Brave Warriors suffer narrow defeat in Comoros

Football
Brian Munango
  • 1 Hour Ago

The Brave Warriors suffered their first defeat of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 qualifying campaign on Tuesday, losing 1-0 to Comoros in Moroni.

After a goalless first half, Bendjaloud Youssouf produced a moment of quality in the 53rd minute, scoring a spectacular long-range effort from well outside the penalty area, that beat goalkeeper Kamaijanda Ndisiro on the bounce.

Namibia were unable to find an equaliser as Comoros held on for all three points.

The defeat leaves the Brave Warriors with three points from their opening two Group G matches, following their 1-0 victory over Congo in their opening fixture.

Namibia had started the campaign strongly in Gaborone, where Bethuel Muzeu headed home Riaan Hanamub’s cross to secure victory over Congo.

However, they were unable to reproduce that result in Moroni, despite creating opportunities to get back into the match.

The defeat also means Namibia will have to wait for their next opportunity to add to their points tally, with the Brave Warriors now turning their attention to an international friendly against Russia on 3 October.

The team will then return to AFCON qualifying action in November, when they face Cameroon away on 11 November, before hosting the Indomitable Lions of Senegal on 15 November.

The November double-header will be particularly important as Namibia continue their pursuit of a place at the 2027 AFCON finals.

The Brave Warriors have three points after two matches, while the qualification race in Group G remains open.

Benjamin and his technical team will now have time to assess the lessons from the Comoros defeat and prepare the squad for the challenges ahead.

With the top two teams in the group set to qualify, Namibia will need to turn their attention to collecting points in the remaining fixtures as the qualification campaign continues.