Andrew Olsson
February 10, 2026Ligi Kuu Bara: Tanzania U-20 star Bakari Nsimu shines in Coastal Union victory
Bakari Nsimu (#19 on the right) Photo: Coastal Union FC
Ligi Kuu Bara: Tanzania U-20 star Bakari Nsimu shines in Coastal Union victory
18-year-old Coastal Union and Tanzania U-20 national team attacker Bakari Msimu turned in a brilliant performance to lead his club to a 4-1 victory over Tanzania Prisons in Tuesday’s action from the country’s Mainland Premier League (Ligi Kuu Bara).
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After a breakthough 2024-25 season with his club, Msimu featured in all four of his nation’s matches at the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and Tuesday’s performance showed that the young winger is taking the next steps in his development. He opened the scoring inside two minutes with an opportunistic finish.
The diminutive attacker continued to cause serious problems for the Prisons defense. The visitors doubled their lead in the 43rd minute when Msimu created space on the left wing and provided an accurate cross for Shiza Kichuya to head in the second.
But Msimu had one more of moment brilliance to complete his Man of the Match performance. Prisons pulled a goal back in first half stoppage time but the teenage phenom dispelled any comeback hopes for the hosts early in the second half by bursting past the defense for an outstanding individual strike to restore the two-goal advantage and Coastal Union’s eventual victory.
It is the young talent’s first two goals of the 2025-26 season after tallying three goals in over 1,000 minutes last season across 23 league appearances. He is certainly an explosive player worth watching to see where his path will go next.
In the later match on Tuesday, Pamba Jiji continued a strong campaign by edging Namungo FC with a 1-0 victory.
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Kenyan forward Mathew Tegisi scored his fourth goal of the campaign from the penalty spot for the only goal of the match. Pamba are now in second place, four points behind current leaders JKT Tanzania following the result.
Of course, the nation’s top clubs have many games in hand on the rest of the competition. Young Africans remain firmly poised to seize top spot once they finish up their duties in the CAF Champions League group stage. Yanga are only five points back of JKT with seven less league matches played.
Ligi Kuu Bara Table
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