Football in Zimbabwe
{{Short description|none}}
{{EngvarB|date = July 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox sport overview
| boxwidth = 250
| title = Football in Zimbabwe
| image =
| imagesize = 240px
| image_alt =
| caption = National Sports Stadium in Harare
| union = Zimbabwe Football Association
| country = Zimbabwe
| sport = association football
| noncountry =
| teamlabel1 =
| nationalteam = Men's national team;
Women's national team
| teamlabel2 =
| repteam =
| nickname = Mighty Warriors, Warriors
| first = at least 1890 (men);
unknown (women)
| registered = 1892
| clubs =
| national_list = FIFA World Cup (m)
FIFA Women's World Cup (w)
Africa Cup of Nations (m)
Women's Africa Cup of Nations (w)
African Nations Championship (m)
COSAFA Cup (m)
COSAFA Women's Championship (w)
Olympic Games (w)
| club_list = Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (m)
Cup of Zimbabwe (m)
Zimbabwean Independence Trophy (m)
Zimbabwe Division 1 (m)
Zimbabwe Women's Football Super League (w)
| intl_list = FIFA Club World Cup (m)
CAF Champions League (m)
CAF Women's Champions League (w)
CAF Confederation Cup (m)
| match =
| league =
}}
The sport of football in the country of Zimbabwe is run by the Zimbabwe Football Association.{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201011030103.html |title=Zimbabwe: Zifa Pledge to Revive Women's Soccer |publisher=allAfrica.com |date=2010-11-03 |access-date=2012-08-01}} The association administers the national football team, as well as the Premier League.{{cite web |url=http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40413:zim-football-declining&catid=50:sport&Itemid=142 |title='Zim football declining' |publisher=Herald.co.zw |date=2012-05-02 |access-date=2012-08-01 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226210551/https://www.herald.co.zw/?option=com_content&view=article&id=40413%3Azim-football-declining&catid=50%3Asport&Itemid=142 |url-status=live }} It is the most popular sport in that nation.[https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-sports-sc-other-byo-164657.html Favorite sports in Zimbabwe] Bulawayo24. Visited 12 August 2022. It was introduced to the country by the British colonialists by the end of the 19th century and quickly took hold.[https://africasacountry.com/2020/02/zimbabwes-forgotten-football-history Zimbabwe's forgotten football history] Africa's a country. Visited 12 August 2022.
Early history
From 1890 onwards, white settlers played football in what was then Southern Rhodesia. As in other sports, a strict racial separation prevented Black men and women from participating in the sport. The first club for Black workers, set up to divert black labourers from protests and gambling, was Highlanders F.C., which was founded in Bulawayo in the 1920s.[https://africasacountry.com/2020/02/zimbabwes-forgotten-football-history Zimbabwe's forgotten football history] Africa's a country. Visited 12 August 2022. At the time, the white settler clubs, as the Highlanders, where football clubs from and for men. If women's football was organised in some form at the time is unknown.
A men's national team was first formed to play the visiting England Amateur national football team in 1929.[http://www.englandfootballonline.com/MatchRsl/MatchRslUnoffpg1.html England's Matches Unofficial until 1946] England Football Online. Visited 12 August 2022. In 1946 a men's national team played a first full international against Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).{{cite book |last=Liwena |first=Ridgeway |date=2006 |title=The Zambian Soccer Scene (2nd edition)}} Until 1965, only white men were selected to play for the national team.[https://africasacountry.com/2020/02/zimbabwes-forgotten-football-history Zimbabwe's forgotten football history] Africa's a country. Visited 12 August 2022.
Football governance
The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is the governing body of football in Zimbabwe.[https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ZIM Zimbabwe] FIFA.com. Visited 12 August 2022. It was formed in 1892 and governs men's football since then and women's football since the mid 1990s.[https://allafrica.com/stories/201303041754.html Zimbabwe: We Are the Pioneers of Women Soccer - Richard] AllAfrica.com. Visited 12 August 2022.
ZIFA joined FIFA in 1965[https://africasacountry.com/2020/02/zimbabwes-forgotten-football-history Zimbabwe's forgotten football history] Africa's a country. Visited 12 August 2022. and CAF in 1980.[https://www.cafonline.com/member-associations/zim/ Zimbabwe Football Association] CAFOnline. Visited 12 August 2022.
Leagues
The highest tier in women's football is the Zimbabwe Women's Football Super League,[https://allafrica.com/stories/202203080143.html Zimbabwe: Women's League Back After Two-Year Absence] AllAfrica. Visited 12 August 2022. while the highest men's league is called Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League.[https://premierleague.co.zw/# Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League] Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League Homepage. Visited 12 August 2022.
Cup system
The Cup of Zimbabwe is the national men's football cup tournament, while the Zimbabwean Independence Trophy, often also called Uhuru Cup, is an additional annual cup event.
There is currently no women's cup tournament in Zimbabwe.
Men's national team
{{main|Zimbabwe national football team}}
The biggest success of the Zimbabwe national team to date was the participation in the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia 2004, Egypt 2006, Gabon 2017, Egypt 2019 and Cameroon 2021. A team of players from the local league furthermore finished fourth at the 2014 African Nations Championship.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
Women's national team
{{main|Zimbabwe women's national football team}}
The Zimbabwe women's national football team is the only Zimbabwean international team that qualified for a major intercontinental tournament, the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.[https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2016/8/4/rio-2016-zimbabwe-womens-arduous-journey-to-brazil Rio 2016: Zimbabwe women's arduous journey to Brazil] Al Jazeera. Visited 12 August 2022. While losing all three group stage matches against Germany, Canada and Australia, they managed to score a single goal in each match. The national team also finished fourth at the 2000 African Women's Championship in South Africa and qualified for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Nigeria 2002, South Africa 2004 and Cameroon 2016.[https://www.okayafrica.com/rio2016-zimbabwe-womens-football-team-olympics-history/ Zimbabwe women's football team Olympics history] OkayAfrica. Visited 12 August 2022. In 2011, the women's national team won the 2011 COSAFA Women's Championship on home soil.[https://www.womenssoccerunited.com/zimbabwe-1-0-south-africa-final-cosafa-womens-championship-harare-zimbabwe-2011/ Zimbabwe 1 - 0 South Africa Final COSAFA Women's Championship, Harare, Zimbabwe 2011] Womens Soccer United. Visited 12 August 2022.
Football clubs in Zimbabwe
{{main|List of football clubs in Zimbabwe}}
Football stadiums in Zimbabwe
{{row counter|
Support
Twitter research from 2015 found that the most popular English Premier League club in Zimbabwe was Manchester United, with 28% of Zimbabwean Premier League fans following the club, followed by Chelsea (19%) and Arsenal (17%).{{Cite web |date=2015-08-07 |title=Which is Africa's favourite Premier League team? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33808566.amp |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=BBC News |language=en-gb}}