The Zimbabwe national football team formed in 1939. The team joined FIFA in 1965 and the Confederation of African Football in 1980. The team was known as Southern Rhodesia until 1964, when the country declared independence from the United Kingdom. This changed again in 1980 when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. Much of Zimbabwe’s footballing history has played out against a backdrop of domestic troubles.
Zimbabwe’s first international game, playing as Southern Rhodesia, was against England C (the national team that represents England at non-league level) in 1939. The semi-professionals won the game 4-0.
The team’s biggest win is a 7-0 defeat of Botswana from 1990. Zimbabwe’s biggest defeat is a 7-0 loss to South Africa from 1977.
The Africa Cup of Nations has proved elusive for Zimbabwe. The team did not qualify for the competition until 2004 and has never gone beyond the first round in two appearances. Zimbabwe has never qualified for a world cup.
Ranked 99th by FIFA, Zimbabwe is in danger of falling out of the top 100 teams in the world.
World cup 2018
Fixtures to be announced.
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