Botswana national football team

The Botswana national football team, nicknamed The Zebras (Setswana: Dipitse), represents Botswana in men's international football and is controlled by the Botswana Football Association. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but they did qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[2] The team represents both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Botswana women's national football team.
Botswana
Nickname(s)Dipitse
(The Zebras)
AssociationBotswana Football Association
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationCOSAFA
(Southern Africa)
Head coachAdel Amrouche
CaptainJoel Mogorosi
Most capsMompati Thuma (84)
Top scorerJerome Ramatlhakwane (24)
Home stadiumBotswana National Stadium
FIFA codeBOT
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 148 (16 July 2020)[1]
Highest53 (December 2010)
Lowest165 (November 1999 – February 2000)
First international
 Malawi 8–1 Botswana
(Malawi; July 13, 1968)
Biggest win
Botswana 6–0 Mauritius 
(Polokwane, South Africa; June 1, 2018)
Biggest defeat
 Malawi 8–1 Botswana
(Malawi; July 13, 1968)
Botswana 0–7 Zimbabwe 
(Gaborone, Botswana; August 26, 1990)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances1 (first in 2012)
Best resultGroup stage, 2012

History

Although Botswana have entered the FIFA World Cup preliminary stages five times, it took them nearly eleven years after playing their first match to register their first victory which was a 4–1 victory in the African pre-preliminary qualifying rounds for Germany 2006 against Lesotho.

The southern African nation took part in their first preliminary competition for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, where they faced Niger and Ivory Coast. They managed a 0–0 draw with the latter in Gaborone, but lost their other three matches, finishing last in their group.

The next competition they entered was for the 2002 World Cup, where they faced Zambia in a two-legged tie to decide which team would advance to the group stages. Zambia won both legs of the tie to qualify and knock Botswana out.

After this, Botswana suffered some poor results with the team losing 3–0 to Zambia, and losing to second-string sides from South Africa and Zimbabwe at home in Gaborone, frustrating many supporters. A draw with Madagascar which was ranked at 146th in the world at the time, led Botswana FA to sack manager Colwyn Rowe, despite him leading Botswana to their then-highest ever FIFA ranking of 95th. The BFA claimed this move was taken because they feared for his safety from angry fans. Stanley Tshosane was named as his replacement and in his first game in charge, Botswana achieved an impressive 2–1 win away to Mozambique to put them in a relatively strong position in their qualifying group. Despite also achieving a creditable draw with Ivory Coast, Botswana finished bottom of their qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

This disappointment was followed by the most successful period in Botswana's history. Botswana defied their ranking to become the first team to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, beating Tunisia both at home and away. This success coincided with a rise to their highest ever FIFA ranking of 53rd. They did not manage to build upon this upturn in form at the tournament, losing narrowly to Ghana and Mali and heavily to Guinea to finish bottom of their group with zero points.

The truncated qualification format for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations saw them face Mali in a two-legged tie, which they lost 7–1 on aggregate. They then failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, finishing third in their group with seven points behind South Africa and Ethiopia.

In October 2013, the Botswana Football Association sacked Tshosane, citing his "failing to meet the targets set for him". They subsequently appointed Englishman Peter Butler in February 2014.

Since then, the qualification to major tournaments has continued to elude Botswana. Despite beating Burundi and Guinea-Bissau in the knockout rounds, they finished last in their difficult qualifying group for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations with just a single point. In their qualifying group for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, they finished third - seven points behind qualifiers Burkina Faso and Uganda. In the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, they beat Eritrea in the first round and won 2–1 at home against Mali in the first leg of the second round. However, a 2–0 win for Mali in Bamako meant that Botswana lost on aggregate and failed to make the group stages.

In July 2017, David Bright became manager of the Zebras for the fourth time after the BFA chose not to renew Butler's contract. He led the team during qualifiers for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations but results were poor with Botswana only scoring one goal in their six Group I matches.

Competition records

World Cup record
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1990 Did not enter Did not enter
1994 Did not qualify 4 0 1 3 1 9
1998 Did not enter Did not enter
2002 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 2
2006 12 4 1 7 14 19
2010 6 1 2 3 3 8
2014 6 2 1 3 8 10
2018 4 3 0 1 7 4
2022 2 0 1 1 0 1
2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/23 36 10 6 20 33 53

Africa Cup of Nations record
Main article: Botswana at the Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
1957 to 1965 Part of United Kingdom
1968 to 1976Not affiliated to CAF
1978 to 1992 Did not enter
1994 to 2010 Did not qualify
2012 Round 1 14 3 0 0 3 2 9
2013 to 2019 Did not qualify
2021 To be determined
2023
2025
Total Round 1 1/31 3 0 0 3 2 9

COSAFA Cup
Main article: COSAFA Cup
COSAFA Cup Record
Year Rank Pld W D L GF GA
1997 0000000
1998 0000000
1999 0000000
2000 0000000
2001 0000000
2002 0000000
2003 0000000
2004 0000000
2005 0000000
2006 0000000
2007 0000000
2008 0000000
2009 0000000
2013 0000000
2015 0000000
2016 0000000
2017 0000000
2018 0000000
2019 0000000
Total 0/19 ------

All-time record against other nations

As of 18 November 2019 after match against  Algeria[3]

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponent
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Algeria100101−1
 Angola12165513−8
 Burkina Faso621337−4
 Burundi421121+1
 Central African Republic210134−1
 Cameroon1010000
 Chad220020+2
 China PR200216−5
 Comoros3111220
 DR Congo503204−4
 Egypt602417−6
 Equatorial Guinea110020+2
 Eritrea220051+4
 Ethiopia420274+3
 Gabon1010000
 Ghana201101−1
 Guinea5005218−16
 Guinea-Bissau211031+2
 Iran1010110
 Iraq1010110
 Ivory Coast4022111−10
 Kenya7304710−3
 Lesotho30141153523+12
 Liberia1010000
 Libya302101−1
 Madagascar621345−1
 Malawi2558122147−26
 Mali7106519−14
 Mauritania410338−5
 Mauritius311161+5
 Morocco200202−2
 Mozambique2144131531−16
 Namibia1971021918+1
 New Zealand1010000
 Niger301224−2
 Nigeria1010000
 Senegal200205−5
 Seychelles330071+6
 South Africa150510825−17
 South Sudan110030+3
 Swaziland2312653621+15
 Sweden100112−1
 Tanzania512279−2
 Togo2101220
 Trinidad and Tobago1010000
 Tunisia621359−4
 Uganda502327−5
 Zambia223613834−26
 Zimbabwe17449821−13
Total3038082141245388−143

Results and Fixtures
2 June 2019 2019 COSAFA Cup QFSouth Africa 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(4–5 p)		 BotswanaDurban, South Africa
15:00 SAST
Report
Stadium: Princess Magogo Stadium
Referee: Celso Alvação (Mozambique)
5 June 2019 2019 COSAFA Cup SFLesotho 1–2 BotswanaDurban, South Africa
17:00 SAST
Report
Stadium: Moses Mabhida Stadium
Referee: Ganesh Chutooree (Mauritius)
8 June 2019 2019 COSAFA Cup FinalBotswana 0–1 ZambiaDurban, South Africa
15:00 SAST Report
Stadium: Moses Mabhida Stadium
Referee: Eugene Salas Mdluli (South Africa)
7 September 2019 (2019-09-07) 2022 WCQBotswana 0–0 MalawiFrancistown, Botswana
16:00 UTC+2 Report (FIFA) Stadium: Francistown Stadium
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Anthony Ogwayo (Kenya)
10 September 2019 (2019-09-10) 2022 WCQMalawi 1–0
(1–0 agg.)		 BotswanaBlantyre, Malawi
14:00 UTC+2
Report (FIFA) Stadium: Kamuzu Stadium
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Souleiman Djama (Djibouti)
30 September 2019 International FriendlyBotswana 0–0 LiberiaGaborone, Botswana
Report Stadium: Botswana National Stadium
14 October 2019 International FriendlyEgypt 1–0 BotswanaAlexandria, Egypt
19:00
Report Stadium: Borg El Arab Stadium
Referee: Ibrahim Nour El Din (Egypt)
15 November 2019 2021 AFCONQZimbabwe 0–0 BotswanaHarare, Zimbabwe
18:00 UTC+2 Stadium: National Sports Stadium
18 November 2019 2021 AFCONQBotswana 0–1 AlgeriaGaborone, Botswana
21:00 UTC+2
Stadium: National Stadium
Referee: Ali Sabilla (Uganda)

Records
As of 14 November 2017[4]

Managers
gollark: Well, actually, 1941824 femtomacrons occurred.
gollark: https://forum.osmarks.net/t/40#190
gollark: ++remind 8d heavpoot thing
gollark: You don't have self-answering question technology?
gollark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PclgBd6_Zs ← you.

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. "BBC Sport – Football – Minnows Botswana qualify for Africa Cup of Nations". BBC News. 2011-03-26. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  3. "World Football Elo Ratings: Botswana". Elo Ratings. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  4. "Botswana - Record International Players". rsssf.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.