Zambia’s national team has used four goalkeepers in the last three years, a trend that has raised concerns over the lack of consistency in the goalkeeping department.
Lawrence Mulenga, who was in goal at the last Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), has been in and out of the lineup, while Toaster Nsabata and Francis Mwansa have also had their chances but have not been played consistently. Others, including Charles Kalumba, Victor Chabu, Mwenya Chimbwe, and Willard Mwanza, have been called up to the national team but have seen little or no game time.
Ahead of this month’s final 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania (away) and Niger (home), coach Avram Grant has dropped Nsabata and handed Patrick Chooma of Nkana FC his first call-up, alongside Mulenga and Kalumba.
The continual rotation of goalkeepers has worried Chipolopolo legend and 2012 AFCON winner Kennedy Mweene.
“To be honest, it is worrying,” Mweene told BolaNews in an interview in 2023. “We can’t be changing goalkeepers every now and then. It’s worrying that we don’t have a first-choice goalkeeper.”
“By now, we should have had our number one goalkeeper. We now look like we are unstable. A first-choice goalkeeper is needed; we cannot continue like this,” added the Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper coach.
Grant on goalkeeping inconsistency
However, when asked about the inconsistency in the goalkeeping department, Grant, two years ago, bemoaned that every time he hands a call-up to a goalkeeper, their clubs stop playing them.
“I must tell you, there is something I don’t understand: when we bring someone to the national team, he plays well, then he goes on not to play for his club. I‘ve never seen that, but it’s the decision of their [club] coaches,” Grant said.
“I will not tell them what to do but it’s a little bit strange because Francis [Mwansa] was very good against Egypt but since then he has only played one game,” he added, referring to Zanaco goalkeeper Mwansa, who went nearly the entire season without playing while at Green Buffaloes after impressing with the Chipolopolo in a friendly against Egypt.
Grant’s statement was later validated when Nsabata spent most of the season on the bench, while the same happened to Mulenga, who was dropped from the starting lineup at Power Dynamos for much of last season.
Earlier this year, Grant called up Mwanza, who won the MTN Super League Golden Glove last season, for the African Nations Championship (CHAN). However, after the tournament, he has again been relegated to the bench at Power Dynamos.
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