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Sport inZimbabwe has a long tradition and has produced many world recognized sports names and personalities.Football is the most popular sport, althoughrugby union,cricket,tennis,golf, andnetball also have a following, traditionally among the middle class and the white minority.Field hockey is also played widely.
Although Zimbabwe has produced many athletes that have competed for Zimbabwe, there are also many athletes who learned their sport in Zimbabwe, but have chosen to represent other countries, due to greater earning opportunities abroad. Despite this the country has long punched above its weight, with international success incricket,tennis,rugby union,field hockey, andswimming among other sports. Much of this can be attributed to the country's historically strong sporting and educational culture as well as an attractiveclimate that encourages outdoor pursuits.
Cricket is the second most popular sport in Zimbabwe afterfootball. Thenational team is one of 12 eliteFull Members that playTest cricket. They began after defeating theAustralian national cricket team in an upset in 1983.
This led to the country achievingtest status in 1992, and further international success in the early 2000s.Andy Flower, a Zimbabwean batsman, ranked as the top batsman in the world, during this era. However, issues of corruption, mismanagement, emigration and a decline in funding led to a series of poor performances in Test cricket into the past decade. The team have recently improved with a revamped domestic structure.
Field hockey has the second biggest player base in the country after football, equally split among genders and a strong youth foundation in many schools. Currently, Zimbabwe has three pitches, two inBulawayo – one water base and one sand filled – and another sand filled at the Arundel School in the capital city ofHarare. Bulawayo has approximately 1,000 hockey players and Harare 8,000.[1] While the country had a tradition in the sport, with thewomen's team beinggold medallist ofthe inaugural Olympic tournament in Moscow 1980, they struggled in recent times largely due to their inability to participate in international competitions organized by theAfrican Hockey Federation (AfHF) and theInternational Hockey Federation (FIH), until theKhumalo Hockey Stadium was refurbished and played host to the2011 African Olympic Qualifier.[2]
TheZimbabwe national football team, nicknamedThe Warriors, have qualified for theAfrican Cup of Nations twice (in 2004 and 2006), but have never passed the group stages.
TheZimbabwe women's national football team, nicknamedMighty Warriors, qualified for the2016 Olympic football tournament.[3]
TheZimbabwe Premier Soccer League (known as Castle Lager Premier Soccer League) is the top professional division in Zimbabwe. There are 16 teams in the division withFC Platinum fromZvishavane being the defending champions (2018 season). Dynamos F.C has the most league wins followed by their arch rivals Highlanders FC whom they play against in the Zimbabwe Derby. There are two main cup competitions played in Zimbabwe, both are knockout tournaments, the first is the Mbada Diamonds Cup with Highlanders FC being crowned champions of the 2013 edition and the Banc ABC Super 8 which was won by Shabanie Mine in 2013 as well. Of late the Football administrators have partnered with a local company to launch another cup game – Chibuku Super Cup. The CBZ FA Cup was first created as theSouthern Rhodesia Castle Cup in 1962. The other major cup is theZimbabwean Independence Trophy created as a clubs competition in 1983.
Zimbabwe has eight main stadiums where football is played, the largest being the multi-useNational Sports Stadium.
Notable Zimbabwean footballers areBenjamin "Benjani" Mwaruwari, who played forManchester City as astriker, having taken over the captaincy fromPeter Ndlovu. Ndlovu is also a notable Zimbabwean footballer having spent twelve seasons playing for top English football clubs. Another well known Zimbabwean footballer isBruce Grobbelaar, agoalkeeper, who played for the national team, but most notably forLiverpool F.C. from 1980 to 1994.
Rugby union is a significant sport in Zimbabwe, dating back to the late 19th century. TheZimbabwe national rugby union team has been at theRugby World Cup twice. The country has also produced a number of significant rugby players, although there most of the country's best often leave for theUnited Kingdom,South Africa andAustralia, due to the lack of a professional league and the lure of much greater salaries abroad.
ExcludingSouth Africa, Zimbabwe is one of only 3 nations in Africa to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, the others beingNamibia andthe Ivory Coast. The Sables maintain fierce rivalries with regional neighbors Namibia andKenya, as the respective three nations have vied for African supremacy since the 2000s.
Zimbabwe won the2024 Rugby Africa Cup, upsetting nine-time champions Namibia in the semi-final, their first victory over their southern African rivals in 23 years.[4] The Sables repeated this feat in the2025 Rugby Africa Cup, defeating favorites Namibia 30-28 in the final and qualifying for the2027 Rugby World Cup, their first since 1991.[5]
Zimbabwe has a long history in the sport with highlights provided by greats such asNick Price,Brendon de Jonge,Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone.
With dozens of courses for the 15 million population, the country is well served. Zimbabwean golfers compete on theSunshine Tour with a strong rivalry with South Africa. Many of the most prolific golfers tend to move on to the European andPGA Tours.
Polocrosse has been played in Zimbabwe (at the timeRhodesia) since 1948.[6] In 1997, Zimbabwe became the World Champions when they went unbeaten against Australia,New Zealand, and South Africa inPietermaritzburg. Zimbabwe came fourth out of eight countries at the inaugural World Cup in 2003. Zimbabwe also won the Polocrosse Africa Cup in 2004. There are currently an estimated 156 playing members from 10 clubs. At the sports playing peak in 1996, there were 420 players.[6] The decrease in Polocrosse players is due primarily to theZimbabwean diaspora, and on-going economic and political crisis in the country.[7] Polocrosse is often played by people from a rural background, and due to theland reforms in Zimbabwe, many of these people have left the country.[citation needed]
Zimbabwe has also competed atWimbledon and theDavis Cup in tennis, most notably with the Black Family, which comprisesWayne Black,Byron Black, andCara Black. Zimbabwe's tennis players have also competed in most of theOlympic Games since independence in 1980.
Zimbabwe has won eight Olympic medals, one (team medal) infield hockey at the (boycotted)1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and the other seven by swimmerKirsty Coventry, three at the2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and four at the2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Coventry won two gold medals, four silver, and one bronze.
Zimbabwe also did well in theCommonwealth Games andAll-Africa Games in swimming, with Coventry winning 11 gold medals in the different competitions.[8][9][10][11] The country hosted the1995 All-Africa Games.
In golf – in 1995 – Zimbabwe reached the final of the Dunhill Cup, where they narrowly lost to Scotland.
In snowboarding – Zimbabwe have a single pro snowboarder by the name of Michael Lewer. Born in Bulawayo, he moved to Scotland, where he began his snowboarding career. After 8 years in Scotland, he moved to Alberta, Canada in 2012. Michael's main riding locations are Lake Louise and Sunshine, but his favourite is Norquay.[12]
In sailing -Patrick McCosh has won a bronze medal in theLaser (dinghy) at the2007 All-Africa Games[13]