COSAFA Women’s Championship: Zambia coach gutted after Namibia defeat

Zambia women national team were eliminated from the 2025 COSAFA Women’s Championship following a 1-0 defeat to Namibia in the semifinals on Friday.

The Copper Queens controlled possession for much of the match but failed to make it count. The first half ended 0-0 despite the Copper Queens’ dominance on the ball.

Full Time Results :

Deadlock: Broken. Finals: Booked.

🇿🇲 Zambia 0 🆚 1 🇳🇦 Namibia (Juliana Blou)#CWC2025 #Hollywoodbets #SemiFinals #HollywoodbetsCWC2025 pic.twitter.com/hAEByhPkU0

— COSAFA (@COSAFAMEDIA) February 27, 2026

Namibia returned from the break looking dangerous on the counter. The decisive moment came in stoppage time when Zenatha Coleman broke free, beat the Zambian defense and cut into the box before setting up Juliana Blou, who finished from close range past goalkeeper Hazel Nali.

Namibia was so defensive, we didn’t create enough

And speaking at the post-match press conference, assistant coach Charles Haalubono expressed disappointment at the result but acknowledged Namibia’s defensive approach.

“Not the result we wanted; it’s not a good result. I think we tried to play our game, but it didn’t work out for us because Namibia was so defensive and we didn’t create enough scoring opportunities,” said Haalubono.

Haalubono admitted there were defensive lapses that led to the late goal.

Zambia to face Zimbabwe in third-place playoff

“I think our marking on one-on-one was not all that good. Our defender was easily beaten by Coleman, and she managed to bring in a cross, which unfortunately first landed on the Namibia player,” added Haalubono.

Zambia will now face Zimbabwe in the third-place playoff. Zimbabwe lost their semifinal clash 4-2 on penalties against South Africa after the two nations had produced a 1-1 outcome in normal time.