Namibia hope to turn promise into success on home soil
Namibia will have lofty ambitions as the home side when they compete in the women’s football competition at the Region 5 Games in Windhoek from July 4-13.
They missed the COSAFA Women’s Under-20 Championship in December last year but did compete in the inaugural regional event in this age-group in 2019.
Namibia have long been a strong side in women’s football across all age-groups in the COSAFA region and claimed a silver medal in the COSAFA Women’s Championship in 2006 to go with fourth place much more recently in 2022.
With players such as Zenatha Coleman, who had played abroad, they have excelled despite being one of the smaller countries in the region in terms of population.
At the regional championship in 2019, they opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over Mozambique, a result that promised much.
But a 0-1 loss to South Africa and a 0-4 defeat to Zimbabwe meant they exited at the first hurdle.
Namibia also competed at the 2014 Region 5 Games but battled to make an impression, though they did make the final of the 2016 Games that were held in Luanda, Angola. There they met powerhouse South Africa in the decider and lost 0-5.
They made the semifinals again in 2018 but fell short and then lost the bronze-medal match 0-2 to Zimbabwe.
It shows they have always been a competitive side in the Region 5 Games especially.
Namibia have long competed in the qualifiers for the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, every edition since 2010.
They have battled to make an impression deep into the qualifiers though. For the 2022 edition they lost 0-5 on aggregate to Burundi in the second round, while for the 2024 edition they were beaten 1-5 on aggregate by Congo.
They have entered the 2026 qualifiers and will face Uganda in the second round in September, with this home tournament providing excellent preparation for the team.
