World Cup dream still on course

Football
Andrew Poolman
A goalless draw against Tunisia at the Orlando Stadium in their fourth match of the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers, maintained Namibia’s second position in the CAF Group H standings.

African powerhouse Tunisia leads the standings with 10 points from four matches played, followed by Namibia with eight points. Two nations will qualify from the group.

The Brave Warriors dominated the first half of Sunday night’s match at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, which saw an apparent Namibian goal in the 13th minute controversially disallowed due to an infringement on the goalkeeper.

In the second half, Tunisia came back stronger but Namibia once more regained control. However, neither team managed to score, resulting in the match ending in a goalless draw.

In an interview after the match, national team coach Collin Benjamin said his players showed the hunger and willingness to close spaces, which impressed him.

“We are in a good rebuilding process, and it was exciting to see that we could create our chances through transition play. The players showed they are hungry and could press the opponents and the only way our opponents could play against us was through long balls,” he said.

In the Group H standings, Liberia holds the third position with seven points.

Fourth is Malawi, who have only played three matches, with six points. They had an opportunity to overtake Namibia if they win their upcoming match last night against penalised Equatorial Guinea (fifth with zero points).

On Sunday night, Sao Tome and Principe lost their match against Liberia 0-1, leaving the island nation with zero points.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-16

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