Football in Mozambique

Country| Mozambique
Governing body| Mozambican Football Federation
National team(s)| men's national team

National competitions

Taça de Moçambique

Club competitions

Moçambola

International competitions

Champions League
CAF Confederation Cup
Super Cup
FIFA Club World Cup
FIFA World Cup(National Team)
African Cup of Nations(National Team)

The sport of football in the country of Mozambique is run by the Mozambican Football Federation. The association administers the national football team, as well as the national league. Football is the most popular sport in the country.[1]

## History

[edit]

Since the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498, the Portuguese increasingly strengthened their presence in the country until Mozambique's independence from Portugal in 1975, when the country became a Portuguese colony. To this day, therefore, football in Mozambique is characterized by its Portuguese origins and relationships, for example by partly former, partly still current affiliate associations of the Portuguese clubs Sporting CP and Benfica. Also, many Mozambican footballers play in Portugal. The most famous example might be Eusébio.[2] He began his footballing career in 1957 at Clube de Desportos do Maxaquene, which was founded on May 20, 1920 in the capital of Mozambique as Sporting CP's sixth branch club.[3] From 1960 Eusébio then played for Benfica, where he was eleven times Portuguese champion and 1962 European Champions Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) won.[4] He became European Footballer of the Year in 1965 and was the top scorer of the 1966 World Cup.[5]

Already since 1922 regular championships in Mozambique were played out, at first only as a district championship of Lourenço Marques (today Maputo), from 1956 as the national championship of the Portuguese overseas province of Mozambique.

In 1975, Mozambique became independent from Portugal, and in 1976 the National Football Association of the Republic of Mozambique, the Mozambican Football Federation was founded. Since then, FMF has been directing football leagues in the country and is responsible for the national football teams.

## Domestic football

[edit]

Since 1976, FMF has organized the country's top division, the Campeonato Moçambicano de Futebol, better known as Moçambola. Record champions are each with nine titles founded in 1924 Clube Ferroviário de Maputo and existing since 1955 CD Costa do Sol. In 2014, for the fourth time in five years, the league Muçulmana became national champion.

The moçambola's three last-placed clubs are relegated to the second division, the single-track Segunda Divisão with 21 clubs. Under this second league follow the eleven supreme leagues of the football associations of the eleven Mozambican provinces.

The national trophy of the FMF, the Taça de Moçambique, has been played since 1978. The first winner was CD Maxaquene, who won the cup nine times (as of December 2014). However, the CD Costa do Sol is also in the cup competition record champion, with 11 won trophies. In 2013 and 2014, the Clube Ferroviário da Beira won the trophy.

Mozambique clubs have often played in the CAF Champions League and the African Cup Winners' Cup. So far, however, none of the clubs could win a title there (as of January 2015)

## National team

[edit]

The Mozambican national football team has participated in FIFA tournaments since the 1980 FIFA World Cup finals. So far they have not qualified for a World Cup.

Mozambique has already participated in the Africa Cup of Nations four times, in 1986, 1996, 1998 and 2010. They were eliminated in all four tournaments in the preliminary round.

For the African Nations Championships Mozambique could qualify in 2014 for the first time, but retired there in the preliminary round.

At the Nations Cup of Southern Africa, the COSAFA Cup, Mozambique participated in each edition so far. The best placement reached his selection thereby with the second place in the year 2009 (conditions: 2014).

Mozambique also took part in every edition of the football tournaments in the framework of the Jogos da Lusofonia, the "Lusophony Games". In 2017, it will host the games itself.

In December 2014, Mozambique finished 98th in the FIFA World Ranking. The highest FIFA placement reached by the national team in November 1997 with the 66th place, the worst in July 2005 with the 134th place. Chiquinho Conde head coach of the Mozambique national team until 2026

## Women's football

[edit]

The women's Mozambique national football team took part in the first Africa Women Cup of Nations in 1998, but dropped out in the preliminary round. Since then, the selection of Mozambique has not survived a qualifying round and therefore could not participate in any other African Championship (as of 2014).

In December 2014, Mozambique finished 133rd in the FIFA Women's World Ranking.

Felice Lemos caused quite a stir in 2013. She was known as the first female coach of a male football team, when she took over the first team of the club Zixaxa in the capital Maputo. She reported a lot of encouragement from the players and the fans, but she also experienced misogynist discrimination on the part of her coaches colleagues.[6]

## League system

[edit]

Level

League(s)/Division(s)

|

Moçambola
16 clubs

| ↓↑ 3 clubs

Mozambican Provincial Leagues
11 leagues

## Football stadiums in Mozambique

[edit]

# | Stadium | Capacity | City | Tenants | Image

|
|
|
|
|

1 | Estádio da Machava | 45,000 | Maputo | Clube Ferroviário de Maputo |
2 | Estádio do Zimpeto | 42,000 | Maputo | Mozambique national football team |
3 | Estádio do Maxaquene | 15,000 | Maputo | Clube de Desportos do Maxaquene |
4 | Estádio do Costa do Sol | 10,000 | Maputo | CD Costa do Sol |
5 | Estádio Municipal 1º de Maio | 10,000 | Lichinga | Futebol Clube de Lichinga |
6 | Estádio Matateu | 8,000 | Maputo | Grupo Desportivo de Maputo |
7 | Estádio Municipal de Pemba | 5,000 | Pemba | Clube Ferroviário de Pemba |

## See also

[edit]

* Lists of stadiums

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Soccer enthusiast helps kids in Mozambique enjoy the game". Canada.com. 2008-07-03. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
2. ^ "Out of Africa: the story of Eusebio's roots in Mozambique". 18 January 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
3. ^ "Eusebio: The Black Pearl". 10 April 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2017 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
4. ^ Hayward, Paul (5 June 2010). "From Africa to posterity: How Eusébio lit up the World Cup". Retrieved 16 December 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
5. ^ "Eusebio obituary: Footballer acknowledged as one of the greatest ever". 5 January 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
6. ^ "Futebol no feminino em Maputo - Moçambique - DW - 18.04.2013". DW.COM. Retrieved 12 December 2017.

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Football in Mozambique

Mozambican Football Federation

National teams|

| Men|

* National team
* Olympic (U-23)
* U-20
* U-17

|

Women|

* National team
* U-20
* U-17

League system|

| Men|

* Moçambola

|

Domestic cups|

| Men|

* Taça de Moçambique
* Supertaça de Moçambique

|

Awards|

* Footballer of the Year
* Top scorers

Lists|

* All-time Table
* Champions
* Clubs
* International footballers
* Foreign players
* Venues

* Men's clubs
* Women's clubs
* Men's players
* Women's players
* Expatriate players
* Managers
* Referees
* Venues
* Seasons
* Records

* v
* t
* e

Football in Africa

Sovereign states|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Benin
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Republic of the Congo
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Eswatini
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* The Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Libya
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Mauritius
* Morocco
* Mozambique
* Namibia
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Rwanda
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
* Seychelles
* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* South Africa
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

States with limited
recognition

* Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
* Somaliland

Dependencies and
other territories

* Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain)
* Madeira (Portugal)
* Mayotte / Réunion (France)
* Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

* v
* t
* e

League systems in sport

* League system
* Sports league
* Professional sports league organization
* Division (sport)
* Promotion and relegation
* Closed league
* Semi-closed league

American football|

* Germany

Association
football|

| AFC|

* Afghanistan
* Australia
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* China
* East Timor
* Guam
* Hong Kong
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Japan
* Jordan
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* Lebanon
* Macau
* Malaysia
* Mongolia
* Myanmar
* Nepal
* Northern Mariana Islands
* Pakistan
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Taiwan
* Tajikistan
* Thailand
* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
* Vietnam

|

CAF|

* Algeria
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Comoros
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Ghana
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Madagascar
* Mauritius
* Morocco
* Mozambique
* Nigeria
* Réunion
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Seychelles
* Somalia
* South Africa
* Tunisia

CONCACAF|

* Anguilla
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Aruba
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Bermuda
* Bonaire
* British Virgin Islands
* Canada
* Cayman Islands
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Curaçao
* Dominican Republic
* El Salvador
* French Guiana
* Guadeloupe
* Guatemala
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Martinique
* Mexico
* Montserrat
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Puerto Rico
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Martin
* Sint Maarten
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Turks and Caicos Islands
* United States
* United States Virgin Islands

CONMEBOL|

* Argentina
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Ecuador
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

OFC|

* French Polynesia
* New Caledonia
* New Zealand
* Papua New Guinea
* Tuvalu

UEFA|

* Albania
* Andorra
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* England (women's)
* Estonia
* Faroe Islands
* Finland
* France
* Georgia
* Germany (women's)
* Gibraltar
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Kazakhstan
* Kosovo
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Northern Ireland
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Scotland
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey (women's)
* Ukraine
* Wales

Basketball|

| Continental|

* Europe
* South America

|

National|

* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Italy
* Japan
* Poland
* Russia
* Serbia
* Spain
* Turkey

Handball|

* Denmark
* Hungary

Ice hockey|

* United States

Rugby league|

* Great Britain
* France

Rugby union|

* England
* France
* Ireland
* New Zealand
* Scotland
* Wales

Shinty|

* Scotland

Sumo|

* Japan

Tennis|

* Davis Cup
* Billie Jean King Cup

Water polo|

* Hungary

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