Zimbabwe’s football teams keep losing before kick-off—not on the pitch, but in preparation or lack thereof.
Zimbabwe’s senior women’s football team, the Mighty Warriors, march into the COSAFA Women’s Championship (CWC) on 18 February underprepared—like sheep to the slaughter.
The team’s talent and commitment are unquestionable, but two weeks of training cannot deliver the endurance, sharpness, or cohesion needed to compete with top-ranked opponents.
After a two month off season break for locally based players, a longer camp was needed to regain fitness and rhythm.
Instead, the Sithethelelwe “Kwinji” Sibanda-coached side arrives in South Africa disadvantaged even before the first whistle.
Drawn against reigning champions Zambia, Botswana, and Eswatini, the Mighty Warriors’ chances of progressing beyond the group stage of the regional showpiece are realistically razor-thin.
Only group winners and the best runner up across all three groups reach the semifinals, making preparation all the more critical.
ZIFA’s current leadership could argue they inherited these problems, but the decline has continued under their watch.
From COSAFA champions in 2011, runners up in 2017 under Kwinji, and bronze in 2019, the Mighty Warriors were eliminated at the group stage in 2024.
Participation now seems aimed at merely satisfying FIFA Forward funding conditions rather than chasing victory.
This neglect is not confined to the women’s team. The Under 17 boys crashed out of Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2025 after chaotic, last minute selections.
The Warriors exited the AFCON finals with a single point, undone by poor preparation and the hiring of an inexperienced coach days before kick off.
Zimbabwe must learn that winning is a process, not an event.
The appointment of Sibanda as full time coach by the ZIFA Normalisation Committee was a step forward, but she has been grossly underutilised.
In 2025, her team played in only two of five available international windows. One of those, in February, saw the team eliminated from the Women’s AFCON qualifiers on penalties by Angola in the first round.
Lessons were clearly not learnt.
Regular camps last year, and longer preparation now, would have given players—and fans—hope for true renaissance, not rhetoric.
This is not a prophecy of doom but a reminder of why failure has become habitual and normalised.
Equal pay initiatives are commendable, but equal energy must also go into basics: proper kits from day one, consistent training camps, and timely, orderly team selection.
Zimbabwean football cannot continue stumbling into tournaments unprepared. Success begins with fundamentals—training, infrastructure, and planning.
Until these are respected, the Mighty Warriors and all national teams will remain victims of systemic neglect, condemned to repeat failure.
If Zimbabwe wants to stop walking into tournaments like sheep to the slaughter, it must first learn to prepare like wolves.
