San Francisco Frontiers - Dramatic winners Zimbabwe to end five-year exile by tackling DR Congo

Major renovations to the 60,000-seat National Sports Stadium on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, forced the Warriors to host matches outside the country, often in South Africa.

While Zimbabwe can relish finally performing in front of their supporters again, 13 of the 48 teams competing in 2027 AFCON qualifiers are 'homeless'.

A civil war prevents Sudan playing in Khartoum and security concerns mean Somalia cannot host opponents in Mogadishu.

The other 11 countries, including 2022 AFCON champions Senegal, currently lack stadiums that meet international standards.

For Zimbabwe, the timing of their return home is perfect as they face 2026 World Cup qualifiers DR Congo in an optimistic mood.

They staged the most dramatic comeback of the 24 matchday one fixtures last week by overcoming a two-goal deficit to snatch a 3-2 away win over Sierra Leone.

Marshall Munetsi, a 30-year-old midfielder with English second-tier club Wolverhampton Wanderers, triggered the recovery with a 72nd-minute goal.

Wolves teammate Tawanda Chirewa equalised four minutes later, then Munetsi struck again with two minutes of regular time remaining to secure maximum points.

It was a dream competitive debut for Ramon Catala, a 65-year-old Spaniard whose coaching career includes stints in the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Ukraine and Libya.

While Zimbabwe clawed back from a looming loss in Group E, DR Congo cruised to a 2-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea in Kinshasa under French coach Sebastien Desabre.

Captain and centre-back Chancel Mbemba nodded the Congolese in front within four minutes and Newcastle United striker Yoane Wissa added a second goal after half-time.

- Transformed -

Long considered one of the underachieving national teams in Africa, the Leopards have been transformed under Desabre into a well-drilled, combative unit.

He took them to the 2026 World Cup after a 52-year absence, and they led England for 68 minutes of a last-32 clash before a Harry Kane brace turned the tables.

Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau host three-time AFCON champions Nigeria on Tuesday in the only other matchday two fixture featuring two teams who won their first qualifiers.

While a Nigerian victory over visiting Madagascar in Group L was expected, Guinea-Bissau winning away to 2027 AFCON co-hosts Tanzania was not.

After decades among the minnows, Guinea-Bissau underwent a dramatic turnaround, qualifying for four consecutive AFCON tournaments from 2017.

But the west Africans missed out on the most recent AFCON in Morocco and won just two of 10 qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

As Guinea-Bissau slumped, Tanzania rose, reaching an AFCON knockout stage for the first time this year under Argentine coach Miguel Gamondi and restricting hosts Morocco to a 1-0 win.

So a 2-0 victory for Guinea-Bissau in Zanzibar City through goals from Franculino Dju and Mama Balde stunned Tanzania, the 2027 co-hosts with Kenya and Uganda.

All three co-hosts are following an AFCON tradition of playing qualifiers to gain competitive match practice, rather than being restricted to friendlies.

Lacking injured star striker Victor Osimhen, Nigeria had to come from behind to edge Madagascar 2-1 in Uyo with debutants George Ilenikhena and Moses Usor scoring.

With Tanzania assured of a qualifying place, only one of Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar can join them at the finals, adding to the importance of the Bissau showdown.

Q.Nelson--SFF