The Desert Jewels are the toast of town after qualifying for next year’s Netball World Cup in Sydney.
Namibia finished fourth at the Africa Cup in Nairobi after losing 50-45 to Malawi in the third place playoff match on Saturday, but they already clinched their World Cup spot on Thursday after qualifying for the semi-finals.
In Friday’s semi-finals, Uganda beat Namibia 52-41, and South Africa beat Malawi 62-46, while Uganda pulled off an upset when they beat South Africa 56-53 in Saturday’s final to be crowned the African champions.
With Uganda and South Africa already having qualified for the world cup through their international rankings, Malawi and Namibia clinched the final two African spots as the losing semi-finalists.
It is the third time that Namibia have qualified for the world cup and the first time in 31 years after their previous appearances in 1991 and 1995.
Congratulatory messages started streaming in on social media shortly after the news broke, while president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah also congratulated the team on the Namibian Presidency’s Facebook page yesterday.
“This is a proud moment for Namibia and a fitting reward for the hard work, discipline and determination demonstrated by our players throughout the qualifying campaign.
“To our players, coaches, technical team and everyone who has supported the Desert Jewels on this journey, the nation celebrates this achievement with you. Every training session, every sacrifice and every moment of perseverance has contributed to bringing Namibia back onto the world stage.
“You have reminded us once again that Namibia may be a small nation, but our dreams are not small.
“This achievement also carries a powerful message to young girls across our country. When they see the Desert Jewels competing among the best, they see what is possible. They see that with opportunity, commitment and belief, a Namibian girl can rise from anywhere in our country and take her place on the world stage.
“As you prepare for Sydney 2027, go forward with confidence, knowing that an entire nation stands proudly behind you. Congratulations, Desert Jewels. You have made Namibia proud. Continue to shine and carry our flag with pride.”
Netball Namibia, meanwhile, issued a statement saying the team had improved dramatically over the past year.
“The Desert Jewels went into this tournament ranked 14th in the world. In the pool stages they beat 11th-ranked Zimbabwe 47-31 to reach the qualification semi-finals. In the third-place play-off, they came up against Malawi, ranked eighth in the world, and narrowly lost 50-45.
“Taking one of Africa’s top sides to within five goals says a lot about how far this team has come its competitiveness, growth and grit are all on display there. Put next to our seventh-place finish at the 2025 Africa Netball Cup, jumping to fourth in 2026 and booking a spot at the 2027 World Cup is real, meaningful progress,” it reads.
“None of this happened by chance. It’s the product of years of investment, planning and hard work from everyone who has kept believing in Namibian netball. We want to put on record our appreciation for the technical team led by head coach Julene Meyer.
“Netball Namibia trusted this team with the job of taking the Desert Jewels forward, and they’ve delivered. The preparation, tactical discipline, player development and fighting spirit shown in Nairobi are a direct reflection of the work happening behind the scenes,” it states.
“We also want to recognise our players’ extraordinary commitment. They carried the Namibian flag with pride, discipline and determination fighting for every ball, sacrificing time with their families, and enduring everything that comes with high-performance sport. This achievement belongs to them first,” the statement reads.
Netball Namibia also thanks Debmarine Namibia, the principal supporter of the national team, MTC Namibia, the official sponsor of the Namibia Premier League, and the government and Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture for choosing Netball Namibia as the first national federation to take part in the Sport Professionalisation Project.
“Over the past few years, this programme has helped us build a stronger institutional foundation appointing permanent professional staff, improving administrative capacity, supporting regional structures, building the capacity of our board and council, and strengthening the systems needed to run a growing, modern federation.
“It also enabled us to acquire our first-ever sprung floor, an investment that will benefit generations of Namibian netball players to come. None of this is visible when the whistle blows and the players take the court, but it’s part of the foundation that performances like this are built on,” it says.
