Nickname(s) Dipitse(The Zebras) | FIFA code BOT | |
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Sub-confederation COSAFA(Southern Africa) Current 113 1 (12 January 2017) | ||
The Botswana national football team, nicknamed 'The Zebras' (Setswana: Dipitse) is the national football team of Botswana and is controlled by the Botswana Football Association. They have never qualified for the World Cup but they did qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history.
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History
Although Botswana have entered the FIFA World Cup preliminary stages five times, it took them nearly 11 years after playing their first match to register their first victory – 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 FIFA World Cup in the USA, where they faced Niger and Côte d'Ivoire. 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 2002 FIFA 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 a Madagascar side ranked 146th in the world at the time led Botswana FA to sack manager Colwyn Rowe, despite his 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 Côte d'Ivoire, Botswana finished bottom of their qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA 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 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 FIFA World Cup, finishing third in their group with 7 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.
World Cup record
Africa Cup of Nations record
Current squad
The following players were called for 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Guinea-Bissau on July 19 and August 2, 2014.
Caps and goals updated as of 14 July 2014.