Wolverhampton Wanderers of England defensive midfielder, Marshall Munetsi has revealed reasons behind the gritty performance he and his colleagues in Zimbabwe’s national team put up against Nigeria’s Super Eagles during Tuesday’s 2026 World Cup qualifier in Uyo.
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Against all predictions, Sports247 reports that The Warriors escaped with a 1-1 draw, courtesy a veey late equaliser at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, and Munetsi said it was simply because the Zimbabweans also want to make history.
Although the result did not lift Zimbabwe off last spot in Group C, with only four points from six matches, Munetsi stressed that they are still determined to make history by qualifying for the World Cup against all expectations.
The eloquent battling midfielder theorised, “Obviously, Nigeria is a much bigger country in teems of football, but Zimbabwe also wants to make history. Zimbabwe qualifying for the World Cup would probably be a more historical thing than Nigeria qualifying.
That’s why we play with determination. All the guys want to do something historical and achieve something that has never been done by our country. This is something that gives us the energy to compete.”
He acknowledged that The Warriors have a very slim chance of qualifying from the star-studded group, in which South Africa went top with a 2-0 win away to Benin Republic also on Tuesday, but Munetsi revealed that they will keep playing all their remaining matches gallantly and see what comes out of each fixture.
“Obviously, we didn’t start the qualification as we would have wanted. We lost some points away, and we don’t have the privilege that Nigeria has in playing home games in our country.
“Regardless of that, we take pleasure playing in front of any crowd. It’s good for us because we have guys who are also playing internationally. We also want to try and make our own history by all means necessary,” Munetsi affirmed.
Incidentally, Sports247 gathered that the Super Eagles’ latest threat in Group C of the African qualifiers for the 2026 Mundial is now South Africa, who now have an almost unassailable 13 points, while Nigeria remain fourth with seven points, behind Rwanda and Benin Republic, on eight points each – but separated by goals difference in favour of The Amavubi from Kigali.
