Munetsi Optimistic About 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Warriors captain Marshall Munetsi expressed confidence that the squad can qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup ahead of their Group C match against Lesotho in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, scheduled for later today.
Zimbabwe are the hosts in the match which kicks off at 3 PM at Orlando Stadium.
The Warriors and Lesotho are tied on two points from as many games, with Group C leaders Rwanda only two points ahead.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Munetsi, who used to call Orlando Stadium home when he was playing for Orlando Pirates before switching to France in 2019, said morale is very high in the Warriors camp. Said Munetsi (via The Herald):
Morale is very high because everyone is focused on doing something that Zimbabwe has never done, so if we want to achieve something of this magnitude, we have to work as a team.
I think the word captain is just a word that goes on to mention other leaders, including other players, coaches, and staff who work behind the scenes. We work together as a group.
Without belief, we wouldn’t be here. So it’s the belief that brings us here, everyone believes that we can make it so we have to also make sure that the people at home and the people that are going to come and support us have that belief also.
For us, each game is a final because if you don’t win one game, you may fail to make it through. We are very fortunate enough because we drew the first two games away from home, and now we play here in South Africa, which gives us a huge advantage.
So for us, it’s just taking each game as a final and we don’t look far ahead and focus on what we have at that moment.
Munetsi said although the Warriors squad is made up of players from different cultures and tribes, they are bound by a common purpose, playing for Zimbabwe. He said:
We have to integrate as different people from different cultures and tribes. So it’s not a difficult thing you try to respect everyone and find common ground because we are playing for the Zimbabwe national team.
For me, it’s just been an easy job because most of the guys that are here have been together for a long time, and we are good friends, even outside football, so it makes the job that much easier.
Now the squad composition has changed because of the net that we are casting very wide. We used to have a lot of South African-based players, but now we have a lot of European-based players.
It gives us an added advantage because we have a lot of international players playing at the highest level, and most of them are still young, so the future is bright. We have to just be able to manage them and have that continuity.
We need to focus on the game against Lesotho to be able to win.
The match will be available to watch on ZBC TV in Zimbabwe. In South Africa, SABC Sports will show the match live. The channel is available on DTT Decoder (South Africa only) and Open View.
FIFA Plus will stream the match live but in selected regions.
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