Tanzania women's national football team

| Sub-confederation = CECAFA (East & Central Africa)

(Asmara, Eritrea; 10 August 2002) (Njeru, Uganda; 6 June 2022) (Johannesburg, South Africa; 24 July 2010) 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 host 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 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. 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 and 5–2 in Dar es Salaam on 29 January. In the first round, Tanzania lost to Ethiopia 2–1 in Addis Ababa on 27 May and 1–0 in Dar es Salaam on 16 June. 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.

2014

Zambia defeated Tanzania in the first round of qualifying for the 2014 African Women's Football Championship on aggregate 3–2.

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.

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

• Athumani
• Kasonga
• Msewa
• Clement
• Singano
• Msewa
• Clement
• Luvagna
• Clement
• Mnunduka
• Luvanga
• Msewa
• Athumani
• Clement
• Msewa
• Jraïdi
• Chebbak
• I. El Ghazouani
• Badri
• S. Traoré
• Nicholaus
• Clement
• Katunzi
• Chenge
• Mbane
• Cesane
• Mbane
• Adubea
• Kusi
• Badu
• Boye-Hlorkah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsaf_Ganouati
• Mnunka
• Mnunduka

Coaching staff

Current Coaching staff

Manager history

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

Players

Main article: List of Tanzania women's international footballers

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ethiopia, November 2025.

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

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

:*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Olympic Games

:*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Women's Africa Cup of Nations

African Games

CECAFA Women's Championship

Honours

Regional

• COSAFA Women's Championship : [[File:Med 1.png]] Champions: 2021 :
• CECAFA Women's Championship : [[File:Med 1.png]] Champions: 2016, 2018, 2025

References

1. (2010-06-07). "News: Algeria, Cameroon qualify for AWC". CAF Online.
2. Nelly Mtema. (7 March 2010). "Twiga Stars Shine in Ethiopia". Tanzania Daily News.
3. FIFA.com. (23 March 2010). "Africa's Road to Germany Begins". FIFA.com.
4. Evance Ng'ingo. (6 June 2010). "Twiga Stars US trip now a reality". Daily News.
5. Majuto Omary. "Twiga Stars get Sh53m support".
6. [https://archive.today/20130418215944/http://dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=14196 "Brilliant Twiga Stars lose to South Africa", ''Daily News'', 31 October 2010]
7. [https://archive.today/20130419080037/http://www.dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=14269 "End of the road for Twiga", ''Daily News'', 4 November 2010]
8. Nisha Ligon. "Twiga Stars: Tanzania's Soccer Sisters".
9. [http://allafrica.com/stories/201104150970.html "Tanzania: Twiga Stars Secure All Africa Games Ticket", ''Daily News'', 15 April 2011]
10. [http://thecitizen.co.tz/sport/16-football/18911-nchimbi-lauds-twiga-after-namibia-victory.html "Nchimbi lauds Twiga after Namibia victory", ''The Citizen'', 16 January 2012]{{Dead link. (July 2025)
11. [http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=37970 "Twiga Stars overwhelm Namibia", ''The Guardian'', 30 January 2012]
12. [http://www.ethiosports.com/2012/05/27/lucy-defeats-twiga-stars-2-1 "Lucy defeats Twiga Stars 2–1", ''EthioSports'', reported by Mamo Gebrehiwot, 27 May 2012]
13. [http://www.ethiosports.com/2012/06/16/end-of-the-road-for-twiga-stars "End of the road for Twiga Stars", ''EthioSports'', reported by Markos Berhanu, 16 June 2012]
14. [https://archive.today/20130419142823/http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/sport/-/23326-mkwasa-resigns-after-awc-exit "Mkwasa resigns after AWC exit", ''The Citizen'', reported by Majuto Omary, 19 June 2012]
15. [https://archive.today/20130419152348/http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/sport/16-football/23354-twiga-stars-coach-faults-tff.html "Twiga Stars coach faults TFF", ''The Citizen'', reported by Majuto Omary, 20 June 2012]
16. [https://archive.today/20130418222530/http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/sport/6476-twiga-stars-hit-by-scandal "Twiga Stars hit by scandal", ''Daily News'', 21 June 2012]
17. [http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=43250 "Scandal rocks Twiga officials", ''The Guardian'', 3 July 2012]
18. [https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=23948 "She-polopolo, Twiga Stars eye Congo Brazzaville", ''Zambia Daily Mail'', 22 March 2015, accessed 27 June 2015]
19. [http://allafrica.com/stories/201504132552.html "Tanzania: Shepolopolo Manager Hails Twiga Stars", ''Daily News'', reprinted at ''allAfrica.com'', 12 April 2015, accessed 28 June 2015]
20. [https://x.com/twigastars/status/1975468267721662903 Kikosi cha Timu ya Taifa Wanawake (Twiga Stars) kitakachoingia kambini Oktoba 13, 2025 kujiandaa na mchezo wa kufuzu WAFCON dhidi ya Ethiopia]