With club football put on ice for the next couple of weeks, Tanzania and Ethiopia will start their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a Group H clash at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Kick-off is at 6:00pm (CAT, GMT+2)
Current form
The Taifa Stars have been largely inconsistent throughout 2024 and only began seeing an upturn in results since the month of May.
Check out the #AFCONQ2025 groups ahead of the start of the action tomorrow. 🧐 pic.twitter.com/QyaXpyzYoJ
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) September 3, 2024
Tanzania are currently unbeaten in their last three fixtures across the board and go into their next fixture on the back of a 1-0 win against Zambia in a CAF World Cup qualifier that took place on the 11th of June.
Prior to their victory over Zambia, Tanzania also recorded a 1-0 win against Sudan in an International Friendly on the 19th of May, which was followed by a 0-0 stalemate with Tanzania on the 2nd of June.
Ethiopia on the other hand, recorded back-to-back draws against Guinea-Bissau (0-0) and Djibouti (1-1) in two of their most recent CAF World Cup qualifiers in June.
Positive results have been hard to come by for Ethiopia this year and recorded just one victory in four matches since the turn of 2024, which came in the form of a 2-1 win against Lesotho in a Friendly encounter on the 24th of March.
What was said
Tanzania national team interim head coach Hemed Suleiman has revealed that the Taifa Stars will go into their 2025 Afcon qualifying campaign with no injury concerns or worries.
“According to our medical staff, all players are in good condition and are adapting well to our training regimen,” Suleiman said.
“This isn’t new for us; our players are familiar with our approach, as some have participated in previous Afcon tournaments while others are pushing for their first appearance.
“I am optimistic that under our methods, we can create a strong team. We have been training since Thursday and are making steady progress. Recognising the significance of this match, we urge fans to come out in large numbers to support the team," Suilaman added.
Head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between Tanzania and Ethiopia in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers; however, the two sides have met on three occasions since 2013.
Ethiopia and Tanzania first met in an International Friendly on the 11th of January 2013, as Walyas bagged a 2-1 victory over the Taifa Stars at the Addis Ababa Stadium.
The two nations also competed in a couple of Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations fixtures, with Ethiopia claiming one victory over their counterparts, while one draw was shared during this period.