Brito rallies his troops ahead of Super Eagles clash

Zimbabwe head coach Baltemar Brito has urged his side to give supporters what they want ahead of the Warriors’ second 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Nigeria at the Huye Stadium on Sunday.

Kick-off is at 3:00pm (SA, GMT+2)

The Warriors marked their return to competitive football with a 0-0 draw against Rwanda in their opening Group C World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.

With Brito claiming his side had little preparation time ahead of the international break, Zimbabwe were put under immense pressure by Rwanda during large parts of the encounter. However, the Warriors held their own in getting their first point on the board in Group C.

As Zimbabwe seek their first win in the current set of qualifiers, Brito expects the Warriors fans to back their nation at the Huye Stadium this weekend.

“Let’s unite and rally behind the national team,” Brito said.

“We are here to try to do our best, everyone is here to do their best, so we expect the nation to give the best of support.

“We will try to create a good moment for them [fans]”

As for the Super Eagles, Jose Peseiro’s side go into their next fixture on the back of a frustrating 1-1 draw against Lesotho on Thursday.

While Nigeria boasted firepower in the form of Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman in attack, it was defender Motlomelo Mkhwanazi who popped up in the 56th minute to give Lesotho an unlikely lead. Nevertheless, the Super Eagles managed to claw their way back into the game as Semi Ajayi got his name on the scoresheet in the 67th minute.

After the match, Peseiro lamented his side’s inability to bury chances and mentioned that he will address the issue with his strikers ahead of the upcoming tie.

“I am sad of course, I’m not happy, disappointed also but my team tried to do the maximum,” Peseiro said.

“I’m sad because of the result but about the performance, the other team stayed in the back ninety minutes, went in front three or four times.

“What I can do is to speak with my guys to be more concentrated and focused for finishing.”