The Botswana national team is stranded in Mauritania a day before hosting Egypt in Francistown.

The Zebras played the Northwest African country on Saturday in their opening Group C encounter of the 2025 Afcon Qualifiers.

The team was supposed to return home on Sunday to prepare for their second group game on Tuesday.

But due to logistical issue, the Botswana national team is still in Mauritania.

According to a statement by Botswana Football Association, the team is now expected to arrive in Francistown at 9 am tomorrow, just six hours before the kick-off.

The statement reads: “The Botswana Football Association (BFA) wishes to inform the public and all stakeholders of logistical issues that have resulted in delays for the Zebras’ return from Mauritania.

“The team, initially scheduled to arrive in Botswana yesterday midnight, encountered unforeseen complications that have affected their travel plans.

“The team is now expected to depart from Mauritania at 22:30 Mauritania time today and is set to arrive in Botswana tomorrow at 09:00 AM. Despite these delays, we want to assure the nation and supporters that the team remains in high spirits and is committed to giving their best performance.

“The upcoming AFCON 2025 qualifier match against Egypt is still scheduled to kick off at 15:00 hrs. However, taking into consideration the well-being of our players after their late arrival, the BFA has formally reached out to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to request a postponement of the match to a later time in the evening.

“We are awaiting a response from CAF and will provide further updates as soon as we have more information.”