Botswana national football team
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| Nickname(s) |
Dipitse (The Zebras) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Botswana Football Association | |||
| Sub-confederation |
COSAFA (Southern Africa) | |||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | |||
| Head coach | Peter Butler | |||
| Captain | Joel Mogorosi | |||
| Top scorer | Jerome Ramatlhakwane (19) | |||
| Home stadium | Botswana National Stadium | |||
| FIFA code | BOT | |||
| FIFA ranking |
104  2 (9 April 2015) | |||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 53 (December 2010) | |||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 165 (November 1999) | |||
| Elo ranking | 128 | |||
| Highest Elo ranking | 97 (August 2011) | |||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 187 (March 1997) | |||
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| First international | ||||
 Malawi 8–1 Botswana  (Malawi; July 13, 1968) | ||||
| Biggest win | ||||
Botswana 6–2 Swaziland  (Gaborone, Botswana; March 2, 2002) | ||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||
|
Malawi 8–1 Botswana (Malawi; July 13, 1968) Botswana 0–7 Zimbabwe  (Gaborone, Botswana; August 26, 1990) | ||||
| Africa Cup of Nations | ||||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2012) | |||
| Best result | Group stage | |||
The Botswana national football team, nicknamed 'The Zebras' (Setswana: Dipitse) is the national football team of the African country 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[1] for the first time in their history.
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".[2] They subsequently appointed Englishman Peter Butler in February 2014.[3]
Competition records
World Cup record
- 1930 to 1990 – Did not enter
- 1994 – Did not qualify
- 1998 to 2002– Did not enter
- 2002 to 2014 – Did not qualify
Africa Cup of Nations record
- 1957 to 1992 – Did not enter
- 1994 to 2010 – Did not qualify
- 2012 – Round 1
- 2013 – Did not qualify
- 2015 - Did not qualify
Schedule and recent results
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualificiation 18 May 2014 |
Burundi  |
0–0 | Botswana |
Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, Bujumbura | ||
| 15:30 | Report | Referee: Med Said Kordi (Tunisia) | ||||
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualificiation 1 June 2014 |
Botswana |
1–0 | Burundi |
Lobatse Stadium, Lobatse | ||
| 13:30 | Mogorosi  57' |
Report | Referee: Eric Arnaud Otogo-Castane (Gabon) | |||
| Friendly 1 July 2014 | Botswana |
4–2 |  Tanzania |
National Stadium, Gaborone | ||
| 13:30 | Ramatlhakwane 40' Tshireletso 48' Phuduhudu 68' Phiri 75' |
Report | ||||
| Friendly 14 July 2014 | Botswana |
2–0 |  Lesotho |
National Stadium, Gaborone | ||
| 16:00 | Ogopotse 66' Makgantai 86' |
Report | ||||
| 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualificiation 19 July 2014 |
Botswana |
2–0 |  Guinea-Bissau |
National Stadium, Gaborone | ||
| 13:00 | Tshireletso 30', 37' |
Report | Referee: Victor Gomes (South Africa) | |||
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.[4]
Caps and goals updated as of 14 July 2014.
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Recent call-ups
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Managers
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References
- ↑ "BBC Sport - Football - Minnows Botswana qualify for Africa Cup of Nations". BBC News. 2011-03-26. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
- ↑ "BBC Sport - Football - Botswana sack coach Tshosane". BBC News. 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
- ↑ "BBC Sport - Football - Englishman Peter Butler appointed as Botswana coach". BBC News. 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
- ↑ "Zebras ready for Djurtus". Daily News (Botswana). 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
External links
- Botswana at FIFA.com
- Botswana FA Official site
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