Mbwana Samatta

Samatta was first called up to the Tanzania national team in 2011 and subsequently established himself as a key forward for the national side. On 24 March 2013, in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Morocco, he scored twice to lead Tanzania to a 3–1 victory. He also scored against Cape Verde in a home match during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, contributing to Tanzania's 2–0 victory. On 13 June 2019, Samatta was included in Tanzania's final 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, announced by manager Emmanuel Amunike. He made his tournament debut on 23 June in the group-stage match against the Senegal national team. Tanzania also faced Kenya and Algeria in the tournament but were eliminated in the group stage. Samatta appeared in all three of Tanzania's matches and scored one goal. In 2023, Samatta served as captain of the Tanzania national team at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Tanzania lost 0–3 to Morocco in the group stage, before drawing 1–1 with Zambia and 0–0 with the DR Congo. Samatta played in all three matches, while Tanzania were eliminated in the group stage with two points. In December 2025, Samatta was included as captain in Tanzania's final 28-man squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Tanzania lost 1–2 to the Nigeria national team in the group stage, before drawing with Uganda and Tunisia, respectively, and advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 for the first time in their history. Samatta appeared in four matches…

Samatta was a key figure during TP Mazembe's run to the final of the 2015 CAF Champions League, scoring seven goals in the process and finishing as the competition's top scorer. In their group stage match against Moghreb Tétouan, Samatta scored a memorable hat-trick to secure a place in the semi-finals where they were drawn against Sudanese side Al-Merrikh SC. Mazembe would go on to lift the cup after defeating Algerian side USM Alger in the final 4–1 on aggregate, with Samatta scoring a goal in both legs. At the Glo-CAF Awards on 7 January 2016 at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, Nigeria, he became the first player from East Africa to be crowned the CAF African Player of the Year. Mbwana garnered a total of 127 points, ahead of his TP Mazembe teammate and DR Congo goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba, who amassed 88 points, and Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah trailed in third place with 63 points.

Genk

In January 2016, after winning the prize for best African player on the continent, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with KRC Genk. He was voted the 2017 Most Influential Young Tanzanian in a ranking poll by Avance Media On 23 August 2018, Samatta scored a hat-trick against Brøndby IF in the Europa League for a 5–2 win. During the 2018–19 season, he led the Belgian First Division A in scoring with 20 goals, as Genk finished the season as league winners. In May 2019 he was awarded with the Ebony Shoe award for his exploits during the campaign.

Aston Villa…

Club

As of match played 18 October 2026

International

Scores and results list Tanzania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Samatta goal.

Samatta is a Muslim. He made the umrah to Mecca in 2018 with his Genk teammate Omar Colley.