Swaziland National Team: Eswatini Football Squad, Records and African Kick Off Times

Swaziland is the old name of Eswatini, and the Swaziland national team is the same football side that has played as Eswatini since the kingdom changed its name in April 2018. Nicknamed Sihlangu Semnikati, the King's Shield, the team first played as Swaziland on 1 May 1968. The qualifying modules track its World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations campaigns. So, if you typed the old name, you are in the right place, in the same way that a Lagos bus stop keeps its old name on every conductor's lips long after the signboard has changed.

Below, you will find who the team are, how their qualifying campaigns have gone, which records stand from their history and which player holds most of them. South African readers who call the game soccer will find the COSAFA rivalry with Bafana Bafana covered. Fans in Kenya and Uganda can compare the fixture times in EAT with those shown for southern Africa. The fixtures, results and ranking modules above update themselves after every match, and the words here explain how to read them.

Is Swaziland the Same Team as Eswatini?

Yes, Swaziland and Eswatini are one team, one federation and one history, and only the name on the team sheet has changed. King Mswati III announced the change in April 2018, on the 50th anniversary of independence, and the national side has played as Eswatini ever since. Every record from the Swaziland years, starting with that first international on 1 May 1968, belongs to Eswatini. A result from 1994 and a result from this season therefore sit in the same book. In my opinion, that continuity matters more than the label, because the name is new but the shirt is not.

The team are run by the Eswatini Football Association, which belongs to two football families. CAF covers the whole continent, and COSAFA covers southern Africa. The second membership shapes the calendar, because the COSAFA Cup brings Eswatini up against neighbours such as South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe far more often than any World Cup draw does. The nickname, Sihlangu Semnikati, translates as the King's Shield. Somhlolo National Stadium in Lobamba, the royal and legislative capital, hosted their home win over Togo on 8 June 2008. If you follow the Super Eagles, think of COSAFA as a smaller and closer family table than the big AFCON one.

Eswatini Fixtures: What Time Is Kick Off Where You Live?

Eswatini keeps South African Standard Time, so a home kick off in Lobamba shows the same time on a clock in Johannesburg. A 15:00 kick off at Somhlolo is 13:00 GMT in Accra, 14:00 WAT in Lagos, 15:00 SAST in Johannesburg and 16:00 EAT in Nairobi and Kampala. None of those zones moves its clocks during the year, so the gaps stay fixed whatever the season. Away matches follow the host's local time, and the fixtures module converts every date into all four zones for you, which saves the arithmetic on a busy evening.

Most readers follow Eswatini on a phone rather than a television, and the fixtures and results modules above are built for that. Each row shows the date, the opponent, the competition and the venue, and it adds a full time score once the match ends. For the official record, the CAF and FIFA match centres carry qualifying fixtures, and COSAFA publishes its Cup draw before each edition. And, because broadcast rights change from one window to the next, where to watch in each country sits in the data box rather than in these words.

Who Is in the Eswatini Squad?

Eswatini squads have long mixed players from the kingdom's own Premier League with players at South African clubs, including clubs in the lower divisions, and the current list sits in the squad module, which updates with each call up. The records module tracks international caps and goals, helping readers compare the experience of players across generations.

The road from the domestic game to the national side is shorter than it is in Nigeria or Ghana, where a long list of players abroad compete for every shirt. So, a strong season in the Eswatini Premier League or a breakthrough at a South African club can lead to a call up quickly. That is why the squad module is worth a look before each international window. For readers in Johannesburg and Durban, it also means some Sihlangu players may well be familiar faces from the South African leagues, playing on grounds you could reach by taxi.

Who Coaches Sihlangu Semnikati, and How Do They Play?

The Eswatini Football Association appoints the head coach, and the current name sits in the squad module rather than here, because coaching posts can change between windows. What stays the same is the shape of the task, and in my opinion an Eswatini qualifier against one of the continent's bigger sides is usually decided by how long the defence holds and how well the few chances are taken. The 2 to 1 home win over Togo on 8 June 2008, their first World Cup qualifying win since 1992, is the model for that kind of night in Lobamba. What would lift results further, perhaps, is more players getting regular minutes at higher club levels, which is the lever every growing football nation pulls.

How Do You Read the Eswatini Qualifying Tables?

Read each qualifying table alongside its competition format and qualification notes. The qualifying modules track Eswatini's World Cup and AFCON campaigns and show how each route to the finals works. Their best World Cup campaign came in 1994, when they finished second in the CAF first round. Their best AFCON campaign came in the 2017 qualifiers, when they finished second in Group L, three points behind Zimbabwe.

In the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup, completed in 2025, Eswatini finished sixth in CAF Group D with no wins, three draws and seven losses. Read the module's qualification notes alongside the table to understand which places advance. Check the competition's tie breaking rules when teams finish level on points.

What Have Eswatini Achieved?

Eswatini's best finishes in senior competition are third place at the COSAFA Cup in 2016 and again in 2021. Their COSAFA Cup history began in 1997, and the competition module tracks their appearances. Third place in a field that includes South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe is a real achievement for a kingdom of Eswatini's size. Both runs also gave a generation of players knockout football against their neighbours, which is the kind of experience that carries into qualifying campaigns.

The other high point came in qualifying rather than at a tournament. The years from 2015 to 2017 brought the 6 to 0 win over Djibouti, second place in the AFCON 2017 qualifying group and the best FIFA ranking in the team's history, 88th in April and May 2017. In my opinion, that spell is the one to remember, in the same way that Arsenal fans in Lagos viewing centres still bring up the Invincibles season. It showed what Sihlangu Semnikati can do when a settled group of players stays together across several windows.

Who Holds the Eswatini Records?

The records module identifies the leaders for international caps and goals, and the team records cover a wide range of results. The biggest win is 6 to 0 over Djibouti on 9 October 2015, and the heaviest defeat is 10 to 0 against Egypt on 22 March 2013. The FIFA ranking shows the same climb, from a lowest point of 190th in September and October 2012 to a highest of 88th in April and May 2017. Read together, those dates tell the story of a side that rebuilt from its lowest point to its best inside a few seasons. The table below gathers every record in one place, each with its date.

Where Do Eswatini Play, and How Do You Get Tickets?

Somhlolo National Stadium in Lobamba, the kingdom's royal and legislative capital, hosted Eswatini's home win over Togo on 8 June 2008, when the team played as Swaziland. The setting gives a home match the feel of a national occasion as much as a football fixture, which fits a team named for the King's Shield. For readers used to the noise of a big AFCON night, a Lobamba international is a smaller and more personal event, and it is one where the crowd knows many of the players by name.

Tickets for home internationals are released through the Eswatini Football Association before each window, and the federation's official announcements are the place to check for prices and sales points. For fans travelling from South Africa, the kingdom shares its borders with South Africa and Mozambique, so Lobamba is far closer to many South African homes than most away trips Bafana Bafana supporters make. If you plan to travel, check the kick off time in the fixtures module first, then check the federation's ticket notice nearer the date.

Why Does Eswatini Matter in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda?

For South African readers, Eswatini are the neighbour across the border whom Bafana Bafana meet in COSAFA competition. Many Eswatini fans follow South African league football on television, and Eswatini players often sign for South African clubs, so a meeting between the two sides feels like a derby of shared clubs as much as a national contest. It could be argued that no national team in Africa knows South African football as closely as Eswatini do, and that familiarity tends to make these matches tighter than the rankings suggest.

Readers in Nairobi and Kampala can read the fixtures in EAT, while readers in Lagos use WAT and readers in Accra use GMT. Our hub of national teams brings African national team coverage together.

Is It Swaziland Football or Eswatini Football?

Eswatini football is the official name, but Swaziland football is still how many readers search, and both names point to the same team, the same federation and the same record book. CAF and FIFA fixture lists use Eswatini, while match reports and records from before April 2018 say Swaziland, so the history is split across two names. If you are looking up a result from before April 2018, search under Swaziland, and for anything played since then, search under Eswatini.