Chipolopolo To Take On South Africa's Bafana Bafana

The Zambian national team Chipolopolo are set to take on South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in a friendly match next month during the FIFA international period. 

Both teams are due to face Zimbabwe in upcoming tournaments. Zambia in the 2021 AFCON qualifiers and South Africa in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The South African side have also scheduled to meet Namibia in a friendly next month, while Zambia is planning two friendlies against the United Arab Emirates. 

Participation in the matches remains subject to governments permitting the required international travel. Chipolopolo will have to travel to South Africa for the match.  

“Our opponents have agreed, but everything is dependent on lockdown regulations. These plans are in anticipation that we will go into Level One of the nationwide lockdown and our borders would be opened soon,” the spokesperson for the South African Football Association (SAFA) Dominic Chimhavi told Goal.com.  

Zambia are set to face Botswana as part of the Group H AFCON qualifiers in November. Chipolopolo currently sits at the bottom of the group on zero points. Botswana are third with one point, Zimbabwe in second on four and Algeria at the top with six points. 

The 2020 Cosafa Senior Men’s Challenge is yet to be confirmed. 

Last week the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) was forced to dismiss a widely circulated team list that was allegedly produced by Chipolopolo coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic. 

“The circulated list is false and we would like to advise members of the public to ignore it. The national team coach will announce his squad for upcoming fixtures once we have confirmed our calendar for October fixtures,” FAZ General Secretary Adrian Kashala stated.  

“We understand the anxiety some people may be experiencing arising from the absence of international football but that should not be a reason to fabricate national call-ups,” he continued.