The Brave Warriors will play for pride when they face continental giants Cameroon in their second-last 2025 Africa Cup of Nations’ (Afcon) qualifiers clash today at Orlando Stadium in South Africa. 

The Namibians are coming from back-to-back defeats against Cameroon, Kenya and Zimbabwe, which dashed all prospects for the Warriors to book a place at the next Afcon in Morocco. 

Namibia lost its first qualifier 1-0 against Cameroon, before going down 2-1 against Kenya. 

That defeat was then followed by two more defeats against Zimbabwe, which all but diminished Namibia’s chances to qualify. 

After today’s clash against Cameroon, Namibia will proceed to take on Kenya for their final 2025 Afcon qualifier next week Tuesday. 

Speaking to Cosaf a . com, Warriors’ gaffer Collin Benjamin said although they stand no chance of qualifying, they will still go out and give it their best shot. 

“It’s definitely not the results we were hoping for, especially after making history at the last Afcon in Cote d’Ivoire when we made it to the round of 16. We are disappointed, but we know this is how football works. 

The team competed very well. The boys went out there, despite all the issues back home, and did their best, and that is evident in the defeat margins, which are very small,” he said. 

He added: “We take the defeats head-on and dust ourselves off and keep fighting because that is what we are made of. We are out of the competition, but that doesn’t mean the upcoming games will be a run in the park. All the other teams want to qualify, and we are going to make their work hard”. Benjamin lauded the fact that the last 12 months have seen several national team players ply their trade abroad and get opportunities to further their careers. 

“The games came with their disappointing results, but we can look back and say ‘Look at the number of players Namibia was able to export in a space of a year’. We have Aprocius Petrus and Prins Tjiueza, who signed for Cape Town City in one of the best leagues in Africa. [We have] Erastus Kalula, Romeo Kasume and Tjipe Karuuombe, who are playing outside of Africa. This is what we want – to send as many players as possible out of the country,” he pointed out. 

Despite being out of contention for next year’s continental tournament, Namibia is still in the race for the 2026 Fifa World Cup. 

They are currently in second position in Group H behind log leaders Tunisia. 

– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na