Mozambique’s Mambas will host Uganda in Egypt on March 20 2025 in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers following the Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s disqualification of Maputo’s Zimpeto National Stadium from hosting international matches.
The Mozambican Football Federation (FMF) has confirmed via a statement that the Mambas will play the match at Cairo International Stadium after CAF rejected Zimpeto following its inspection conducted on February 17 and 28, 2025.
FMZ justified its decision to play in Cairo, attributing the decision to cordial relationship with Egyptian Football Federation and logistical reasons.
“Taking into account several strategic factors, including logistics and air routes that facilitate the movement of players based in Europe and their subsequent travel to Algeria, the FMF contacted the Egyptian Football Association (EFA). Given the good relations between the two countries, the EFA readily agreed to host the match,” FMZ’s statement reads.
CAF disqualified Zimpeto because, while some progress was made, particularly on the pitch condition, the pitch surface still does not meet the minimum requirements necessary to host CAF and Fifa Category 3 matches.’
The stadium was initially banned in 2023 and CAF’s previous inspection carried out last December still found the venue unfit. Mambas host matches in neighbouring South Africa.
CAF’s strict conditions on match venues have seen many teams playing away
from home with Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Namibia using South Africa venues.