Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The Brave Gladiators, Namibia’s senior women’s football team, are preparing for the second leg of their 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualifier against Eswatini.
Namibia secured a 3-0 victory in the first leg, played in Eswatini, and the second leg is scheduled for Tuesday, 25 February, at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Namibia is using Johannesburg as its home ground due to the lack of a CAF-accredited stadium in the country.
Head coach Woody Jacobs emphasised that despite the comfortable win in the first leg, the team will not take the second match lightly. “Everybody is in good spirits, and we are looking forward to the match. We want to continue on that trajectory, keep winning, and keep improving the team,” Jacobs said.
He acknowledged Eswatini’s quality, noting that they created numerous chances but failed to score.
Eswatini’s coach, Bongani Makhukhula, attributed their 3-0 loss to “too much respect” shown to Namibia.
“We respected our opponents, which resulted in us conceding those goals. However, moving forward, we will rectify those mistakes,” Makhukhula said during a post-match interview.
The overall winner of the two-leg tie will advance to the second round of qualifiers, joining 15 other teams.
They will then compete against seeded teams like South Africa, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia in the final qualifying phase for the 2026 WAFCON, set to be hosted by Morocco.
