Warriors to host Lesotho in Johannesburg for WC qualifiers

The Warriors of Zimbabwe will host Lesotho in Johannesburg for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers on 7 June this year.

The match will be played at Orlando Stadium.

On 11 June, South Africa will play Zimbabwe at Free State Stadium.

Zimbabwe will be playing its home matches in neighbouring countries due to poor local stadia.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has once again condemned both the National Sports Stadium and Rufaro Stadium as unsuitable to host international football matches.

This was revealed recently in a letter written by CAF technical development director Raul Chipenda to ZIFA Normalisation Committee chairperson Lincoln Mutasa.

CAF inspected the two venues at the end of last year. The letter, seen by The Sunday Mail, reads in part:

“With reference to the stadium general inspection conducted by CAF in Zimbabwe to assess the National Sports Stadium (Harare) and Rufaro Stadium (Harare), based on the inspection report, we regret to inform you that both stadiums do not meet the set CAF stadium minimum requirements to host CAF international matches…

The inspection report added that several areas in both the stadiums require a total renovation in accordance with the CAF requirements, overall indicating that the stadiums must be totally revamped and redesigned from the ground up to fit the modern football stadium requirements and standards.

“Areas such as the field of play, stands and spectator facilities, competition areas, media and medical facilities are just some of the main highlighted issues.

“Additionally, the functionality, design, comfort and quality of equipment in the stadiums are currently of great concern,” it noted.

Zwnews