Zimbabwe national football team

The Zimbabwe national football team (Nicknamed The Warriors), represents Zimbabwe in men's international football and is controlled by the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA), formerly known as the Football Association of Rhodesia. The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, but has qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations five times. Zimbabwe has also won the COSAFA Cup a record six times. The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Zimbabwe women's national football team.

Zimbabwe
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Warriors
AssociationZimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA)
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationCOSAFA (Southern Africa)
Head coachBaltemar Brito
CaptainKnowledge Musona
Most capsPeter Ndlovu (81)
Top scorerPeter Ndlovu (37)
Home stadiumNational Sports Stadium
FIFA codeZIM
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 125 Steady (21 September 2023)[1]
Highest39 (April 1994)
Lowest131 (October 2009, February–March 2016)
First international
 Southern Rhodesia 0–4 Northern Rhodesia 
(Southern Rhodesia; 1946)
Biggest win
 Botswana 0–7 Zimbabwe 
(Gaborone, Botswana; 26 August 1990)
Biggest defeat
 South Africa 7–0 Rhodesia 
(South Africa; 9 April 1977)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances5 (first in 2004)
Best resultGroup stage (2004, 2006, 2017, 2019, 2021)
African Nations Championship
Appearances5 (first in 2009)
Best resultFourth place (2014)
COSAFA Cup
Appearances20 (first in 1997)
Best resultChampions (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018)
Medal record
COSAFA Cup
Gold medal – first place2000 Southern Africa
Gold medal – first place2003 Southern Africa
Gold medal – first place2005 Southern Africa
Gold medal – first place2009 Zimbabwe
Gold medal – first place2017 South Africa
Gold medal – first place2018 South Africa
Silver medal – second place1998 Southern Africa
Silver medal – second place2001 Southern Africa
Silver medal – second place2013 ZambiaTeam
Bronze medal – third place2019 South Africa
CECAFA Cup
Gold medal – first place1985 Zimbabwe
Silver medal – second place1983 Kenya
Bronze medal – third place1982 Uganda

History

Southern Rhodesia played their first official match against the England Amateur national football team as part of their tour of South Africa and Rhodesia in June 1929. Southern Rhodesia lost their first two matches against England 4–0 and 6–1 respectively.[2] In 1965, following Southern Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence as Rhodesia, FIFA requested that the Football Association of Rhodesia reform to be a multi-racial organisation. Prior to this only white Rhodesians were selected for the national football team but after 1965 the team became multi-racial.[3] In 1969, Rhodesia took part in the Oceanic 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament. This was their first attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. Contrary to the team being viewed as the representative team of white Rhodesians, the team was multi-racial including black players.[4] They were drawn against the Australia national football team. Both legs were held in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique as the Rhodesian team were unable to get Australian visas. Rhodesia drew the first leg 1–1 but lost the second leg 3–1 thus eliminating Rhodesia from qualification.[4]

In 1980, following the country's reconstitution as Zimbabwe, they played their first FIFA World Cup qualifying match for 11 years against the Cameroon national football team. However they lost 2–1 on aggregate after a 1–0 win in the first leg in Salisbury and a 2–0 loss in the second leg.[5][6] Following this, the country passed a law that people who held British passports would not be permitted to hold a Zimbabwean passport, which mean that players such as goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, who is considered to be Zimbabwe's greatest goalkeeper, [7]were not selected for the national team for 10 years.[8] Following a change in policy that allowed Grobbelaar to play for Zimbabwe, who entered the country on his British passport, Zimbabwe under manager Reinhard Fabisch were one match away from qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. However, they lost their final qualifying match to Cameroon.[8][9]

In 2004, Zimbabwe qualified for their first Africa Cup of Nations. During their first match against Egypt, their former anthem "Ishe Komborera Africa" was accidentally played instead of "Simudzai Mureza wedu weZimbabwe", an act which Information Minister Jonathan Moyo called "a cheap attempt by the organisers to demoralise our boys".[10]

In 2015, the Zimbabwe national football team were banned from participating in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying due to an unpaid debt to former coach, José Claudinei.[11] At the time, the team was experiencing its strongest period for many years, qualifying for both the 2017 and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

On 1 March 2022, Zimbabwe, along with Kenya, was suspended again from international sport due to the interference of the government. Earlier in November 2021, Harare and Nairobi dissolved their federations and were replaced with government-officials. On 31 March, the suspension was made indefinitely and was ratified by FIFA. Suspension is set until Zimbabwe and Kenya meet the demands given by FIFA.

Kit provider
Kit provider Period
Italy L-Sporto 2004–2005
Italy Legea 2006–2009
England Umbro 2013–2014
Spain Joma 2015–2016
Singapore Mafro 2017–2018
England Umbro 2019–present

Results and fixtures
Main article: Zimbabwe national football team results (2020–present)

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023
4 September Friendly Zimbabwe  2–2
(5–4 p)		  Namibia Harare, Zimbabwe
  • Msebe 2'
  • F. Banda 36'
 Report
  • Eliakim 30'
  • Kambanda 68'
 Stadium: National Sports Stadium
30 September Friendly Botswana  1–1  Zimbabwe
November 2026 World Cup qualification Rwanda  v  Zimbabwe
November 2026 World Cup qualification Zimbabwe  v  Nigeria

Coaching history
Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.[12]

Caps and goals are correct as of 18 January 2022, after the match against Guinea.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Petros Mhari (1989-04-15) 15 April 1989 4 0 Zimbabwe Platinum
21 1GK Talbert Shumba (1990-05-12) 12 May 1990 11 0 South Africa Casric Stars
23 1GK Martin Mapisa (1998-05-25) 25 May 1998 2 0 Spain Zamora
2 2DF Godknows Murwira (1993-07-04) 4 July 1993 3 0 Zimbabwe CAPS United
3 2DF Jordan Zemura (1999-11-14) 14 November 1999 6 0 Italy Udinese
6 2DF Alec Mudimu (1995-04-08) 8 April 1995 26 0 Tunisia Olympique Béja
12 2DF Bruce Kangwa (1988-02-24) 24 February 1988 19 0 Tanzania Azam
14 2DF Onismor Bhasera (1986-01-07) 7 January 1986 44 0 South Africa SuperSport United
15 2DF Teenage Hadebe (1995-09-17) 17 September 1995 35 4 United States Houston Dynamo
20 2DF Peter Muduhwa (1993-08-11) 11 August 1993 12 0 Zimbabwe Highlanders
22 2DF Takudzwa Chimwemwe (1992-10-26) 26 October 1992 12 0 Democratic Republic of the Congo Mazembe
4 3MF Kelvin Madzongwe (1990-05-01) 1 May 1990 9 0 Zimbabwe CAPS United
5 3MF Gerald Takwara (1994-10-29) 29 October 1994 14 0 Saudi Arabia Ohod
7 3MF Ishmael Wadi (1992-12-19) 19 December 1992 6 1 South Africa JDR Stars
8 3MF Kundai Benyu (1997-12-12) 12 December 1997 5 0 Free agent
11 3MF Never Tigere (1990-12-16) 16 December 1990 6 1 Tanzania Azam
13 3MF Thabani Kamusoko (1988-03-02) 2 March 1988 20 0 Zambia Nkana
16 3MF Kudakwashe Mahachi (1993-09-29) 29 September 1993 44 5 Free agent
9 4FW David Moyo (1994-12-17) 17 December 1994 5 0 England Chorley
10 4FW Tino Kadewere (1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 22 3 France Lyon
17 4FW Knowledge Musona (1990-06-21) 21 June 1990 52 25 Saudi Arabia Al-Tai
18 4FW Prince Dube (1997-02-17) 17 February 1997 14 7 Tanzania Azam
19 4FW Admiral Muskwe (1998-08-21) 21 August 1998 6 1 England Luton Town

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Zimbabwe in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up

DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
RET Player has retired from international football.
SUS Suspended from the national team, red or yellow cards.

Records
As of 18 January 2022
Players in bold are still active with Zimbabwe.
Note: U indicates that a player's statistics are unverified.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Part of  United Kingdom Part of  United Kingdom
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962
England 1966
Mexico 1970 Did not qualify from Asia/Oceania zone 3 0 2 1 2 4
West Germany 1974 Did not enter Did not enter
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982 Did not qualify from African zone 2 1 0 1 1 2
Mexico 1986 2 0 1 1 1 2
Italy 1990 4 0 1 3 1 10
United States 1994 10 6 2 2 11 10
France 1998 8 2 2 4 10 10
South Korea Japan 2002 8 6 0 2 11 6
Germany 2006 12 5 3 4 17 16
South Africa 2010 6 1 3 2 4 6
Brazil 2014 6 0 2 4 4 9
Russia 2018 Expelled from qualifying competition[13] Expelled from qualifying competition
Qatar 2022 Did not qualify from African zone 812559
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total—0/22—————— 692218296784

Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations record
Appearances: 5
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
Sudan 1957 to Nigeria 1980 Not affiliated to CAF
Libya 1982 to Mali 2002 Did not qualify
Tunisia 2004 Group stage 14th 3 1 0 2 6 8
Egypt 2006 13th 3 1 0 2 2 5
Ghana 2008 to Equatorial Guinea 2015 Did not qualify
Gabon 2017 Group stage 14th 3 0 1 2 4 8
Egypt 2019 21st 3 0 1 2 1 6
Cameroon 2021 17th 3 1 0 2 3 4
Ivory Coast 2023 Disqualified due to FIFA suspension
Morocco 2025 To be determined
Total Group stage 5/34 15 3 2 10 16 31

African Nations Championship
African Nations Championship record
Appearances: 5
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
Ivory Coast 2009Group stage 6th303033
Sudan 201111th310223
South Africa 2014Fourth place4th623132
Rwanda 2016Group stage13th301213
Morocco 2018Did not qualify
Cameroon 2020Group stage16th300315
Algeria 2022Did not qualify
Total Fourth place 5/7 18 3 7 8 10 16

African Games
African Games
YearResultMWDLGFGA
1965-1987DNE
1991–present See Zimbabwe national under-23 football team
Total4/4000000

COSAFA Cup
  • 1997 – Qualifying round
  • 1998 – Second place
  • 1999 – Quarter-finals
  • 2000 – Winners
  • 2001 – Second place
  • 2002 – Quarter-finals
  • 2003 – Winners
  • 2004 – Semi-finals
  • 2005 – Winners
  • 2006 – Semi-finals
  • 2007 – First round
  • 2008 – Quarter-finals
  • 2009 – Winners
  • 2010 – Cancelled
  • 2013 – Second place
  • 2015 – Group stage
  • 2016 – Group stage
  • 2017 – Winners
  • 2018 – Winners
  • 2019 – Third place
  • 2020 – Cancelled
  • 2021 – Group stage

CECAFA Cup
  • 1981 – Group stage
  • 1982 – Third place
  • 1983 – Second place
  • 1984 – Group stage
  • 1985 – Winners
  • 1987 – Second place
  • 1988 – Fourth place
  • 1989 – Group stage
  • 1990 – Group stage
  • 2009 – Quarter-finals
  • 2011 – Quarter-finals

Honours

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  2. "England Matches – Unofficial". Englandfootballonline.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  3. Gilchrist, Paul (2013). The Politics of Sport: Community, Mobility, Identity. Routledge. p. 51. ISBN 978-1317990994.
  4. "When Rhodesia flirted with the World Cup". FIFA.com. 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  5. "Cameroon national football team: record v Zimbabwe". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises Limited. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. "1982 FIFA World Cup Spain – Matches – Zimbabwe-Cameroon". FIFA.com. 23 July 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  7. "Bruce Grobbelaar: Zimbabwe's Legendary Goalkeeper". Boxscore World Sportswire. 28 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  8. Hawkey, Ian. "When Peter Ndlovu and Bruce Grobbelaar made Zimbabwe dare to dream". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  9. "World Cup 1994 Qualifying". Rsssf. 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  10. "Anger over Zimbabwe anthem gaffe". BBC News. 26 January 2004. Archived from the original on 29 February 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  11. "Zimbabwe expelled from 2018 World Cup". BBC Sport. 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  12. "Afcon 2021: A Zimbabwe squad is named despite threat of a Fifa ban". BBC Sport. 29 December 2021. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  13. "Zimbabwe expelled from the preliminary competition of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia". FIFA.com. 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015.
  14. Chaudhuri, Arunava; Stokkermans, Karel (2001). "Afro-Asian Games 2003". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
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