Gladiators take aim at WAFCON 2026 qualification

Football
  • 23 Hours Ago
Namibia are aiming for a second appearance at the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations when they take on COSAFA rivals Zambia in the first leg of their second-round qualifier at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto at 15:00 today.

The Brave Gladiators have already seen off regional rivals in the form of Eswatini in their bid to reach the continental finals that will be held in Morocco from 17 March to 3 April next year.

The match will be streamed live on the Namibia Football Association Facebook page, as well as on COSAFA’s YouTube channel.

Goals from Fiola Vliete, Ivone Kooper and Hilma Kanyama gave Namibia a 3-0 first leg win in that tie back in February of this year, before Juliana Blou netted as they won the second leg 1-0 in a fixture also played in Dobsonville.

Zambia will provide a much sterner test with their array of global stars, though they are without current CAF Women’s Player of the Year Barbra Banda, who is injured.

Namibia coach Lucky Kakuva has had the majority of his players in camp for some time, and last week named his final squad, which includes the likes of Zenatha Coleman, Kooper and Kanyama.

“We kicked off preparations mid last month and I’m impressed with the input the team has been putting in and going forward we can only get better,” he said. “The first week we focused more on fitness, just to get the players up to speed because they haven’t played competitive football in a while, the league ended in June.”

Defender Lovisa Mulunga said the squad was confident they can get past the stern challenge of Zambia.

“We have been preparing well for the final round of the qualifiers, and the team has shown commitment and dedication since we started,” she said.

“The coaches have set out a clear game plan against Zambia and I strongly believe we can deliver a strong performance against the Copper Queens.”

Namibia will be buoyed by their showing against Zambia in the qualifiers for the previous continental finals.

The first leg in Zambia finished 0-0, with the return ending 1-1, giving Zambia the narrowest of passages through on the away goals rule.

The teams have also met three times in the COSAFA Women’s Championship since 2019, though on each occasion Zambia have come out on top.

Zambia may be missing Banda, but still have a formidable squad that includes the likes of Rachael Kundananji (Bay FC, USA), Grace Chanda (Orlando Pride, USA), Ireen Lungu (Sichuan, China) and Rachael Nachula (Hapoel Jerusalem, Israel).

The winners of the eleven second-round ties in the qualifiers for the TotalEnergies CAF WAFCON Morocco 2026 will join the hosts in the field.

The tournament will serve as the qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be staged in Brazil, with the four semi-finalists in Morocco advancing to the global finals.



Namibia squad:

Goalkeepers: Melissa Matheus, Lydia Eixas, Gwenneth Narises.

Defenders: Utuzuvira Kahiriri, Iina Katuta, Lovisa Mulunga, Emma Naris, Lorraine Jossob, Julia Rutjindo, Lydiana Nanamus.

Midfielders: Asteria Angula, Memory Ngonda, Hilma Kanyama, Twelikondjele Amukoto, Millicent Hikuam, Thomalina Adams.

Forwards: Zenatha Coleman, Ivone Kooper, Juliana Blou, Nancy Lebang, Leena Alweendo, Muhinatjo Hanavi, Veweziwa Kotjipati.