Tanzania made a dream start to their TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) PAMOJA 2024 campaign with a 2-0 victory over Burkina Faso on Saturday night at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
In front of an electric home crowd, the Taifa Stars dominated large portions of the Group B encounter to secure their first-ever opening win in a CHAN tournament, having lost their previous two curtain-raisers.
Abdul Sopu opened the scoring with a composed penalty in first-half stoppage time after Clement Mzize was brought down by Frank Tologo. Sopu calmly sent goalkeeper Ladji Sanou the wrong way to give the hosts a deserved lead.
Burkina Faso made three changes at the break in search of a response, introducing experienced campaigners Patrick Malo and Yves Koutiama. But Tanzania remained on the front foot and doubled their advantage in the 71st minute when defender Mohamed Hussein met a pinpoint cross from Mudathir Yahya with a powerful header.
Despite late pressure from the West Africans, including efforts from Tertius Bagré and Papus Ouattara, they were unable to find a breakthrough, extending their run without a win in CHAN opening fixtures to four.
The result places Tanzania in a strong position in a challenging group that also features Burundi and the Central African Republic.
The Taifa Stars will now seek to build on this momentum in their next outing, while Burkina Faso face a must-win scenario if they hope to progress beyond the group stage for the first time.
