2
|1
|4
|-
| 1977
|Group stage
|6th
|3
|1
|0
|2
|1
|4
|-
| 1978
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 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
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 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
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
| 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
|- style="background:#9acdff;"
|style="border: 3px solid red"| 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
|colspan=8|Did not enter
|- style="background:gold;"
| 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
|colspan=8|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
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 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
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 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
|- style="background:#c96;"
| 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
|- style="background:silver;"
| 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.