Best finish: Winners (2021)
FIFA Ranking: 155
CAF Ranking: 29
Last five tournaments:
2017 – Did not enter
2018 – Did not enter
2019 – Did not enter
2020 – Group Stages
2021 – Winners
East African guest nation Tanzania will return to the HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Women’s Championship for a third year in a row and do so as defending champions after lifting the title in 2021.
They became the first guests to win the trophy when they defeated Malawi 1-0 in the final 12 months ago, providing the country with one of its finest achievements in the football field.
They won all three of their pool games, scoring eight goals and conceding none, before a tense clash with Zambia in the semifinals that ended 1-1. The Twiga Stars won the penalty shoot-out.
That set up the final meeting with the scorchers, where Enekia Lunyamila’s goal on 64 minutes proved the difference.
Tanzania first appeared in the COSAFA Women’s Championship in 2011 and made a strong impression, walking away with the bronze medal.
They managed pool stage wins over Botswana (3-1) and Zambia (2-0), but lost to South Africa (1-0) to finish runners-up.
That set up a semifinal with hosts Zimbabwe, where they lost on penalties after a 0-0 draw. They made up for that disappointment with a 3-0 success over Malawi in the third-place play-off.
They appeared again in 2019, where they had hoped to emulate the Tanzania side that claimed the COSAFA Women’s Under-20 Championships at the same Nelson Mandela Bay venue the year before.
They could not get out of their three-team pool though as they beat Zimbabwe 1-0 in their opener, but then lost the decisive match to Botswana, going down by the same scoreline.
The country also showed its prowess in the women’s Under-17 competition that was played at the same time as the team edged Zambia on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the final.
Tanzania qualified for their only African Women’s Championship finals in 2010, when the finals were hosted in South Africa.
They lost all three pool stage games though, going down to the hosts (2-1), Mali (3-2) and Nigeria (3-0).
They will take on COSAFA side Namibia in the preliminaries for the for the 2022 continental finals.
