The first match in a jam-packed week of CAF World Cup qualifiers will see Namibia taking on Liberia at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on Wednesday evening.
The group winners will qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals, while the second-placed side will enter a playoff round for a place at the inter-confederation tournament, which will decide the last two spots at the tournament.
Match preview
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Namibia are one of 17 sides whose home games scheduled in the World Cup qualifiers this week were forced to use alternate venues due to their own grounds failing to meet the required standards.
After achieving the historic feat of reaching their first-ever knockout stage in an Africa Cup of Nations competition earlier this year, Namibia are now looking to continue their upward trajectory by securing their first World Cup qualification.
The Brave Warriors have produced several noteworthy results in recent times, including beating Cameroon during their AFCON qualifying campaign before sending shockwaves across the continent by beating Tunisia 1-0 and holding Mali to a goalless draw in the main tournament.
While Collin Benjamin's side currently lead Group H in this competition with six points after two matches, they were beaten 1-0 by Equatorial Guinea in their opening fixture but were later awarded a 3-0 victory after FIFA ruled the Elephants' striker Emilio Nsue was ineligible to play in his country's first two qualifiers.
In the second match of qualifying, they overcame Sao Tome and Principe 2-0 and extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to three matches after playing out a 1-1 friendly against Lesotho in preparation for this fixture last weekend.
Meanwhile, Liberia enter this match in third place in the group standings with three points, but like their opponents here, they were awarded a 3-0 victory despite losing 1-0 to Equatorial Guinea back in November last year.
On either side of that result, the Lone Stars suffered a 1-0 loss to Malawi in their first World Cup qualifier but were much better in their 2025 AFCON qualifiers in March, when they beat Djibouti 2-0 on the road with captain Oscar Dorley scoring one of the two first-half goals.
That victory brought an end to a five-match winless run in away games for Liberia, which included three losses and two draws, dating back to their shock victory over Senegal in the African Nations Championship Qualifiers back in July 2022.
However, maintaining consistency has been a major issue for Mario Marinica's side and that became clearly evident when they played out a goalless draw against the same opponent a week later back at home.
While Namibia are now ranked 46 places above Liberia according to FIFA world rankings, the Lone Stars have never lost to the Brave Warriors, winning one and drawing one of their past two encounters.
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Team News
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Namibia will have to make do without the services of Ryan Nyambe and Ananias Gebhardt when they take on Liberia and Tunisia this week, with both players ruled out due to injuries.
Benjamin has welcomed several newcomers to his squad over the last few months, including the likes of Erastus Kulula, Ndjiraeree Maharero, Ben Namib, David Ndeunyema and Lawrence Doeseb, all of whom are in contention for selection.
Liberia have no reported injuries ahead of this match which should mean Viktoria Plzen's Mark Pabai, Nohan Kenneh of Shrewsbury Town, and Livingston midfielder Mo Sangare are all likely to feature in the matchday squad.
Dorley, who applies his trade at Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic, will be a key figure for the visitors and will likely be joined by Marcus Macauley and Albert Korvah in the Lone Stars' engine room.
Namibia possible starting lineup:
Kazapua; Kamberipa, Amutenya, Ikeinge, Hanamub; Petrus, Kalula; Muzeu, Kamatuka, Hotto; Shalulile
Liberia possible starting lineup:
Williams; Johnson, Dweh, Sangare, Pabai; Dorley, Macaulay, Kenneh, Korvah; Jebor, Ledium
We say: Namibia 1-0 Liberia
Namibia have made significant strides forward in recent years and showed at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year they are able to pull off important results when needed. We are expecting this to be a bit of a slow-burner, but we fancy the Brave Warriors to claim the points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
