Rhodesia_national_football_team
Zimbabwe national football team
Men's association 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).
 | ||||
| Nickname(s) | The Warriors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) | |||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | |||
| Sub-confederation | COSAFA (Southern Africa) | |||
| Head coach | Norman Mapeza (Interim) | |||
| Captain | Marvelous Nakamba | |||
| Most caps | Peter Ndlovu (81) | |||
| Top scorer | Peter Ndlovu (37) | |||
| Home stadium | National Sports Stadium | |||
| FIFA code | ZIM | |||
| ||||
| FIFA ranking | ||||
| Current | 122  2 (4 April 2024)[1] | |||
| Highest | 39 (April 1994) | |||
| Lowest | 131 (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 | ||||
| Appearances | 5 (first in 2004) | |||
| Best result | Group stage (2004, 2006, 2017, 2019, 2021) | |||
| African Nations Championship | ||||
| Appearances | 5 (first in 2009) | |||
| Best result | Fourth place (2014) | |||
| COSAFA Cup | ||||
| Appearances | 20 (first in 1997) | |||
| Best result | Champions (2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017, 2018) | |||
| Four Nations Football Tournament | ||||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2024) | |||
| Best result | Runner-up (2024) | |||
Southern Rhodesia played their first official match against the England Amateur national football team as part of the latter's 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. The team has produced some of the finest footballers the likes of the legendary Peter Ndlovu who played for Zimbabwe 100 times. He featured in the English premier for Coventry City, Birmingham City, Sheffield United and Huddersfield. Peter Ndlovu is well remembered for the hatrick he scored at Anfield against Liverpool, Bruce Grobelaar former Liverpool Goalkeeper, Norman Mapeza former Galatasary defender, Benjan Mwaruwaru former Man city player. Knowledge Musona former Anderletch and Bundesliga player. Khama Billiat former Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs player.
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
v 
Namibia
| 4 September Friendly | Zimbabwe | 2–2 (5–4 p) | Namibia | Harare, Zimbabwe |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: National Sports Stadium |
v Zimbabwe
| 30 September Friendly | Botswana | 1–1 (4–3 p) | Zimbabwe | Gaborone, Botswana |
| 16:00 UTC+2 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Botswana National Stadium |
v Zimbabwe
| 15 November 2026 World Cup qualification | Rwanda | 0–0 | Zimbabwe | Butare, Rwanda |
| 15:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Stade Huye Referee: Mohamed Ali Moussa (Niger) |
2023
- Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
Danny McLennan (1965–1969)
Bill Asprey (1975–1977)- John Rugg (1980-1981)
Shepherd Murape (1981–1983)- Mick Poole (1985)
Ben Koufie (1988–1992)
Reinhard Fabisch (1992–1995)- Rudi Gutendorf (1995–1996)
- Bruce Grobbelaar (1996)
- Ian Porterfield (1996–1997)
- Sunday Chidzambwa (1997)
- Bruce Grobbelaar (1997)
Roy Barreto (1997–1998)- Bruce Grobbelaar (1998)
Clemens Westerhof (1998–2000)- Misheck Chidzambwa (2000)
- Sunday Chidzambwa (2000–2002)
Wiesław Grabowski (2002)- Sunday Chidzambwa (2003–2004)
- Rahman Gumbo (2004)
- Charles Mhlauri (2004–2007)
- Sunday Chidzambwa (2007)
- Norman Mapeza (2007)
- Luke Masomore (2007-2008)
José Claudinei (2008)- Sunday Chidzambwa (2008–2009)
- Norman Mapeza (2009–2010)
Tom Saintfiet (2010)- Madinda Ndlovu (2010–2011)
- Norman Mapeza (2011–2012)
- Rahman Gumbo (2012)
- Klaus Dieter Pagels (2012–2013)
- Ian Gorowa (2013–2014)
- Callisto Pasuwa (2015–2017)
- Wilson Mutekede (2017)
- Sunday Chidzambwa (2017–2019)
- Joey Antipas (2019–2020)
Zdravko Logarušić (2020–2021)- Norman Mapeza (2021–2022)
- Wilson Mutekede (2022)
- Shepherd Murape (2022-2023)
- Sunday Chidzambwa (2023)
- Baltemar Brito (2023-2024)
- Norman Mapeza (2024-)
Current squad
The following players were selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Rwanda and Nigeria on 15 and 19 November 2023.[12]
Caps and goals are correct as of 19 November 2023, after the match against Nigeria.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1GK | Donovan Bernard | (1995-07-12) 12 July 1995 (age 28) | 3 | 0 | Chicken Inn |
| 16 | 1GK | Washington Arubi | (1985-08-29) 29 August 1985 (age 38) | 30 | 0 |  SuperSport United |
| 22 | 1GK | Martin Mapisa | (1998-05-25) 25 May 1998 (age 25) | 2 | 0 |  Málaga City |
| 3 | 2DF | Jordan Zemura | (1999-11-14) 14 November 1999 (age 24) | 7 | 0 |  Udinese |
| 4 | 2DF | Munashe Garananga | (2001-01-18) 18 January 2001 (age 23) | 1 | 0 |  Mechelen |
| 5 | 2DF | Frank Makarati | (1994-03-14) 14 March 1994 (age 30) | 1 | 0 | Dynamos |
| 15 | 2DF | Teenage Hadebe | (1995-09-17) 17 September 1995 (age 28) | 37 | 4 |  Houston Dynamo |
| 19 | 2DF | Divine Lunga | (1995-05-28) 28 May 1995 (age 28) | 20 | 0 | Mamelodi Sundowns |
| 21 | 2DF | Peter Muduhwa | (1993-08-11) 11 August 1993 (age 30) | 14 | 0 | Highlanders |
| 23 | 2DF | Andrew Mbeba | (2000-02-19) 19 February 2000 (age 24) | 6 | 0 | Highlanders |
| 20 | 2DF | Tivonge Rushesha | (2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 (age 21) | 0 | 0 |  Reading |
| 2 | 3MF | Gerald Takwara | (1994-10-29) 29 October 1994 (age 29) | 16 | 0 |  Ohod |
| 6 | 3MF | Brian Banda | (1995-09-09) 9 September 1995 (age 28) | 7 | 0 | Platinum |
| 7 | 3MF | Tanaka Shandirwa | (1999-12-04) 4 December 1999 (age 24) | 3 | 0 | Dynamos |
| 8 | 3MF | Marshall Munetsi | (1996-06-22) 22 June 1996 (age 27) | 25 | 1 |  Stade de Reims |
| 10 | 3MF | Andy Rinomhota | (1997-04-21) 21 April 1997 (age 26) | 1 | 0 |  Cardiff City |
| 18 | 3MF | Marvelous Nakamba | (1994-01-19) 19 January 1994 (age 30) | 28 | 0 | Luton Town |
| 9 | 4FW | Terrence Dzvukamanja | (1994-05-05) 5 May 1994 (age 29) | 16 | 0 | SuperSport United |
| 11 | 4FW | Tino Kadewere | (1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 (age 28) | 24 | 3 | Nantes |
| 12 | 4FW | Walter Musona | (1995-12-12) 12 December 1995 (age 28) | 6 | 1 | Platinum |
| 13 | 4FW | Obriel Chirinda | (1997-01-28) 28 January 1997 (age 27) | 6 | 1 | Bulawayo Chiefs |
| 14 | 4FW | Prince Dube | (1997-02-17) 17 February 1997 (age 27) | 16 | 7 |  Azam |
| 17 | 4FW | Admiral Muskwe | (1998-08-21) 21 August 1998 (age 25) | 7 | 1 | Exeter City |
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. | ||||||
- As of 19 November 2023[13]
- Players in bold are still active with Zimbabwe.
Most appearances
| Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Ndlovu | 81 | 37 | 1991–2007 |
| 2 | John Phiri U | 62 | 1 | 1983–1997 |
| 3 | Adam Ndlovu | 57 | 34 | 1990–2004 |
| 4 | Esrom Nyandoro | 56 | 4 | 2001–2012 |
| 5 | Dumisani Mpofu | 52 | 0 | 1996–2006 |
| Knowledge Musona | 52 | 25 | 2010–present | |
| 7 | Khama Billiat | 51 | 17 | 2011–2021 |
| 8 | Ovidy Karuru | 50 | 7 | 2007–2021 |
| 9 | Ronald Sibanda | 49 | 3 | 1997–2007 |
| 10 | Onismor Bhasera | 45 | 0 | 2006–present |
- Note: U indicates that a player's statistics are unverified.
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Ndlovu | 37 | 81 | 0.46 | 1991–2007 |
| 2 | Adam Ndlovu | 34 | 57 | 0.6 | 2010–2012 |
| 3 | Knowledge Musona | 25 | 52 | 0.48 | 2010–present |
| 4 | Agent Sawu | 18 | 57 | 0.32 | 1990–2004 |
| 5 | Khama Billiat | 17 | 48 | 0.35 | 2011–2021 |
| 6 | Vitalis Takawira | 12 | 30 | 0.4 | 1992–1998 |
| 7 | Luke Jukulile | 10 | 15 | 0.67 | 2000–2001 |
| Benjani Mwaruwari | 10 | 42 | 0.24 | 1999–2010 | |
| 9 | Cuthbert Malajila | 9 | 32 | 0.28 | 2008–2017 |
| 10 | Gilbert Mushangazhike | 8 | 26 | 0.31 | 1997–2008 |
| Benjamin Nkonjera | 8 | 28 | 0.29 | 1993–1998 | |
FIFA World Cup
| FIFA World Cup | Qualification | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | F | A | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | ||
| 1930 to 1962 | Part of  United Kingdom |
Part of United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
| as Rhodesia |
as Rhodesia | |||||||||||||||
| 1966 |
Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
 1970 |
Did not qualify from Asia/Oceania zone | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
 1974 |
Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
 1978 | ||||||||||||||||
| as Zimbabwe |
as Zimbabwe | |||||||||||||||
| 1982 |
Did not qualify from African zone | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1986 |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 1990 |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 1994 |
10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | ||||||||||
 1998 |
8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
  2002 |
8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2006 |
12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 2010 |
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||||||||||
 2014 |
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | ||||||||||
 2018 |
Expelled from qualifying competition[14] | Expelled from qualifying competition | ||||||||||||||
 2022 |
Did not qualify from African zone | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 9 | |||||||||
 2026 |
To be determined | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
  2030 |
To be determined | |||||||||||||||
| 2034 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | — | 0/15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 71 | 22 | 20 | 29 | 68 | 85 | ||
Africa Cup of Nations
| Africa Cup of Nations record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 5 | ||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
 1957 to  1980 |
Not affiliated to CAF | |||||||
 1982 to  2002 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 2004 |
Group stage | 14th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
 2006 |
13th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
 2008 to  2015 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
 2017 |
Group stage | 14th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 2019 |
21st | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
 2021 |
17th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
 2023 |
Disqualified due to FIFA suspension | |||||||
| 2025 |
To be determined | |||||||
  2027 | ||||||||
 2029 | ||||||||
| 2031 | ||||||||
| 2033 | ||||||||
| 2035 | ||||||||
| 2037 | ||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 5/41 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 31 |
African Nations Championship
| African Nations Championship record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances: 5 | ||||||||
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
| 2009 | Group stage | 6th | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
 2011 | 11th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| 2014 | Fourth place | 4th | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 2016 | Group stage | 13th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2018 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2020 | Group stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
 2022 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| Total | Fourth place | 5/7 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 16 |
African Games
| African Games | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1965-1987 | DNE | |||||||
| 1991–present | See Zimbabwe national under-23 football team | |||||||
| Total | 4/4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
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
- COSAFA Cup
- CECAFA Cup
- Afro-Asian Games
- Bronze Medal (1): 2003[15]
- Four Nations Football Tournament
- Runners-up (1): 2024
- "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- "England Matches – Unofficial". Englandfootballonline.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- Gilchrist, Paul (2013). The Politics of Sport: Community, Mobility, Identity. Routledge. p. 51. ISBN 978-1317990994.
- "When Rhodesia flirted with the World Cup". FIFA.com. 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "Cameroon national football team: record v Zimbabwe". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises Limited. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "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.
- "Bruce Grobbelaar: Zimbabwe's Legendary Goalkeeper". Boxscore World Sportswire. 28 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- 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.
- "World Cup 1994 Qualifying". Rsssf. 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "Anger over Zimbabwe anthem gaffe". BBC News. 26 January 2004. Archived from the original on 29 February 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "Zimbabwe expelled from 2018 World Cup". BBC Sport. 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- "Final 23". twitter.com/online_zifa. Zimbabwe Football Association Twitter. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- "Zimbabwe". National Football Teams.
- "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.
- Chaudhuri, Arunava; Stokkermans, Karel (2001). "Afro-Asian Games 2003". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- Zimbabwe Football Association at CAF online
- Zimbabwe Football Association at FIFA