Botswana national football team

The Botswana national football team (Tswana: Setlhopha sa bosetšhaba sa kgwele ya dinao sa Botswana) represents Botswana in men's international association football. It is governed by the Botswana Football Association (BFA) which was founded in 1970.

As of December 2025, the team has qualified for two editions of Africa Cup of Nations, in 2012^[3] and 2025,^[4] and it has not managed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. The team also participates in the regional COSAFA Cup which is open to Southern African national teams and takes place annually; Botswana's best result in the cup to date is finishing runners-up in the 2016 and 2019 editions.

Botswana's first unofficial match was an 8–1 loss against Malawi on 13 July 1968,^[5] and they became affiliated with CAF in early 1976. Botswana's first official match was the 3–2 loss against Zambia on 30 August 1976.^[6] Botswana then joined FIFA in 1978.^[7]

It took part in its first preliminary competition for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, where it faced Niger and Ivory Coast. It managed a 0–0 draw with the latter in Gaborone, and lost its other 3 matches, finishing last in its group.

The next competition it entered was for the 2002 World Cup, where it faced Zambia in a 2-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 lost 3–0 to Zambia and to second-string sides from South Africa and Zimbabwe at home in Gaborone. A draw with Madagascar which was ranked at 146th in the world at the time, led Botswana FA to sack manager Colwyn Rowe, who had guided Botswana to its then-highest ever FIFA ranking of 95th. BFA claimed this move was taken because it feared for his safety from angry fans. Stanley Tshosane was named as his replacement and in his first game in charge, Botswana achieved a 2–1 win away to Mozambique. While achieving a draw with Ivory Coast, Botswana finished bottom of its qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Botswana defied its ranking to become the first team to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, beating Tunisia both at home and away. This coincided with a rise to its highest ever FIFA ranking of 53rd. It did not manage to build upon this upturn in form at the tournament, losing more narrowly to Ghana and Mali and more heavily to Guinea to finish bottom of its group with 0 points.

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

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

Beating Burundi and Guinea-Bissau in the knockout rounds, it finished last in its qualifying group for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations with a single point. In its qualifying group for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, it finished third - 7 points behind qualifiers Burkina Faso and Uganda. In the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, it beat Eritrea in the first round and won 2–1 at home against Mali in the first leg of the second round. 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 4th time after BFA chose not to renew Butler's contract. He led the team during qualifiers for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, in which Botswana scored only 1 goal in its 6 Group I matches.

Botswana made a poor start to their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign, with two losses leading many to believe they had little chance of making it to Morocco.^[8] Despite this, they then picked up eight points from a possible twelve on offer, a 1–1 draw away against Egypt in their last match of the campaign sealing qualification for only their second ever Africa Cup of Nations.^[9] This was despite manager Didier Gomes Da Rosa resigning to take charge of Al Ahli,^[10] meaning Morena Ramoreboli took interim charge for the team's last two matches.^[11]

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Group G matches against Algeria and Somalia on 20 and 25 March 2025 respectively.^[12]

Caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2024, after the match against Egypt.

The following players were last called up within the last twelve months.

As of 30 December 2025^[13]

Players in bold are still active with Botswana.

As of 30 December 2025 after match against DR Congo^[14]

• COSAFA Cup
  • Runners-up (2): 2016, 2019

• African National Team of the Year (1): 2011

• Botswana FA official site
• Botswana at CAF
• Botswana at FIFA