daniel chigunweZimbabwe’s will be at the 2025 African Cup of Nations as rank outsiders, but do they stand a chance after an impressive qualifying campaign.
It turned out to be a qualifying campaign in which they were fairly comfortably able to secure a spot at the showpiece event.
A 0-0 draw with Kenya in game one began an impressive five-game unbeaten run where they took a point from three games and beat Namibia twice.
Their 2-1 loss to eventual Group J winners Cameroon in their final match was one that did not stop them from qualifying for the competition, but it did see them miss out on topping the group.
Now, Zimbabwe can look forward to appearing at AFCON 2025 as they try to give their fans something to cheer about against the best Africa has to offer. However, with the tournament still some time away, Zimbabwe arrive as massive underdogs.
Bookmakers have priced Zimbabwe at 251.00 to win the competition as the outsiders according to betting site Bets.co.za. Botswana are the only side at AFCON 2025 that have longer odds at 501.00.
Perhaps their exploits over 2024 have shown that they are not currently playing at the level to challenge the best. Indeed, since the end of March of 2024, Zimbabwe have played 14 times, winning four matches, drawing three times and losing seven games. They will end 2024 on the back of a four-game winless run that features three defeats.
The exploits in the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup may also be working against them. Zimbabwe are yet to win in their four outings, drawing twice and losing twice. While they did manage to hold Nigeria and Rwanda, they were then comfortably beaten by Lesotho and South Africa.
With just six goals scored in six qualifying games for AFCON 2025, it looks like any positive run will be built on a defence that conceded four goals in six and kept three clean sheets.
A lot of pressure will be placed on forward Walter Musona, who top scored for Zimbabwe with two efforts in qualifying. His tally of two goals is not one that will worry the opposition though.
Of course, coming into a competition as outsiders is not always a bad thing. The pressure on Zimbabwe will be about as low as it could possibly be from the outside. This simply means that they arrive as the underdogs for all of their matches, allowing them to play with freedom.
However, it is also worth noting that there are a lot of good sides ahead of them in the betting. Morocco are the current favourites with Algeria, Egypt, Senegal and Nigeria all jostling for position at the top.
If Zimbabwe are to secure the silverware, then they will have to beat a number of the best sides in Africa.
Their previous performances at the competition have hardly inspired, with their appearance in the group stage the best they have managed after failing to make it to the knockout stages in any of their six attempts. An attempted foray out of the group may by the height of their ambitions right now, but if one of the least-fancied teams at AFCON 2025 can put together a string of positive results, few will want to take on a nation that has nothing to lose according to the odds.
Online Reporter