Only 90 minutes stands between Botswana national football team Zebras and its qualification to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Morocco next year.
Interim coach Morena Ramoreboli’s guard take on Group F rivals Mauritania on Friday 15 November 2024 in Francistown’s Obed Itani Stadium in a must win fixture. Currently on 6 points, Zebras will look to improve their scoring prowess to win their third consecutive match in a fiercely contested Group.
A seasoned campaigner with defending champions Jwaneng Galaxy, South African born gaffer Ramoreboli is adamant that the Zebras will find their best form to qualify. Ramoreboli said Botswana has done well for his coaching career and the best way to reciprocate the effort is taking the Zebras to AFCON finals.
With Egypt having qualified, the head to head format favors Zebras to qualify. A win against Mauritania will leave them still with three points and all Cape Verde wins will equal the Zebras tally of 9 points regardless of the last round of group matches results.
The equal number of points between Botswana and Cape Verde will mean Zebras qualify on head to head basis.
Meanwhile the Botswana elite league, FNBB Premiership has halted the week 6 of their fixture to give the national team more time ahead of the FIFA international break week.
The league mouthpiece Mosimanegape Tshoswane said, “As the league we granted the national team technical team’s request to have extra days to prepare for this epic clash. We know that it’s a must win and Zebras qualification exposes our players to international competitions and improves our league”.
The last time the Zebras qualified for their AFCON berth was in 2012.
