Nearly a year has passed since Zambia last celebrated a win. It was November 19, 2024, when Kennedy Musonda and Emmanuel Banda struck to earn a 2–0 victory over Sierra Leone in an AFCON qualifier after an okay. But since that night, Chipolopolo has disappointed many.

Zambia’s form across competitions has tested patience and perspective alike. At the COSAFA Cup, they fell 1–0 to Comoros before a frustrating 3–3 draw with Botswana. At CHAN, there were disaster losses against the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Morocco, and Kenya. 

 A 2–0 loss to Morocco in a World Cup qualifier last month extended the search for a 2025 win. Can it come against Tanzania next week? 

“We want to win these two games,” Avram Grant said at a press briefing on Saturday ahead of the qualifiers against Tanzania and Niger. “But as you say, we need to kill each game by itself. The first game against Tanzania is away. It’s very tough to play against Tanzania, but as you saw in the last game and the games before, we have a good team. Tanzania is very strong in their home, but we are strong also, so we want to win this game.”

Zambia will play Tanzania on October 8 before a home game against Niger four days later. 

 “If we speak pure football, we are playing good, we are improving. We are on the right way. It’s a process to put Zambia among the biggest in Africa,” Grant added. “We have an identity, we have a strategy that we play all the time, and we need to continue what we did well until now.”

The next two fixtures, away to Tanzania and then home to Niger, offer both a test and an opportunity. 

With Morocco having already secured the top slot in Group E, Zambia can only hope for a second-place finish and pray that things go well elsewhere so that they have a wildcard chance to qualify for the World Cup.

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