Botswana’s Zebras lost 0-1 at home to the Warriors of Zimbabwe in a Group H match of the 2021 AFCON qualifiers played on Wednesday evening.
Zimbabwe have brightened their chances of making it to the Afcon finals as they have eight points from five games whereas Botswana have four points.
Debutant Perfect Chikwende put the Warriors ahead in the 15th minute at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium.
He finished off a rebound via a diving header after Botswana keeper had punched a free-kick into his path.
The match was delayed as match officials awaited results of Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 tests which turned out to be negative.
Therefore, the game kicked off 30 minute later from the scheduled time.
The Zebras have since been eliminated from the race to the finals.
The Zebras face already qualified Algeria on March 29 2021.
In another game, Algeria are away to bottom placed Zambia later tonight.
Teams that have since booked their place at the finals are Comoros, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Egypt, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia and hosts Cameroon.
Line ups:
Zimbabwe: Talbert Shumba, Takudzwa Chimwemwe, Onismor Bhasera, Jimmy Dzingai, Teenage Hadebe, Thabani Kamusoko, Ovidy Karuru, Perfect Chikwende, Knowledge Musona, Kuda Mahachi, Terrence Dzvukamanja
Group H log table
Pld Points
Algeria 4 10
Zimbabwe 5 8
Botswana 5 4
Zambia 4 3