The Botswana national football team () represents Botswana in men's international association football. It is governed by the Botswana Football Association (BFA) which was founded in 1970.
As of December 2025, the team has qualified for two editions of Africa Cup of Nations, in 2012 and 2025, and it has not managed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. The team also participates in the regional COSAFA Cup which is open to Southern African national teams and takes place annually; Botswana's best result in the cup to date is finishing runners-up in the 2016 and 2019 editions.
History Botswana's first unofficial match was an 8–1 loss against Malawi on 13 July 1968, and they became affiliated with CAF in early 1976. Botswana's first official match was the 3–2 loss against Zambia on 30 August 1976. Botswana then joined FIFA in 1978.
It took part in its first preliminary competition for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, where it faced Niger and Ivory Coast. It managed a 0–0 draw with the latter in Gaborone, and lost its other 3 matches, finishing last in its group.
The next competition it entered was for the 2002 World Cup, where it faced Zambia in a 2-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 lost 3–0 to Zambia and to second-string sides from South Africa and Zimbabwe at home in Gaborone. A draw with Madagascar which was ranked at 146th in the world at the time, led Botswana FA to sack manager Colwyn Rowe, who had guided Botswana to its then-highest ever FIFA ranking of 95th. BFA claimed this move was taken because it feared for his safety from angry fans. Stanley Tshosane was named as his replacement and in his first game in charge, Botswana achieved a 2–1 win away to Mozambique. While achieving a draw with Ivory Coast, Botswana finished bottom of its qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Botswana defied its ranking to become the first team to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, beating Tunisia both at home and away. This coincided with a rise to its highest ever FIFA ranking of 53rd. It did not manage to build upon this upturn in form at the tournament, losing more narrowly to Ghana and Mali and more heavily to Guinea to finish bottom of its group with 0 points.
The truncated qualification format for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations saw Botswana face Mali in a two-legged tie, which Botswana lost 7–1 on aggregate. Botswana failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, finishing third in its group with 7 points behind South Africa and Ethiopia.
In October 2013, BFA sacked Tshosane, citing his "failing to meet the targets set for him". It subsequently appointed Englishman Peter Butler in February 2014.
Beating Burundi and Guinea-Bissau in the knockout rounds, it finished last in its qualifying group for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations with a single point. In its qualifying group for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, it finished third - 7 points behind qualifiers Burkina Faso and Uganda. In the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, it beat Eritrea in the first round and won 2–1 at home against Mali in the first leg of the second round. A 2–0 win for Mali in Bamako meant that Botswana lost on aggregate and failed to make the group stages.
In July 2017, David Bright became manager of the Zebras for the 4th time after BFA chose not to renew Butler's contract. He led the team during qualifiers for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, in which Botswana scored only 1 goal in its 6 Group I matches.
Botswana made a poor start to their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign, with two losses leading many to believe they had little chance of making it to Morocco. Despite this, they then picked up eight points from a possible twelve on offer, a 1–1 draw away against Egypt in their last match of the campaign sealing qualification for only their second ever Africa Cup of Nations. This was despite manager Didier Gomes Da Rosa resigning to take charge of Al Ahli, meaning Morena Ramoreboli took interim charge for the team's last two matches.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2025
2026
2027
Coaching history
Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
Thomas Johnson (1973) Rudi Gutendorf (1976) Peter Cormack (1986–1987) Kenny Mwape (1990–1992) Freddie Mwila (1992–1994) Freddie Mwila (1994–1996) Michael Gaborone (1996–1997) David Bright (1997–1998) David Bright (1999) Jeff Butler (1999) David Bright (2000) Karl-Heinz Marotzke (2001) Veselin Jelušić (2002–2005) David Bright (2006) Colwyn Rowe (2006–2008) Stanley Tshosane (2008–2013) Peter Butler (2014–2017) Mogomotsi Mpote (2017) David Bright (2017–2019) Mfolo Mfolo (2019) Mogomotsi Mpote (2019) Adel Amrouche (2019–2022) Rahman Gumbo (2022) Mogomotsi Mpote (2022–2023) Didier Gomes Da Rosa (2023-2024) Morena Ramoreboli (2025-2026)
Players
Current squad The following players were called up for the Mukuru Four Nations Tournament on 28 and 31 March 2026.
Caps and goals correct as of 31 March 2026, after the match against Malawi.
Recent call-ups The following players were last called up within the last twelve months.
Player records
Players in bold are still active with Botswana.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer 1 Mosha Gaolaolwe 97 2 2013–present 2 Joel Mogorosi 93 16 2005–2019 3 Mompati Thuma 92 1 2004–2013 4 Modiri Marumo 88 0 1997–2015 5 Ndiapo Letsholathebe 78 0 2003–2013 6 Kabelo Seakanyeng 77 10 2014–present 7 Tshepo Motlhabankwe 76 2 2003–2013 8 Mogogi Gabonamong 74 4 1999–2015 9 Dipsy Selolwane 68 18 1998–2012 10 Tumisang Orebonye 65 7 2017–present
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer 1 Jerome Ramatlhakwane 24 61 2006–2018 2 Dipsy Selolwane 18 68 1998–2012 3 Joel Mogorosi 16 93 2005–2019 4 Lemponye Tshireletso 11 64 2009–20205 Onkabetse Makgantai 10 29 2014–2021 Kabelo Seakanyeng 10 77 2014–present 7 Moemedi Moatlhaping 9 51 2004–2013 8 Tshepiso Molwantwa 8 45 1998–2006 9 Pontsho Moloi 7 51 2004–2012 Tumisang Orebonye 7 65 2017–present
Competitive records
FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition* 1970 to 1978Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member 1982 to 1990Did not enterDeclined participation 1994Did not qualify401319 1998Did not enterDid not enter 2002Did not qualify200202 2006124171419 2010612338 20146213810 2018430174 2022201101 2026103161216 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034Total 46137264569
Africa Cup of Nations
Africa Cup of Nations recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1957Part of Part of 1959 1962 1963 1965 1968Not affiliated to CAFNot affiliated to CAF 1970 1974 1976 1978Did not enterDid not enter 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994Did not qualify201104 199610028527 1998201106 2000201112 2002210113 2004603326 2006124171419 2008621337 2010612338 2012Group stage16th300329852173 2013Did not qualify200217 20158125211 2017620458 2019601518 2021611429 2023611439 2025Group stage24th300307622247 2027To be determinedTo be determined 2029TotalGroup stage2/3560062169620205554144
COSAFA Cup
Head-to-head record As of 28 September 2026 after match against Tunisia +Key Positive balance (more Wins) Neutral balance (Wins = Losses) Negative balance (more Losses) OpponentPldWDLGFGAGD 4 0 0 4 2 12 −10 14 2 6 6 6 14 −8 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 6 2 1 3 3 7 −4 5 2 2 1 2 1 +1 2 1 0 1 3 4 −1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 2 0 0 2 1 6 −5 5 2 2 1 3 2 +1 6 0 3 3 0 7 −7 8 0 3 5 2 12 −10 3 1 0 2 4 5 –1 2 2 0 0 5 1 +4 4 2 0 2 7 4 +3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 7 1 1 5 5 20 −15 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 4 0 2 2 1 11 −10 7 3 0 4 7 10 −3 31 15 11 5 39 23 +16 1 0 1 1 1 3 −2 6 1 3 2 3 4 −1 8 1 2 3 4 5 −1 26 6 8 12 22 47 −25 7 1 0 6 5 19 −14 6 1 1 4 4 10 −6 3 1 1 1 6 1 +5 2 0 0 2 0 2 −2 25 5 5 15 19 40 −21 20 7 11 2 19 18 +1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 8 −8 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 8 1 +7 2 2 0 0 5 1 +4 20 0 6 14 10 31 −21 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 32 16 11 5 46 26 +20 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 5 1 2 2 7 9 −2 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 2 3 4 7 14 −7 7 0 2 5 2 9 −7 27 4 8 15 15 42 −27 20 4 5 11 9 26 −17 Total 367 96 103 168 299 463 −168
Honours Regional COSAFA Cup Runners-up (2): 2016, 2019
Awards African National Team of the Year (1): 2011
References
External links
Botswana FA official site Botswana at CAF Botswana at FIFA