Six Africa Cup of Nations tournament editions have passed since Botswana made her maiden appearance in 2012.
While the football loving nation’s hope was that the historic qualification would pave a way for qualification towards the next editions, The Zebras has for the past 12 years failed to lend lethal kicks when it mattered the most, missing the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023 editions to the chagrin of the football faithful.
Coaches and players have come and gone, and the Zebras continue to search for that elusive berth at Africa’s top football table.
Under the new French coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa, Botswana will once again go hunting for three valuable points to qualify for the 2025 AFCON edition which is scheduled for Morocco from December 21, until January 18, 2026.
The road won’t be easy for the Zebras.
They’ll have to go past African powerhouses Egypt, who boast of world class talents such as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Mauritania and the unpredictable Cape Verde in Group C.
With Botswana’s struggles well documented, it remains to be seen how Da Rosa’s charges will fare against Africa’s best and technically superior teams.
The recent 2023 AFCON qualifying campaign yielded only four points, which was not enough to send the team to Cameroon following four losses at the hands of Libya, Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia and a single win and draw respectively.
In the process “Zebby” only managed to score three goals while conceding seven.
With the 2025 qualifying campaign getting underway in September, Da Rosa‘s boys have a mammoth task if they are to qualify for the biennial tournament.
Against the seven time AFCON Champions, Egypt Botswana’s record has been very poor, enduring three losses, one draw from four games and shipping in five goals in the process.
Currently ranked 36 in the FIFA World rankings, “The Pharaohs” are the clear favourites to win the group and qualify even before kicking the ball.
Mauritania on the other hand, ranked 112, has an upper hand against the Zebras on a head to head record.
They’ve recorded three victories to Botswana’s one. Cape Verde on the other hand remains a closed book as the two countries have never met.
However the Islanders are ranked 65th in the world, and might prove too superior for a country languishing on the 145th spot in world football rankings.
The team has been struggling in the recent past, failing to score during the Four Nations tournament in March in Madagascar.
Da Rosa’s team played three goaless draws against Burundi, Rwanda and hosts.
Even with the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, The Zebras has been on and off with two victories against Guinea and Somalia and two losses inflicted by Uganda and Mozambique.
In the just ended 2024 COSAFA cup in South Africa where Da Rosa took a team of relatively new faces, The Zebras still struggled, drawing two matches and losing one.
The struggle in front of goals was still too apparent, the local side scoring a single goal and conceding three from three matches.
According to analyst Thato Kgosimore, it will require more practice matches if “The Zebras” are to get the best results out of the group.
“It’s a tough group for Zebras considering that all opponents are fresh from the last AFCON. When you look at the three teams they are naturally physical except for Egypt.We’re not know to be a physical side, and that is a weakness in Africa.We need to win all our home matches to stand a chance,” he said.
Kgosimore further said the national team should play a lot of friendly matches with tough opponents tom prepare for the massive challenge ahead.
However, Da Rosa and his charges will know that, there’s always a chance.
Despite the current struggles, history has proven that minnows can also triumph.
The 2012 squad under coach Stanley Tshosane surprising many on their way to the historic qualification, defeating proven powerhouses such as Tunisia, Togo ,Chad and Malawi.
