Tanzania, situated on the Indian Ocean, south of Kenya, has nearly 60 million inhabitants. This sizeable East African country, which gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, is the home of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Its official languages are Swahili and English, its capital city is Dodoma, and its economic hub is Dar es Salam.
It is also the nation that produced a young football team that just made a little bit of history: the Serengeti Girls, who are playing in their maiden Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup™ in India, scored their first goals and secured their first victory in their second group-stage encounter on Saturday. The win did not just come over any old team, either – they saw off the considerable challenge of former champions France.
“We’ve achieved something that no other Tanzanian team had ever managed to do,” left-winger Diana Mnally, who scored Tanzania’s opening goal, told Fifa.
Indeed, no Tanzanian side – male or female, youth or senior – had ever qualified for a World Cup before India 2022.
“And so I’m really happy, because it’s helping to raise the profile of our country. People who’d never heard of us now realise we exist because of our results. The entire world watches these tournaments, so it’s a terrific opportunity to show what I can do. I have a personal responsibility to my family to do so.”
Mnally has a close relationship with her family, and her mother in particular, who relies on her for financial help, to support her four children (Diana and her three brothers).
“I help her with the farm,” she told Fifa+. “Not physically, but I give her money that I earn from my matches. Whenever there’s a problem, I send her money so that she can hire extra staff, for example.
“I help my family because I can, thanks to football and the talent that God gave me. I don’t have a father, so I support my mother with the little that I earn.”
Beyond her personal joy, she hopes to make her entire country feel proud of her and the team, but also to show that Tanzania belongs in tournaments such as these.
“I prayed so much for Tanzania to become well known and recognised, and that’s what we managed to do today,” she said. “That’s much more than I expected, and I’m really happy.”
While Mnally and her teammates are on cloud nine after this unexpected triumph, it is difficult to imagine the reaction and celebrations within the Tanzanian squad should they succeed in qualifying for the quarterfinals of India 2022.
The young Africans currently occupy second place in Group D. Another win this week against bottom-placed Canada would open the doors to the last eight and further raise the profile of their fascinating country.