Wolves drop Munetsi again amid Zimbabwe AFCON controversy

Zimbabwean midfielder Marshall Munetsi was once again a notable omission from Wolverhampton Wanderers’ playing squad that defeated West Ham United 3-0 on Saturday.

His absence from the Premier League side came amid his repeated claims that he had recovered from injury and should have been part of the Warriors’ Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) squad.

Zimbabwe coach Marian Mario Marinica’s brave decision to drop Munetsi from the AFCON squad triggered debate. The former Orlando Pirates player added fuel to the fire by claiming that he had made significant progress from the injury and that he should have made the AFCON squad in Morocco.

Munetsi said he was sad to learn that Marinica went ahead to release the final travelling party while disregarding the positive update Wolves had made over his recovery from the calf injury.

“This one hurts as representing the Warriors has always been a dream, and wearing our colours is the greatest honour of my career. AFCON would have even been more significant,” he wrote on his Instagram marshall_munetsi.

In his absence, the Warriors exited from the group stages after losing 2-1, 2-3 to Egypt, South Africa and drawing one-all with Angola.

How many Wolves games has Munetsi missed?

Munetsi had not featured in six Premier League matches since he picked a calf injury during a game against Nottingham Forest on December 3 2025.

Wolves manager Rob Edwards left out the Zimbabwean holding midfielder from the squad that faced the Hammers. However, his compatriot Tawanda Cbirewa was part of the playing squad and came off the bench in the second-half.

Chirewa, who did not command a regular position in Zimbabwe’s starting XI at AFCON, entered the field of play after Edwards’ side had cruised to the comfortable lead courtesy of first-half goals from Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-Chan and Mateus Mane.

Despite registering their first Premier League victory, Wolves remain at the bottom of the Premier League log. However, of late the table-anchors have shown massive signs of improvement.