Taifa Stars through to fourth Afcon finals

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s national football team, Taifa Stars, has secured a spot in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Morocco with a 1-0 victory over Guinea.

In the Group H match at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, Simon Msuva scored the decisive goal in the 61st minute, following a brilliant assist from Mudathir Yahya.

The win places Taifa Stars second in the group standings with 10 points from six matches, behind DR Congo, who topped the group with 12 points.

Guinea finished third with nine points, while Ethiopia ended at the bottom with one point.

Taifa Stars collected six points against Guinea, having also won their first encounter 2-1 in Ivory Coast.

This marks Tanzania's fourth times Afcon qualification since 1980.Taifa Stars also qualified in in Afcon in 2019 (Egypt), and 2023 (Ivory Coast).

Notably, this is the first time for Taifa Stars to qualification under Tanzanian coach Hemed “Morocco” Suleiman. In 1980, Taifa Stars qualified under Polish coach Slawomir Wolk.

In 2019, they were coached by Emmanuel Amunike, while the 2023 campaign was led by Algerian coach Adel Amrouche.

Taifa Stars now join 23 other nations, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Algeria, DR Congo, Senegal, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Uganda, South Africa, Tunisia, Mali, and hosts Morocco.

Others in the lineup are Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Comoros, Sudan, and Benin.

The 2025 Afcon finals are scheduled to take place from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026. This will be the 35th edition of the biennial African football tournament and Morocco’s second time hosting, following their first in 1988.

Morocco was originally set to host the 2015 edition but withdrew due to concerns over the Western African Ebola virus epidemic.