Nothing except a win will keep the Zebras in the COSAFA Cup tournament as the team faces Mozambique's Mambas in a crunch Group A tie at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium at 3pm.
The Zebras are third in a tight group where no team has registered a win or a loss as all the games have ended in stalemates. The Zebras are down in third since they have not found the net, while South Africa and Mozambique occupy the top two spots, respectively after their 1-1 draw on the opening day.
Botswana started its campaign with a 0-0 draw against Eswatini, before a similar result against Bafana Bafana on Saturday. Today, the Zebras have to win to save their campaign, otherwise they will be boarding the next plane home. A draw will only take the Zebras to three points, not enough to top the group or occupy the runners-up spot. Teams have been divided into three groups, with the three table-toppers guaranteed a spot in the semi-final. The best-placed runner-up from all three groups joins the group winners in the semi-finals. At the moment, Angola and Namibia have four points in Group C, which means Botswana has to surpass the four-point mark to be in contention for a place in the semi-finals as the best-placed runners-up. Only Zimbabwe, from Group B, has secured a place in the semi-final in a group that has Comoros, Zambia, and Kenya. In the other game in Group A, South Africa face Eswatini and a win for either team takes them through to the knockout phase. The semi-finals are on Friday, with the third-place and final matches taking place on Sunday.
