Namibia look to maintain 100% record in world cup qualifiers

After their heroics in getting to the last 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in January, Namibia now turn their sights to Fifa World Cup qualification and their clash with Liberia at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto tomorrow.

Namibia, forced to move their home game after stadiums in Windhoek were not passed for use in the World Cup qualifiers by the Confederation of African Football, have a 100% record in the Group H campaign after their opening two fixtures in November.

Although they lost away to Equatorial Guinea in their first match, they have been awarded a 3-0 victory by Fifa after it was found that Equatorial Guinea used a defaulter in their opening two matches.

Namibia also beat São Tomé and Príncipe away in November and so go into the third round of matches top of the table, ahead of favourites Tunisia on a goal difference.

Only the group winner will qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Liberia also benefitted from the Fifa ruling after losing at home to both Malawi and Equatorial Guinea in their opening two qualifiers in Monrovia, but they now have three points, even if their start to the campaign was far from convincing.

But Namibia coach Collin Benjamin has more pressing concerns, notably over the fitness of his star striker Peter Shalulile, who missed Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final.

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena says he had picked up a “freak injury” in training on the eve of the match against Orlando Pirates in Nelspruit, where Deon Hotto finished on the winning side.

Missing from Namibia’s side is Ananias Gebhardt, competing in the Premier Soccer League playoffs with Baroka but having last month announced his retirement from international football, and the England-based fullback Ryan Nyambe, who is injured.

Namibia played a friendly encounter against Lesotho in Soweto on Saturday, with Erastus Kalula opening the scoring for the Brave Warriors in the second half but Lesotho then equalising for a 1-1 draw.

Liberia arrived in Johannesburg on Sunday with a squad that has undergone a change after they scraped through against Djibouti over two legs in March in the preliminary round qualifiers for the 2025 Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.

Only eight of the 23-man squad are based outside of Liberia as new coach Mario Marinica, who was appointed in February and formerly led Malawi, has overhauled the team.

It will be the fifth time Liberia and Namibia meet with one win apiece and two goalless draws. – cosafa.com