Zimbabwe’s mission in Morocco will be to make it beyond the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) group stages for the first time in their sixth attempt.
It will be a mammoth task for the lowly-ranked team in a Group B that has two of the tournament’s favourites in Egypt, who they meet in their opener on December 22, and neighbours South Africa. Angola, too, will fancy collecting three points against the Warriors when they meet in their second match on December 26.
The Warriors end their group stage efforts against Bafana Bafana in Marrakesh on December 29.
It will be how Zimbabwe start against the Pharaohs on Monday that will determine whether they have a team that can do better than they have before in Afcon tournaments.
The Warriors will be missing talisman Marshall Munetsi, who inspired their qualification for Morocco. How new Zimbabwe coach Mario Marinica finds a player to fill Munetsi’s position in midfield will be vital.
Zimbabwe always give Bafana tough outings, most recently when they nearly derailed South Africa’s qualification to the 2026 Fifa World Cup after holding them to a 0-0 draw in Durban in October.
It will be a 20th meeting between these neighbours in all competitions, and ninth competitive one, that could prove decisive to either side’s quest to make it to the last 16.
How they qualified
That Zimbabwe lost only one match in six of their qualifiers in a group that included powerhouse Cameroon shows how determined they were to make it to Morocco.
The Warriors collected nine points and finished five behind winners Cameroon after two wins and three draws, ensuring Benni McCarthy’s Kenya and Namibia missed out.
Star players
There’s no doubt the Warriors’ star player and vice-captain Marshall Munetsi will be heavily missed in Morocco. The Wolves midfielder was a surprise omission, feeling he had recovered from a calf injury.
In his absence, Wolves teammate Tawanda Chirewa will be the player Zimbabwe will rely on the most in attacking midfield, especially because the Warriors will also miss former Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs attacker Khama Billiat, who reportedly asked to be excused for personal reasons.
Veteran goalkeeper Washington Arubi of Marumo Gallants will bring stability in Zimbabwe’s defence, which includes Sundowns left-back Divine Lunga and former Chiefs player Teenage Hadebe (Cincinnati FC).
In his fourth successive appearance at Afcon, Knowledge Musona (Scottland FC in Zimbabwe) will carry Warriors’ hopes, even though at 35 he’s no spring chicken. Two of the most exciting Gallants attackers, Junior Zindonga and Daniel Msendani, could also surprise many at Afcon.
The coach
Mario Marinica, a 61-year-old Romanian, will be making his second appearance at Afcon after helping Malawi reach the last 16 in 2021.
He’s a long-serving and well-travelled coach whose latest stint on the continent was with Liberia in 2024.
Marinica will be a familiar face to some football fans in South Africa as he coached Black Leopards in the National First Division in 2009 and was hailed as “the messiah”, though he didn’t last more than two months.
Marinica has just had a month in the Warriors hot seat, taking over from Michael Nees who had helped them qualify for Afcon. His one-year contract mandate includes stabilising results in the short term, while putting plans in place for long-term progress.
Key statistics
Head-to-head with Bafana: These Southern African neighbours have met 19 times but most of those games (11) were friendlies or not in major competitions. In eight competitive matches Bafana have won four, while the Warriors still boast of that lone 4-1 Afcon qualifier victory in August 1992 in one Bafana’s first outings after their readmission to international football. The other three competitive matches, including the last one in Durban in October which was a 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier, ended in stalemates. The two sides have never met at an Afcon.
Zimbabwe’s World ranking: 125
Africa ranking: 36
Afcon appearances: 5
Previous Afcon performances: 2004 (group stage); 2006 (group stage); 2017 (group stage); 2019 (group stage); 2021 (group stage)
Group B fixtures at 2025 Afcon (SA times):
December 22: v Egypt, 10pm, Stade Adrar, Agadir
December 26: v Angola, 2.30pm, Stade de Marrakech
December 29: vs SA, 6pm, Stade de Marrakech