Exclusive: Nchimunya Mweetwa Talks Zambia’s AFCON Title and World Cup Qualification Chances

Former national team striker Nchimunya Mweetwa believes the current Chipolopolo squad needs to participate in at least two more Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournaments before they can realistically aim for the title.

Zambia is among the 24 teams that will compete at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco after qualifying as group leaders in a pool that had defending champions Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Chad. This was Chipolopolo's second straight qualification.

At home, some fans believe Avram Grant’s team has what it takes to go all the way and reach the final, but Mweetwa believes there is still some way to go before the current team can lift the AFCON.

AFCON TITLE DREAMS UNREALISTIC 

Mweetwa told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive Interview that the immediate target for Zambia should be to make it to the knockout stage.

“Talking of winning the AFCON at the moment is a bit an unrealistic expectation but I can tell you for the fact that we shall perform better than the last AFCON participation,” he said.

At the last tournament in Ivory Coast, Zambia finished third in Group F with two points after playing to two stalemates against Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a loss to Morocco.

“We still have one or two more AFCON tournaments to play before we can think of winning it, the players still need to gain some experience at such a level and we will be good to challenge the continent,” Mweetwa said.

MISSION WORLD CUP

Mweetwa said it is about time that Zambia harnessed the current crop of players for a maiden World Cup qualification.

For all its reputation, Zambia has never qualified to the senior World Cup. The team is off track in the 2026 qualifiers and if past results are anything to go by, the realistic target should be the 2030 event.

After four matches played in the qualifiers, Zambia is fourth in Group E with three points from a possible 12. Morocco leads the pack with nine points. With four matches left before the end of the qualifiers, it will take something of a miracle for Zambia to overturn the tables.

Mweetwa is optimistic that something can be salvaged.

“I was looking in the state that we are in, we have a pool of players who can deliver at any given time, we need to start talking about qualifying to the World Cup and I believe we can qualify with these players we have,” he concluded.