The Zambia U17 National team will play their first ever match at the FIFA U17 World Cup this afternoon when they take on Indonesia.
After hosting the 19th edition of the FIFA
U17 World Cup in 2023, this is the first
time Indonesia have qualified for this age
group’s global stage from the Asian zone.
The young “Tim Garuda” made their FIFA
U17 World Cup by virtue of hosting the 2023 tournament during which they gave
a good account of themselves.
Two 1-1 draws against South and Central American oppositions Ecuador and Panama respectively was followed by a 3-1 defeat to Morocco who went on to reach the quarterfinals.
Zambia also qualified for the FIFA U17 World Cup for the first time ever. Victories over Tanzania (4-1) and Uganda (2-1) along with a goalless draw propelled them to the quarterfinal stage of the 2025 U-17
Africa Cup of Nations.
As all last eight nations would advance to the FIFA U17 World Cup, Zambia celebrated their qualification on 6th April 2015 when they overcame Uganda in their last Group A fixture in Casablanca, Morocco.
Head Coach Dennis Makinka says his side have a plan despite this being their first appearance at the global showpiece at this stage.
“Coming into this World Cup, as Zambia’s first-timers and Indonesia have already participated in the tournament before, it’s quite a big challenge. They’ve tested the waters, and this will be our first time. So, of course, we have a plan. We’ve watched them play in the qualifiers as well. So, the game plan that we have, of course, is to see how they will come at us, and then we’ll decide from there,” he said.
“Yeah, you know, friendlies, you never know what they were looking for. Maybe they were not looking for results. It’s something else that they looked for. But all in all, our preparation was good. The friendlies, we saw what we wanted to see in the friendlies. And I think that will push us more psychologically, knowing that about 90% of what we’ve been planning and working on is working. Obviously, when you’re attacking, you are always vulnerable in defense. So we’ve been working on that so that we balance. Even as we attack, we are also wary of the defense,” he added.
Makinka says he is happy with the improvement in defensive set up. He says his side was very bad defensively but have now improved.
“I think we are happy with the way we’ve defended. We were so bad at our defensive organization, especially the friendlies that we played back home. We scored a lot of goals and we allowed so many. But since we came here, we have worked on the defense. I think the first game we played Mexico, we allowed one goal and scored three. The last game that we played against New Caledonia. We did very well at the back. We didn’t allow any goal. I think even just shots on target for Caledonia, they were so limited. So I’m simply happy with our defensive organization,” he said.
“Because we have a few knocks, about two or three. We are still monitoring them. We’ll make that decision after this session. But I think… Yeah, when you are working on something, you stick to it so that you see whether they are jellying. As it stands, I think the way we’ve been playing in the friendlies, especially the last two, we are trying to be consistent with the starting line-up, but we still have two or three knocks that we have a bit of a doubt about,’ he added.
To the fans he urged them to keep pushing and supporting the team as they are the 12th player.
“Zambian fans, we love you. We’ve seen so many messages that you are sending, the positive ones and the negative ones. Of course, for someone to grow, you need to accept criticism. Of course, there is criticism, and some are just praises all over. And I thank all the Zambians for, you know, pushing the boys. The boys are really happy because they are getting all the messages. We just say continue being behind us. You are the 12th player, and we’ll make you proud,” he said.
Between the sticks Rogers Simunba will battle for a place with Christo Chitambala and Wiseman Nkumbu.
Sporting Lusaka utility player James Neene Sibeene is expected to be joined by Levison Banda, Andrew Mwape, and Jonathan Kalimina in the back four.
Bongani Ndhlovu and Chimwemwe Nkotami are among those available for selection in midfield. Kelvin Chipelu and Robert ‘Sugar Sugar’ Banda are eying a starting berth on the right wing with Nthasi Malupande also available for selection.
Felix Phiri and Mapalo Simute are expected to be the architects of the Zambian tempo and overall game in terms of creativity to provide opportunities for Abel Salim Nyirongo upfront.
Spain-based midfielder Lukonde Mwale and Steven Lungu are also able to provide that creative spark Zambia needs to get a win over Indonesia. Daniel Silubonde and Nkwazi talisman Billy Daka are also ready to step in if required.
The match kicks off at 18:45 local time (17:45 Zambian time) on Pitch 7, one of the natural turf fields at the Aspire Zone in Doha.
