Zanzibar Heroes defeated Burkina Faso 2-1 in the final of the Mapinduzi Cup 2025 played at the Gombani Stadium in Pemba on Monday evening.

Cheered on by the Zanzibar President, Hussein Mwinyi, the hosts played their hearts out to make sure they brought smiles to the faces of the home fans.

The Heroes took the lead with Ibrahim Hamd Hilika scoring after 41 minutes. But Aboubacar Traroe was on the score sheet for Burkina Faso to make it 1-1 after 70 minutes.

As the match was headed to full time Hassan Ali Cheda blasted in the winning goal for the Heroes in the second minute of added time.

It was also a revenge for Zanzibar Heroes who lost to the same side 1-0 in the early stages of the tournament. The Bukina Faso team used to the tournament to prepare ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) slated for February 1-28^th in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Hemed Morocco, the Zanzibar Heroes coach praised his team for the hard work from the start to finish of the tournament. “We need more and more of such tournaments,” added the coach.

The Mapinduzi Cup is a tournament created by the government of Zanzibar and the Zanzibar Football Federation to commemorate Zanzibar’s Revolution Day which is marked annually on 12 January.