The Zanzibar national football team played and won its first match in 1949. It is only an associate member of the Confederation of African Football and is not affiliated to FIFA. An application to join FIFA was rejected in 2005. This is due to the island of Zanzibar being classified as a part of Tanzania, which does hold full FIFA recognition.
Due to its status Zanzibar has never entered a world cup. It is a provisional member of the New Federation Board, an organisation that represents territories and nations that are not acknowledged by FIFA. Membership of the board is often seen as a first step in gaining FIFA affiliation.
Zanzibar came second in the non-FIFA 2006 Federation of International Football Independents cup. Due to such successes Zanzibar holds a relatively high ranking.
When it was a full member of its regional federation Zanzibar was open to qualify for the African Cup of Nations but has never done so. Its only entry resulted in failure at the qualification stages in 1962.
The only tournament in which Zanzibar can claim any kind of success is the regional Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations Cup. The team won the competition in 1995 and has appeared in the semi-finals on six occasions.
Recent years have seen Zanzibar’s success continue, with 2009 bringing the team a record 4-0 victory over Burundi.
The Zanzibar national football team plays its home games at the Amaan Stadium, a purpose-built 15,000 capacity venue.
World cup 2018
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