WAFCON: Hauptle insists Zambia’s qualification chances ‘already in our hands’

Zambia women’s national team coach Nora Hauptle stressed the importance of the Copper Queens protecting what they have when they take on Namibia in the return leg of the 2026 Women Africa Cup of Nations tournament on Sunday.

The Copper Queens will head into the final qualifying decider having won the first leg 4-2 away. Speaking ahead of the return leg set for Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Hauptle said the team has a lot of work to do on set pieces against a very good Namibian side.

The former Ghana coach further said despite leading 4-2 in the first leg, they will have to remain focused to finish off the job at home on Sunday.

Zambia must get simple things right against Namibia

“We know that in Zambia it is another job, we need to focus on our performance, we are happy to be home and excited and play tomorrow,” said Hauptle. “I think it is all in our hands, we decide if the game is going like this or like that, basically we are in each position better than our opposition.”

She added: “Consistency in performance is a lot about discipline and getting the simple things right over 90 minutes and being very critical, we always want to improve. An example where we need to improve is defence and set pieces and possession. This is the easy thing to do but we need to do it more often.”

In her message to the Zambian fans, she said: “I am already feeling goose bumps, to play before a full stadium is our wish. We want to play with very offensive full backs and we sometimes convert wingers in this position, we can also convert holding midfielders sometimes in this position.”

Winner over two legs will qualify to the WAFCON which will be played in Morocco next year.

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