2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees praises team’s spirit after draw with South Africa

Zimbabwe coach Michael Nees has credited his side’s competitive spirit for their hard-earned 0-0 draw against South Africa in Matchday 9 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

On Friday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Bafana Bafana suffered a frustrating setback in their campaign, failing to break down a resilient Zimbabwean side.

The result was compounded when Zimbabwe’s Knowledge Musona received a red card in the 63rd minute, leaving the visitors to hold on with just ten men.

Despite already being eliminated from World Cup contention, Zimbabwe celebrated the draw as a morale-boosting performance.

Speaking ahead of their final qualifier against Lesotho on Monday, Nees told Herald Online that the team’s determination had been the key factor.

“I have said before that every match is an opportunity for us to fine-tune for the Africa Cup of Nations, and this is one of those games,” said Nees in a press conference ahead of their final qualifier against Lesotho on Monday.

“We need to win and have national pride somehow. These matches are also determined to rank national teams, so we are in it to win.

“My players have shown so much hunger in this final phase of qualification.

“Yes, we will not qualify for the World Cup at this juncture, even if we beat Lesotho, but the result will be very big for what we want to achieve.

“We played well against South Africa, even when we knew we were not going to qualify anymore.

“That competitive spirit helped us pick that point against South Africa. The same competitive spirit can help us win against Lesotho.

“There are no dead rubbers in international football. We will do our best to improve and win the match.”

Zimbabwe will be hosted by Lesotho in their final game of the qualifiers today, Monday, October 13.