Lesotho National Team head coach Leslie Notsi believes there are no longer smaller teams in Africa because the game has improved significantly in all countries.

The Likuena are in Group B of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) qualifiers, alongside hosts Morocco, Gabon, and the Central African Republic. They will begin their campaign against the Central African Republic today at the Ben M’Hamed El Abdi Stadium.

Notsi describes the group as tough, and he believes his team will need to work harder.

“Looking at this group, which we consider a very tough group against the giants of Africa in Morocco, Gabon and Central African Republic, it’s a very difficult one where we need to dig deep and work harder than before.

Notsi added: “We should embrace this opportunity of playing at the higher level, which we believe that we can make it, but at the same time respect all the countries we are going to play against, knowing that they have some of the best players in africa, who play at the highest level.”

Lesotho has lost only one of their last four competitive matches, a 1-0 loss to Rwanda in the World Cup qualifiers. They drew with Nigeria and Benin and beat Zimbabwe 1-0.

Notsi understands his team’s opponents are strong, but he believes there are no longer any smaller teams on the continent.

“Regarding the three opponents, there isn’t one I would say would be easy to play against because there are no longer teams that you would say are smaller than others.

“We have to approach the matches with all the respect they deserve, but we believe in ourselves and are confident we can come up with something to show the improvement in our team,” concluded the coach.