Namibia’s hopes of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) were officially ended after a 3-1 defeat to Zimbabwe in Monday’s qualifying action at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg. 

Walter Musona broke the deadlock for Zimbabwe and then again made it 2-0 to complete a brace. Prince Dube sealed the deal in the last minute, just before Godwin Eiseb got a consolation goal for Namibia.

So far, the Warriors have lost all four of their qualifying matches in Group J. They lost 1-0 against Cameroon in the first leg, 2-1 against Kenya in the first leg, and two matches against Zimbabwe, 1-0 and 3-1, respectively. They still have two matches left against Cameroon (10 November) and Kenya (18 November).

However, it doesn’t look like their fortunes will turn around anytime soon, as they are at the bottom of Group J. Cameroon has already qualified, leading the group with 10 points, while Zimbabwe is in second place with eight points, and Kenya is in third on four points.

This is a terrible situation for Namibia, who qualified for Afcon in 2023, where they managed to go to the knockout stages.

Head coach of the Warriors, Collin Benjamin, shared his thoughts about Monday’s match, stating that they started well and had good moments in the first half. “In the second half, we were not consistent enough in the duel, and that’s how Zimbabwe took the lead shortly after halftime. Individual defensive behaviour before the penalty led to the 2-0, and the 3-0 was due to inexperience in losing the ball in the forward movement. At this level, you get punished without being warned.

“Tough lessons that we must learn from these four matches. We must look forward, and rigorously enforce the transition phase that we are currently in,” he said. He refused to respond to social media critics who have begun calling for his resignation, stating that they are merely armchair critics, and that there is a greater football problem than the coach, who is the easiest target.

The Warriors will now turn their attention to the World Cup qualifiers, in which they will face Malawi on 19 March 2025, and Equatorial Guinea on 22 March 2025. The local players will then focus on the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship 2024 qualifiers. 

-lmupetami@nepc.com.na