Taifa Stars at a crossroads after home loss to Uganda

Dar es Salaam. The qualification of the national football team Taifa Stars for the Champions of African Championship (CHAN) hangs in the balance after losing 1-0 to their Uganda counterparts, The Cranes, at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium yesterday.

Taifa Stars now need at least 1-0 win away in order to go for the penalties shootout or 2-0 in order to qualify for the CHAN finals scheduled to take place in Algeria next year. The Cranes’ goal was scored by Travis Mutyaba in the 89th minutes of the game.

Taifa Stars played well in the first half of the encounter and created various scoring chances, but all were wasted. The two teams will meet against on September 3rd in St. Mary’s Stadium-Kitende Stadium in Entebbe on September 3.

The tournament is reserved for players who feature in their respective domestic leagues across Africa. The winner between Tanzania and Uganda will qualify into finals scheduled to take place in Algeria from January 13 to February 4 next year.

Tanzania is seeking to qualify for the groups’ stage for the third time in the history of the competition. Tanzania qualified for the CHAN groups’ stages in 2009 under head coach Marcio Maximo from Brazil.

Cote d’Ivoire hosted it and Tanzania was placed fifth in the event. Tanzania qualified for the second time in CHAN finals in 2020 and competed in Cameroon and placed in the 10th position under Burundian tactician Etienne Ndayiragije.

Democratic Republic of the Congo, who, along with Morocco, are the only countries to have won the tournament twice, with Tunisia and Libya scooping one title each.

At first, the tournament was played with eight teams, but quickly expanded to sixteen from the second edition onward.

The whole tournament is considered friendly by FIFA since the restriction only allows players.