Copper Queens coach Bruce Mwape has declared this Wednesday’s Women’s Africa Cup (WAFCON) qualifier against Angola a must-win for Zambia.

Mwape, who led the Copper Queens to the 2022 WAFCON semifinals, where they narrowly lost 1-0 to South Africa through a spot-kick and defeated Nigeria 1-0 to win bronze, has urged her team to begin the qualifiers with a win away from home.

The Copper Queens, who made their debut at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in July, will kick off their WAFCON qualifying campaign away to Angola on Wednesday this week for the first leg before hosting them on December 5, 2023, at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.

The winner of the two fixtures will qualify for the WAFCON, which will be held in Morocco in 2024. 

However, Mwape believes his side need to win at all cost.

“All we need is to qualify for the World Cup,” he said before departing for Luanda. “It will not look good if we do not qualify for the Africa Cup after coming from the World Cup.

“So we will make sure the players work hard so that we achieve our goal.”

Mwape also urged fans to turn out in large numbers for the Copper Queens’ home second leg in Ndola.

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It will be the first time the Copper Queens will play a home match in a stadium with a seating capacity of over 40,000.

In July this year, they made history after filling up the 10,000-seat Woodlands Stadium during a friendly match with Tanzania.