THE Warriors have got a tough route to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco after they drew Cameroon, Namibia and Kenya in Group J in a draw conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday.
Twelve groups of four teams were pooled and the top two after home and away clashes from each group will qualify for the finals.
The Warriors found themselves in a tough group as a consequence of their lowly ranking of 38, which condemned them to pot four of the draw.
Pot 4 contained the lowest seeded teams, while Pot 1 to 3 had the top 36 nations based on the latest Fifa rankings released last month.
In June, Zimbabwe lost their Fifa World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Lesotho, which pushed them out of the top 36.
The “homeless” Warriors will face continental giants Cameroon, whom they have a rich history of clashes with, Namibia as well as bogey side Kenya.
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Matches will start in September. The Warriors will have to “host” their home matches in foreign land as there is no Caf-approved stadium in the country.
The government is reluctant to provide funds towards speeding up of renovations at the National Sports Stadium so that national teams can play home matches in the country. Meanwhile, Jairos Tapera, who was employed as an interim coach by Zifa, could get another go with the team after the Lincoln Mutasa-led Zifa normalisation committee had its tenure extended by Fifa yesterday.
It was under Tapera’s watch that Zimbabwe lost to Lesotho (2-0) and 3-1 against South Africa.
They mustered two wins at the regional Cosafa tournament, but were eliminated in the group stage after losing to Kenya 2-0.
But Tapera’s advocates are back at the helm and he could be retained for the Afcon qualifiers, although football fans have their doubts over his capabilities.
Yesterday, world football governing body, Fifa, extended the Zifa normalisation committee’s tenure by another six months.
The committee’s tenure expired at the end of last month and there was speculation over its continued stay in office.
Fifa members are in the country and after some meetings, they decided to extend the committee’s tenure, but Cynthia Malaba and Sikhumbuzo Ndebele were not retained back.
Only Mutasa, Rosemary Mugadza and Nyasha Sanyamandwe will carry on with establishing a roadmap for Zifa executive committee elections, which should be done by December or January.
It will only be established after another meeting with the Sports and Recreation Commission whether Fifa replaces Ndebele and Malaba, with some suggesting Mutasa, Mugadza and Sanyamandwe can carry through the task.
The Zifa normalisation committee has had its fair share of problems over the last few months.
It was Ndebele and Malaba who were identified as the alleged source of some of the problems.
2025 Afcon qualifier 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: Ivory Coast, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Chad
Group H: DRC, Guinea, Tanzania, Ethiopia
Group I: Mali, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Eswatini
Group J: Cameroon, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe
Group K: South Africa, Uganda, Congo, South Sudan
Group L: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Burundi.