Tanzania women's national football team

The Tanzania national women's football team is the national team of Tanzania and is controlled by the Tanzania Football Federation. They are nicknamed the Twiga Stars.

The Twiga Stars qualified for their first CAF Women's Championship finals on 5 June 2010, after defeating Eritrea 11–4 on aggregate.

History

2010 The Twiga Stars defeated Ethiopia in the preliminary round of the 2010 African Women's Football Championship on aggregate 4–2. The first leg was played in Addis Ababa on 8 March. Tanzania won the match 3–1, with goals by Ester Chabruma, Mwanahamis Omary, and Asha Rashid. The return leg played at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam on 29 March ended in a 1–1 draw.

In the first round of the African Championship, Tanzania defeated Eritrea on aggregate 11–4. The Twiga Stars won 8–1 in Dar es Salaam on 23 May and drew 3–3 in Asmara on 5 June.

After the Twiga Stars' success in qualifying for the African Championship finals in South Africa, a Tanzanian businesswoman, Rahma Al-Kharoosi, sponsored them to train in the United States for two weeks in August 2010. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete donated 53 million Tanzanian shillings (approximately US$30,000) on 9 June to cover training camp expenses and allowances before the championship tournament.

Tanzania lost all three games in Group A of the African Championship, to the hosts South Africa 2–1 on 31 October, Mali 3–2 on 4 November, and Nigeria 3–0 on 7 November.

They are the subject of the 2010 documentary film Twiga Stars: Tanzania's Soccer Sisters by Nisha Ligon.

2011 Tanzania qualified for the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo when its opponents in the qualifying rounds, Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan, declined to play."Tanzania: Twiga Stars Secure All Africa Games Ticket", Daily News, 15 April 2011 The Twiga Stars finished in third place in the four-team Group B at the games. They lost to Ghana 2–1 on 5 September, drew with South Africa 2–2 on 8 September, and drew with Zimbabwe 2–2 on 11 September.

2012 In the preliminary round of the 2012 African Women's Championship, Tanzania defeated Namibia 2–0 in Windhoek on 14 January"Nchimbi lauds Twiga after Namibia victory", The Citizen, 16 January 2012 and 5–2 in Dar es Salaam on 29 January."Twiga Stars overwhelm Namibia", The Guardian, 30 January 2012 In the first round, Tanzania lost to Ethiopia 2–1 in Addis Ababa on 27 May"Lucy defeats Twiga Stars 2–1", EthioSports, reported by Mamo Gebrehiwot, 27 May 2012 and 1–0 in Dar es Salaam on 16 June."End of the road for Twiga Stars", EthioSports, reported by Markos Berhanu, 16 June 2012 Tanzania thus failed to qualify for the finals of the African Championship in Equatorial Guinea. The head coach, Charles Boniface Mkwasa, resigned two days after the last match with Ethiopia, and the following day, Nasra Mohammed, the assistant coach, blamed inadequate financial support from the Tanzania Football Federation for the failure to advance.

On 21 June, Mkwasa admitted that he had dismissed several players from the team after discovering that they had engaged in homosexual acts.

It is true that some of the players engaged themselves in homosexuality, but we removed them from the team as soon as we learnt of their behaviour. We took the decision regardless of the player's ability and contribution in the team. There is this problem that these players want to behave like their male counterparts, because they play football, they want to look like men players. But I have always been very tough on this. I have been talking to them, trying to counsel them on how they should behave and I think there is tremendous change on that area and of course their discipline is generally good.

At a subsequent news conference, Mkwasa claimed he had been misquoted. Lina Mhando, the chairperson of Tanzania Women Football, called it a "non-existing scandal" and said there is no concrete proof of the allegations. The team manager, Furaha Francis, said that regardless of whether the scandal exists, it has been blown out of proportion and that there is no proof to substantiate the allegations."Scandal rocks Twiga officials", The Guardian, 3 July 2012

2014 Zambia defeated Tanzania in the first round of qualifying for the 2014 African Women's Football Championship on aggregate 3–2."She-polopolo, Twiga Stars eye Congo Brazzaville", Zambia Daily Mail, 22 March 2015, accessed 27 June 2015

2015 Tanzania has qualified for the 2015 All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo by defeating Zambia in the second round of qualifying on aggregate 6–5."Tanzania: Shepolopolo Manager Hails Twiga Stars", Daily News, reprinted at allAfrica.com, 12 April 2015, accessed 28 June 2015

Results and fixtures

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

Legend

2025

2026

Coaching staff Current Coaching staff

+ StaffRoleNameHead Coach Bakari Nyundo ShimeGoalkeeper Coach Maimuna Said MkaneAssistant Coach Bertha Marco KazobeTeam Manager Neema Hassan IssaTeam Doctors Sechelela Michael PesseSubira Salehe MipikoEquipment Manager Amina Mwinchuma Hatibu

Manager history

Rogasian Kaijage (????–2021) Bakari Shime(2021–2022) Oscar Mirambo( 2022–2023) Bakari Shime(2023–present)

Players

Current squad The following players were called up for the 2026 WAFCON matches from 26 July through 16 August 2026.

Recent call-ups The following players have been called up to a Tanzania squad in the past 12 months.

Previous squads COSAFA Women's Championship 2020 COSAFA Women's Championship squad 2022 COSAFA Women's Championship squad CECAFA Women's Championship 2022 CECAFA Women's Championship squads 2025 CECAFA Women's Championship squads

Records

*Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 2020.

Most capped players

#PlayerYear(s)Caps

Top goalscorers

#PlayerYear(s)GoalsCaps

Competitive record FIFA Women's World Cup FIFA Women's World Cup recordYearResult* 1991did not exist 1995 1999 2003did not qualify 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 2027 2031To be determined 2035Total0/120000000 *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Olympic Games Summer Olympics recordYearResult* 1996did not exist 2000 2004did not qualify 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 To be determinedTotal0/90000000 *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Women's Africa Cup of Nations Africa Women Cup of Nations recordYearRoundGPWDLGFGA1991did not exist1995 1998 2000 2002did not qualify2004 2006 2008 2010Group stage300338 2012did not qualify 2014 2016 2018 2022 2024Group stage301226 2026310245Total:3/16Group stage9117919

African Games African Games recordYearRoundGPWDLGSGA 2003did not qualify 2007 2011Group Stage302156 2015Group Stage301215 2019See Tanzania women's national under-20 football team 2023Total2/46033611

CECAFA Women's Championship CECAFA Women's ChampionshipYearRoundGPWD*LGSGAGD 1986 2016Winner431094+5 2018 Winner421194+5 2019Runner-up5401212+19 2021Cancelled 2022Fourth5212186+12 2025Winner4400130+13Total3/52215347016+54

Honours Regional COSAFA Women's Championship Champions: 2021

CECAFA Women's Championship Champions: 2016, 2018, 2025

Tanzania women's national football team

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