Image copyright: FAZ Media
The Chipolopolo boys (Zambia) will this afternoon (Friday) host Chad in a Group G Morocco 2025
Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.
Both teams will be aiming for maximum points to strengthen their campaign ahead of Tuesday’s return match in Yaoundé. Zambia has played two games, losing to Ivory Coast and winning against Sierra Leone, and will be eager to secure another win today. On the other hand, Chad has only one point from their two games.
Zambia understands that a victory today will boost their confidence going into the reverse fixture on Tuesday. While they hope to build on their win against Sierra Leone, today presents a different challenge. The team will have to cope with the absence of five key players who were ruled out due to injuries. The players are team captain Lubambo Musonda, Edward Chilufya, Stoppila Sunzu, Lameck Banda and Patson Daka.
Zambia head coach Avram Grant spoke to the media on Thursday morning during the pre-match press conference, expressing his satisfaction with how the replacements for the five injured players have performed in training.
"It's not easy because all five injured players were regulars in the starting lineup. But we've found replacements, and the boys have adapted well. In our last game, we scored three goals without our main strikers, which secured our AFCON qualification after a long time. The new players will do well. I can't promise they won't make mistakes, but I can promise they'll give 100%," Grant said.
The last time Zambia faced Chad was during the 2008 AFCON Qualifiers. Zambia had already secured a 2-0 victory against Chad earlier in the group stage and only needed a win at home to qualify for the tournament with a game to spare. However, Chad had other plans. Despite Collins Mbesuma putting Zambia ahead, Chad equalized, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. This result left the Chipolopolo with a tough challenge—they now needed a win in their final game away to South Africa to secure AFCON qualification.
Defying the odds, Zambia triumphed with Chris Katongo scoring a memorable hat-trick, leading the Chipolopolo to a 3-1 victory over South Africa and securing their place at the 2008 AFCON.
Zambia is currently on second position on the log of Group G with three points, Ivory Coast lead with six points, third is Sierra Leone with one point and at the bottom is Chad with a point too.
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