Zebras head to AFCON with fighting mission
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday December 15, 2025 06:02
The team’s most recent outing, a 3–1 loss to Algeria, summed up the challenge, offering only a lone consolation goal from Tebogo Kopelang, but little else to celebrate. This stretch stands in sharp contrast to the build-up to AFCON 2012, whilst the Zebras navigated a similarly long seven-match period but arrived at the tournament with confidence and momentum.
Back then, tight defending, critical away wins, and disciplined game management pushed Botswana to its first-ever continental finals.
The comparison with today’s run—where the team has conceded more than it has scored—highlights the size of the task ahead.
Head coach, Morena Ramoreboli, believes this current generation can still draw strength from the past.
“Back home or away, we had to fight, and in the back of our minds we had to remember that a Zebra does not change its form,” he said.
The manager reminded the players that the class of 2012 laid the foundation they now stand on.
“They might not have been celebrated like you, but remember those who sweated blood for you to be here. Fight for them, and for the journey they began,” he said.
The road in Group D is anything but forgiving. Senegal arrive as overwhelming favourites, armed with experience, depth, and a qualification campaign that underlined their authority.
DR Congo, buoyed by a solid run of results in qualifying, have shown they can grind out performances under pressure.
Benin, often underestimated, possess the pace, discipline, and unpredictability to spring surprises.
For the Zebras to survive this group, they must rediscover composure, sharpen their cutting edge, and tighten the back line, all whilst tapping into the same grit that lifted them to the finals in 2012.
What Botswana does have is belief, and Ramoreboli has urged his squad to channel the emotional weight of those who supported their journeys.
“Go and represent your families, those who prayed for you, even those no longer with us. Represent their spirits,” he told his players during the team’s send-off ceremony held on Sunday evening.
The off-field issues look to have calmed with partners jumping in, whilst the team left for the final training camp in Tunisia with P4 million in incentives already assured.
Ramoreboli will have the final look at his troops in the next week as The Zebras face Tunisia and Comoros in friendly games.