Warriors FIFA World Cup Dream: Not Getting Carried Away After Malawi Win – Benjamin

By Adolf Kaure

Brave Warriors Maintain Focus Despite World Cup Qualification Hopes

Namibia’s Brave Warriors head coach Colin Benjamin has emphasized that while his team dreams of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they remain grounded following their crucial 1-0 victory over Malawi in the World Cup qualifiers.

The decisive goal came in the 40th minute from Cape Town City forward Prins Tjiueza during the match at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi, keeping Namibia’s World Cup hopes alive.

Realistic Approach to World Cup Qualification

“To have dreams is good if you push harder and keep working, but we are honestly not looking at any table,” Benjamin stated. “With the 2024 African Cup of Nations that we had, it’s really good to have these feelings of joy, happiness and accomplishment for my players so that we have good motivation for the next game.”

In Group H of the World Cup qualifiers, Namibia currently sits in second place with 11 points from five matches, just two points behind group leaders Tunisia. The group also includes Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Developing New Talent

Benjamin highlighted that the qualifiers serve as an important platform to develop new players: “We had two players who started who are new – that is Sergio Damaseb and Bonifacius Joseph, and I think that they did well. We have to try and work on those achievements.”

“With these qualifications, is also the transition. We keep on working. We are not looking at the log. It’s about Namibia, and how the players can grow and us growing as a nation,” the coach added.

Analyzing the Malawi Victory

Reflecting on the match against Malawi, Benjamin praised his team’s resilience: “We really started well. We took control of matters in the first half in the first ten minutes. After that, we lost it a bit in a sense that we could not deal with the long balls that Malawi was playing.”

“The onslaught of Malawi was a bit of a problem, but we could not manage our transitional play. It was a difficult game against a very good opponent – very physical, a direct team that wants to get to the goal, so compliments to my team for withstanding that pressure,” Benjamin concluded.

Next Challenge: Equatorial Guinea

The Brave Warriors will face their next World Cup qualification challenge against Equatorial Guinea on Monday, 24 March at Peter Mobaka Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa, with kickoff scheduled for 15:00.

The top team from each group will automatically qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, while the four best runners-up will advance to a second qualification stage.

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