Warriors’ Afcon preps start early

Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

ZIFA technical director Jethro Hunidzarira says the preparations for the upcoming 2025 AFCON qualifiers should start as soon as possible after Zimbabwe were yesterday drawn to play bogey side Kenya and former African champions, Cameroon.

The Warriors were drawn in Group J, which also features neighbours Namibia.

The draw was conducted in South Africa yesterday, with the assistance of reigning TotalEnergies CAF AFCON champions’ coach Emerse Faé of Cote d’Ivoire and Moroccan legend, Marouane Chamakh.

The 2025 AFCON qualifiers are set to kick off in September.

Reacting to the draw, soon after meeting the FIFA delegation that is currently in Zimbabwe to reboot the game, Hunidzarira said there was need for a change in the way of conducting national team business at the association.

The Warriors have been caught ill-prepared in recent assignments, as was the case when they fell short lately in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2024 COSAFA Cup in South Africa.

“The thinking was that after the COSAFA Cup, we would need to start everything as soon as possible in terms of preparations for whatever football competition was coming next.

“We don’t want to be seen repeating the same mistakes of the past when preparations take place late,” said Hunidzarira.

Zimbabwe are returning to the AFCON tournament after missing the previous AFCON campaign, which culminated in an intriguing final in Cote d’Ivoire, because of a FIFA suspension.

Before that, they had qualified for the previous three consecutive finals in 2017, 2019, and 2021.

However, of major concern is the chaos surrounding the Warriors team, which has not had a substantive coach for the past three years and no CAF-approved stadium to play home games.

Zimbabwe are the least-ranked team in their group after falling to number 129th in the global rankings and 38th in Africa in the latest FIFA rankings.

According to the Football statistics blog, 11v11.com, the trio of Cameroon, Kenya and Namibia all have better head-to-head records against the Warriors.

Zimbabwe has played Cameroon 11 times since 1980, won three, drew once and lost seven times. The duels included FIFA World Cup qualifiers, CHAN, one international friendly, AFCON qualifiers, and the epic eight-goal thriller of the 2004 finals, which Zimbabwe lost 5-3 in Tunisia.

Namibia, who are the second seed in the group, have engaged Zimbabwe across the same competitions, winning seven times and drawing twice. Zimbabwe only managed to beat Namibia five times in 14 meetings.

Kenya have been more of Zimbabwe’s bogey side since their first meeting in 1982. The Kenyans have downed the Warriors at least seven times from 12 meetings, including the recent Four Nations Tournament and the COSAFA Cup knock-out blow by their emerging side on Tuesday in Port Elizabeth.

In over 40 years, the Warriors have only managed one win — the CECAFA Cup final triumph in 1985, which handed them their first silverware after independence.

Hunidzarira said Zimbabwe will not look at the profiles of the teams in Group J, from where only the top two teams will progress to the 2025 AFCON finals in Morocco.

“Unfortunately we have not sat down yet to look at this draw yet. Currently, we are seized with meetings with the FIFA delegation that is in the country, but as soon as that is finished we will start looking at our preparations.

“We have to keep in mind that there is no longer anything as a small team in world football. Look, recently we lost to Lesotho in the World Cup qualifiers, and it wasn’t good.

“So, we will make sure that we prepare thoroughly for every game that we are going to play. Ideally, it is always best if we can get our players to meet more frequently.

“The more these guys come together, the better we can get as a team. We have the quality in our ranks but we are almost always caught unprepared. So, the target for these qualifiers is to start preparations now,” said Hunidzarira.

Despite the talent in the Zimbabwe team, the Warriors have been struggling to stay afloat because of off-field administrative challenges. It is most likely the Warriors will be under a new coach for the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.

CAF confirmed that 48 teams will take part in the qualifiers, which will start in September 2024 and end in November 2025.

The first and runners-up in the 11 groups that do not involve tournament hosts Morocco, will qualify for the competition.

The finals of the AFCON 2025 tournament will be held in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.

2025 AFCON QUALIFIERS DRAW

Group A: Tunisia, Madagascar, Comoros, The Gambia

Group B: Morocco, Gabon, Central Africa Republic, Lesotho

Group C: Egypt, Cape Verde, Mauritania, Botswana

Group D: Nigeria, Benin, Libya, Rwanda

Group E: Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Liberia

Group F: Ghana, Angola, Sudan, Niger

Group G: Cote d’lvoire Zambia, Sierra Leone, Chad

Group H: DR Congo, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia