FRANCE-BASED Warriors midfielder Marshall Munetsi has confirmed his availability for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria this week while the six British born players call-up by the technical team miss out.
Coach Baltemar Brito included as many as six players born in the UK such as Andy Rinomhota who plays for championship side Cardiff City, Tivonge Rushesha (Reading), Tawanda Maswanhise (Leicester City) Marley Tavaziva (Brentford), Isaac Mabaya (Liverpool) and Leon Chiwome (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England).
However, it is understood that none of the players will be available for various reasons such as requisite papers and fitness.
Without giving much information, a source told this publication that none of the six players is travelling to Rwanda.
Efforts to get an update from Zifa hit a brick wall as all inquiries regarding the players' availability were directed to normalisation committee member Skhumbuzo Ndebele, who is already in Rwanda with the team.
Ndebele did not respond to the enquiries by the time of going to print.
But the Warriors will be buoyed by the availability of Munetsi who missed his French league side Reims' away match at Nantes last week due to injury; a broken nose to be precise.
Munetsi confirmed his availability when he rallied the troops to give their best in Rwanda.
- Village Rhapsody: 2022 Afcon: What’s in it for Warriors?
- Village Rhapsody: 2022 Afcon: What’s in it for Warriors?
- Mapaya disappoints at World Athletics Champs
- Sprinter Matiyenga fails to reach semi-finals
Keep Reading
"To the fans, we are playing in Rwanda and they are not able to watch us play live, but we know for sure they will be rallying behind us as always. We promise to do our best for them so that they can be proud of us as their Warriors," he told Zifa media on Friday.
The lanky midfielder was scheduled to face PSG in the league before joining the rest of the team in Rwanda.
Zimbabwe play Rwanda on Wednesday at Huye Stadium before they host Nigeria at the same venue next Sunday.
The match against Rwanda will be the country's first official match since the Fifa ban was lifted in July.
Meanwhile, the Warriors arrived in Rwanda yesterday morning where they were welcomed by the embassy of Zimbabwe staff and officials from the advance party that arrived in Kigali on 7 November.
The team will be based in the capital until the 13th before moving to Butare, the host town for Zimbabwe's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria.
