I made it to two soccer games at the Tanzania National Stadium during our year living in Dar es Salaam (and a third up in Mwanza). The first was a Young Africans champions league game. The second was the first time an English Premier League team had ever played on African soil, featuring Rooney in his first game playing for Everton.

A brief primer on Tanzanian fútbol (skip to the next paragraph if you just want to read about how to attend a game). The top flight league in Tanzania is called the Tanzania Mainland Premier League. Young Africans is the most popular team and is affectionately called Younga by locals. It is also my adopted team. Simba is their main rival, also an extremely popular team around the country. One of these two teams wins the league title almost every year, and I would not recommend attending one of their rivalry matches, as they have historically been violent. The year I lived in Tanzania, Younga won the title (see below for my gloating pic).

I’m writing this post because it is really hard to get into a local game. Not many foreigners/visitors seem to go, and I didn’t actually see any others trying to get into the local match. The EPL game of course had a separate ticketing system and was nothing like trying to get into a local match.

If you’re trying to get into a local game, follow the below steps (current as of February 2017):

• Step 1: before you go, buy a local SIM card with a Tanzanian phone number (it is even better if you have a 9-key burner non-smartphone to reduce the risk of getting your phone stolen…see below). The cell provider cannot be Halotel (Tigo, Voda, and Airtel all work)
• Step 2: after you get to the stadium, buy an electronic card outside the stadium from whoever is selling them (the card looks like a credit/debit card). They sometimes run out of them, in which case you’re out of luck.
• Step 3: register your phone number to this card (a local should be able to help you, but don’t hand over your smartphone to them if that’s what you’re using)
• Step 4: wait in the mass of people with your hand/money/card sticking through the stadium gate, hoping an attendant will choose you and load a game ticket onto your card.
• Step 5: enter the stadium!

A brief history of our efforts:

1. The first time we tried to get into a game, we failed. We didn’t get past Step 2 above because I had a SIM card with a non-participating cell provider. We ended up watching the game on a small TV across the street at a bar (see below).
2. The second time, with the help of a nice local, we succeeded, but it required a healthy dose of luck being on our side.
3. The third time was the EPL game which, as mentioned above, had a different process for ticketing. We also were assisted with an inside hookup, which always help.  😛

IMPORTANT NOTE: watch your pockets and don’t take much of value. Our second attempt to get into the stadium, a slippery wayward hand definitely tried (unsuccessfully) to grab my phone out of my pocket. There are just tons of dudes milling around, trying to get into the game, and it can definitely be a bit sketchy. Despite the risks, I still feel it is worth it if you can make it in.