{"id":109558,"date":"2025-09-09T16:26:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news"},"modified":"2025-09-09T16:56:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:56:58","slug":"2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news","title":{"rendered":"2026 FIFA WCQs: Zimbabwe vs Rwanda preview, team news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Rwanda\u2019s Amavubi are set to face Zimbabwe\u2019s Warriors on Tuesday, September 9, in a crucial CAF World Cup Qualifier Group C clash at Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg.<\/p>\n<p>Kick-off is scheduled for 15:00 CAT.<\/p>\n<p>Both teams head into this encounter with high stakes, as Group C remains finely balanced in the early stages of qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Rwanda looks to continue their upward trajectory on the continental stage, the match is more than just about points \u2013 it is a chance to prove their resilience following years of footballing setbacks.<\/p>\n<p>However, Rwanda\u2019s squad will be under pressure to deliver good results after failing to win any of their last five encounters<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Zimbabwe have adopted Orlando Stadium as their home for qualifiers as they remain barred from hosting international matches domestically due to stadium compliance issues.<\/p>\n<p>The result of today\u2019s tie could have lasting implications in the battle for qualification, with Rwanda aiming to keep pace with group rivals in the race for a World Cup ticket.<\/p>\n<p>Zimbabwe are, on the other side, already out of contention following their 1-0 defeat to Benin on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Team News<\/p>\n<p>Zimbabwe will be without captain Marvelous Nakamba, Teenage Hadebe, and Divine Lunga, who are suspended after receiving their second yellow cards in Friday\u2019s defeat to Benin.<\/p>\n<p>They will have their vice-captain Marshall Munetsi back after serving a one-match suspension and is expected to play a key role.<\/p>\n<p>Coach Michael Nees is likely to make changes to his starting XI.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to be fair competitors for the other teams still fighting for qualification. We can\u2019t be accused of not taking these matches seriously. We want to win and get into a winning mood heading into AFCON.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two teams last met in 2023 in the reverse fixture of the Group C qualifiers, which ended in a goalless draw.<\/p>\n<p>TV Info<\/p>\n<p>Fans can follow the action live on DStv\u2019s SuperSport TV, while FIFA+ will provide streaming coverage. Zimbabwe\u2019s national broadcaster ZBC TV is also expected to air the match live. Additionally, Soccer24 will offer minute-by-minute online updates.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction<\/b><\/p>\n<p>While Rwanda securing all three points wouldn\u2019t be shocking given their recent form, taking at least a draw seems like a very realistic outcome.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Rwanda\u2019s Amavubi are set to face Zimbabwe\u2019s Warriors on Tuesday, September 9, in a crucial CAF World Cup Qualifier Group C clash at Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg. Kick-off is scheduled for 15:00 CAT. Both teams head into this encounter with high stakes, as Group C remains finely balanced in the early stages of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":109557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18,772],"tags":[4172,758,669],"class_list":["post-109558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","category-to-homepage","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-rwanda","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2026 FIFA WCQs: Zimbabwe vs Rwanda preview, team news - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rwanda\u2019s Amavubi are set to face Zimbabwe\u2019s Warriors on Tuesday, September 9, in a crucial CAF World Cup Qualifier Group ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2026 FIFA WCQs: Zimbabwe vs Rwanda preview, team news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rwanda\u2019s Amavubi are set to face Zimbabwe\u2019s Warriors on Tuesday, September 9, in a crucial CAF World Cup Qualifier Group ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-09T16:26:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-09T16:56:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/09\/sm_1757424367.346678.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"619\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"2026 FIFA WCQs: Zimbabwe vs Rwanda preview, team news\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-09T16:26:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-09T16:56:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news\"},\"wordCount\":394,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/09\/sm_1757424367.346678.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"FIFA World Cup 2026\",\"Rwanda\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/2026-fifa-wcqs-zimbabwe-vs-rwanda-preview-team-news\",\"name\":\"2026 FIFA WCQs: Zimbabwe vs Rwanda preview, team news - 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