Sports casters wary of Zimbabwe's World Cup draw

Published on: 25 January 2020
Sports casters wary of Zimbabwe's World Cup draw
World Cup qualifying groups

Some of Zimbabwe's local sports casters are not confident enough that Zimbabwe will qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Qatar.

This follows CAF's Tuesday announcement which saw 40 African nations being grouped into 10 groups for the second phase of the World Cup qualifiers.

Zimbabwe was seeded in group G with Ethopia, Ghana and South Africa. In accordance with previous football records, Zimbabwe is the weakest team as all the other African nations have won the prestigious Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tourney, with Ghana and South Africa participating in previous World Cup tournaments.

The local football governing body, Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has done very little to enhance the wellbeing of the national team due to major mismanagements which even resulted in the disqualification of the national team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup which was held in Russia.

"Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa are very strong teams even their previous records are testament to that. Zimbabwe is in a precarious situation, and for them to progress all hands will have to be put on deck including ZIFA otherwise we won't go anywhere.

We have top-notch players such as Khama Billiat, Knowledge Musona, Marvelous Nekamba and Munashe Munetsi but if the necessary resources are not channeled accordingly and in time, then there is nothing we can expect even with these top-notch players on our side," said Tongai Mwenje, founder of Sportbrief magazine.

Editor in chief of Matchday Zimbabwe, Leopold Munhende, said Zimbabwe stood no chance in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

"We stand no chance of progressing, ZIFA is ill-prepared for an event of this magnitude. We have the best players but games are not played by players only, preparation is necessary and so are competitive financial rewards which we cannot afford, we will not go anywhere," said Munhende.

Many are now looking at ZIFA who have the ball rolling in their courts, yesterday ZIFA released a statement in line with the appointment of a new coach.

"The Zimbabwe Football Association ( ZIFA) wishes to advise the nation that the appointment of the senior men's national team coach is work in progress and will be concluded soon," said ZIFA's Communications Officer Xolisani Gwesela.

First matches of the second phase of the World Cup qualifiers will be held on the 5th of October this year.

The third and final phase will see the 10 group winners from the second round drawn into five home-and-away ties. The winners of each tie will advance to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Txt: Bulawayo24

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