Several Nigerian stars to miss Warriors clash

Philemon Jambaya

Nigeria will be without several top stars, including Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze, for their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe. The players are out due to injuries.

Zaidu Sanusi and Sam Ajayi will also not feature for Nigeria this month. Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester City is also sweating over his availability.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have no injury worries but have made a huge gamble by picking a 28-man squad predominantly made up of foreign-based players, some of whom have previously turned down the offer to play for Zimbabwe.

Only eight players on the list were drawn from the domestic football league.

There are fears that some players, especially those who were born and raised in England, might not avail themselves for the Rwanda and Nigeria matches.

England-born players such as Andy Rinemhota of Cardiff City, Tawanda Maswanhise of Leicester City and Tivonge Rushesha have previously snubbed the Warriors.

There are also a number of new faces in the squad, including Liverpool’s highly-rated youngster Isaac Mabaya, Brentford goalkeeper Marley Tavaziva and Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Leon Chiwome.

The three, who play for the English Premier League giants’ developmental squads, were all born in England, with Mabaya and Chiwome having already represented their country of birth at youth levels.

Some of the England-born players have previously failed to turn up for the Warriors because of the difficulties in obtaining a Zimbabwean passport.

And with just two weeks before the Rwanda match, it’s unlikely that Zifa will be able to get the players’ documents sorted on time.

England-born Tendayi Darikwa, who missed the Warriors’ last few matches, is set to bounce back in the strong-looking squad, and so is South Africa-based goalkeeper Washington Arubi.

The France-based pair of Marshal Munetsi and Tino Kadewere, Luton’s Marvelous Nakamba, Jordan Zemura of Udinese in Italy and United States-based Teenage Hadebe are the other senior players who are expected to form the backbone of the team seeking to make their first-ever qualification to the World Cup to be hosted by the Americas in 2026.

The big omissions from the squad include Ronald Pfumbidzai, Devine Lunga and in-form striker, Knox Mutizwa fresh from scoring a brace against Kaizer Chiefs at the weekend.

Brito, who has been criticised for ignoring players that are doing well in the local and South Africa league in favour of some England-based players who are either bench warmers or not performing for their clubs, has jumped to the defence of his selection.

“We do not look into the status of the players, all the decisions were made in the interests of Zimbabwean football,” he said before explaining the exclusion of Pfumbidzai, Mutizwa and Lunga.

“It was a technical decision after we analysed the players that we have in the same positions, the competitiveness and the minutes they have had.”

Zimbabwe are in Group C of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, whose other group members are South Africa, Lesotho and Benin.

The team that will top the group will automatically qualify for the global football jamboree to be jointly hosted by Canada, United States of America and Mexico.