Tanzania have qualified for the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since their first participation 45 years ago.<\/p>\n
Tanzania finished third in Group C behind Nigeria and Tunisia. They lost their opening game to Nigeria but drew with Uganda and Tunisia. Despite failing to win a game and only earning two points, they will face the host nation Morocco in the round of 16 after qualifying as one of the four best third-placed sides.<\/p>\n
Tanzania finished on the same amount of points as Angola, third-placed in Group B, with equivalent goal difference, but had scored one more goal.<\/p>\n
A Taifa Stars moment with the fans. \ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddff\ud83d\udc99#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025<\/a> | #WeCelebrateDifferent<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/J9cPRMWT9g<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It was not immediately clear if they would progress after they drew 1-1 with Tunisia, however, with the African football federation\u2019s (CAF) live blog<\/a> saying they had exited the tournament.<\/p>\n CAF\u2019s report however, carried celebratory quotes from the national team coach, and said their hopes were \u201cstill alive\u201d. Later in the evening they confirmed their progress in a social media post<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have enough time to prepare the team, but we worked together with the management and federation and feel very proud,\u201d Miguel Gamondi said<\/a>. \u201cNot just for myself but for the country.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to change this mentality of underdogs. To qualify is a great learning for Tanzania who must be proud. I hope this will be a reminder to these players and the next generation of players on the potential of Tanzanian football.\u201d<\/p>\n Feisal Salum will go down as a hero with the country\u2019s supporters after his 48th minute strike helped them to recover from a 1-0 deficit against Tunisia.<\/p>\n This is a huge moment for Tanzania who are only making their fourth appearance at the competition.\u00a0They will be co-hosting the next edition in 2027 alongside Kenya and Uganda, bringing the tournament to east Africa for the first time since it was staged in Ethiopia in 1976.<\/p>\n Tanzania face Morocco in Rabat on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n