Zimbabwe will host Benin on the Matchday 5 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Group C.

The game will be played at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa on Thursday.

Kick-off is at 6 pm CAT.

The match will be played on a neutral ground due to the unavailability of approved stadiums in Zimbabwe.

The teams are meeting for the first time in recent years.

TV Info

ZIFA has confirmed that state broadcaster ZBC TV will show the game live.

The channel is available on terrestrial feed, DStv Zimbabwe and on Zim Digital Decoder.

The FIFA Plus app will stream the game live, while Soccer24 will give you blow-by-blow updates of the game.

SABC Sport and SuperSport TV are yet to confirm their TV guide.

What the coaches said:

Warriors’ Michael Nees: “Benin have a good quality… But we have to take it with positivity and self-confidence, and give everything in our power to deliver a good performance.”

Benin’s Gernot Rohr: “It’s a match everyone wants to win. We respect our opponents, who qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations and have a very good coaching staff with a coach I’ve known for over 30 years. I’m sure he’s prepared his squad well.”

Team News
Warriors recalled former captain Knowledge Musona, who had retired from international football in 2022.

Current skipper Marvelous Nakamba will miss the action due to an injury. He was replaced by Richard Hachiro.

Isheanesu Mauchi is the only player in the Zimbabwe squad, who hasn’t been capped at national level before.

Benin retained several players from the squad that has been playing in recent games except for Candas Fiogbé.

The 19-year-old received his first call-up to the team, but it is not certain that he will start in the game.

Major absentees include Olivier Verdon, Tosin Aiyegun and Cédric Hountondji.

WCQs Form
Zimbabwe: DDLL (Position 6)
Benin: LDWW (Position 1)

FIFA Rankings
Zimbabwe: 121
Benin: 94