| Football in Zimbabwe | |
|---|---|
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Governing body | Zimbabwe Football Association |
| National teams | Men's national team; Women's national team |
| Nicknames | Mighty Warriors, Warriors |
| First played | at least 1890 (men); unknown (women) |
| Registered players | 1892 |
| National competitions | |
| Club competitions | |
| International competitions | |
Thesport offootball in the country ofZimbabwe is run by theZimbabwe Football Association.[1] The association administers thenational football team, as well as thePremier League.[2] It is the most popular sport in that nation.[3] It was introduced to the country by theBritish colonialists by the end of the 19th century and quickly took hold.[4]
From 1890 onwards, white settlers played football in what was thenSouthern Rhodesia. As in other sports, a strict racial separation prevented Black men and women from participating in the sport. The first club for Black workers, set up to divert black labourers from protests and gambling, wasHighlanders F.C., which was founded in Bulawayo in the 1920s.[5] At the time, the white settler clubs, as the Highlanders, where football clubs from and for men. If women's football was organised in some form at the time is unknown.
A men's national team was first formed to play the visitingEngland Amateur national football team in 1929.[6] In 1946 a men's national team played a first full international against Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).Liwena, Ridgeway (2006).The Zambian Soccer Scene (2nd ed.). Until 1965, only white men were selected to play for the national team.[7]
TheZimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is the governing body of football inZimbabwe.[8] It was formed in 1892 and governs men's football since then and women's football since the mid 1990s.[9]
ZIFA joinedFIFA in 1965[10] andCAF in 1980.[11]
The highest tier in women's football is theZimbabwe Women's Football Super League,[12] while the highest men's league is calledZimbabwe Premier Soccer League.[13]
TheCup of Zimbabwe is the national men's football cup tournament, while theZimbabwean Independence Trophy, often also called Uhuru Cup, is an additional annual cup event.There is currently no women's cup tournament in Zimbabwe.
The biggest success of the Zimbabwe national team to date was the participation in theAfrica Cup of Nations inTunisia 2004,Egypt 2006,Gabon 2017,Egypt 2019 andCameroon 2021. A team of players from the local league furthermore finished fourth at the2014 African Nations Championship.[citation needed]
The Zimbabwe women's national football team is the only Zimbabwean international team that qualified for a major intercontinental tournament, the2016 Olympics in Brazil.[14] While losing all three group stage matches against Germany, Canada and Australia, they managed to score a single goal in each match. The national team also finished fourth at the2000 African Women's Championship in South Africa and qualified for theWomen's Africa Cup of Nations inNigeria 2002,South Africa 2004 andCameroon 2016.[15] In 2011, the women's national team won the2011 COSAFA Women's Championship on home soil.[16]
Twitter research from 2015 found that the most popularEnglish Premier League club in Zimbabwe wasManchester United, with 28% of Zimbabwean Premier League fans following the club, followed byChelsea (19%) andArsenal (17%).[17]
The average attendance per top-flight football league season and the club with the highest average attendance:
| Season | League average | Best club | Best club average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,667 | Highlanders FC | 9,034 |
Source:[18]
| National teams |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League system |
| ||||
| Domestic cups |
| ||||
| Awards | |||||
| Lists | |||||
