Brave Warriors touch down for fourth TotalEnergies CAF AFCON appearance

Namibia have officially touched down in Korhogo, north of Cote d’Ivoire for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023.

The Brave Warriors of Namibia will be based in Korhogo for their Group E matches where they will be up against neighbours South Africa, Tunisia and Mali.

Led by the youngest coach in the tournament, coach Collin Benjamin (45), the Southern African nation is gearing up for their fourth appearance of the tournament, with their last being in the 2019 edition in Egypt.

Namibia are yet to advance from the group stages but with experienced campaigners such as Mamelodi Sundowns hitman, Peter Shalulile and the ever-green Deon Hotto who can play in various positions, the Brave Warriors are looking at causing an upset in Korhogo.

Namibia kick off their Group E campaign against 2004 champions, Tunisia on Tuesday, 16 January before taking on South Africa five days later ahead of their final match against Mali on Wednesday, 24 January.

Namibia’s record at the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON:

 This is Namibia’s fourth appearance at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, their first since 2019. They have finished bottom of their group in each of their three previous participations.

Namibia have lost seven of their nine matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (D2). Coming into this year’s tournament, only Benin (14) and Mozambique (12) have played more TotalEnergies AFCON matches than Namibia (9) without ever winning one.

Namibia have conceded 2.7 goals per game at the TotalEnergies AFCON (24 in 9 games), that’s more than any other team to have taken part in more than one edition of the tournament.

Peter Shalulile scored four of Namibia’s six goals in the qualifiers for this year’s edition. He was the only player alongside Victor Osimhen and Patson Daka to score in four different matches.