Photo: The Warriors celebrate in El Jadida, via NewZimbabwe.com.
At half-time in El Jadida on Thursday night, Zimbabwe's road to AFCON 2027 looked like it was starting with a stumble. Sierra Leone led 2-0 and had been the better side for most of the half. Forty five minutes later the Warriors had won 3-2, with all three goals coming in the last 18 minutes, and new coach Ramon Catala had a winning start to his first competitive match in charge.
How the game turned
Sierra Leone went ahead after seven minutes through Alie Conteh, and Sallieu Tarawallie doubled the lead in the 27th minute. Soccer24 describes the Leone Stars as dominant in the opening period, and Zimbabwe had few answers going forward.
The change came at the break. Catala sent on Belgium-based forward Bill Antonio for Sean Fusire and moved Andy Rinomhota from midfield to right-back, and according to The Herald the Warriors began pressing much higher up the pitch. It still took until the 72nd minute for the pressure to pay off, when Marshall Munetsi headed in to make it 2-1. Four minutes later Tawanda Chirewa levelled.
Chirewa thought he had put Zimbabwe ahead in the 82nd minute, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. It didn't matter for long. With two minutes of normal time left, Munetsi met a cross from the left to score his second and complete the comeback.
What the dressing room said
Captain Marvelous Nakamba told Soccer24 that Catala's half-time message was about belief rather than panic. He said the coach asked the players "to believe in ourselves, to believe in his philosophy also", and pushed for quicker passing and keeping the ball to create chances. The result backed that up. Catala only named his first squad at the start of this month, and a coach new to the job doesn't often get this kind of proof that his players will follow his plan when things go wrong.
CAF's own round-up called Zimbabwe's result the comeback of the night across the opening matchday, while pan-African site Africa Soccer described it as an incredible turnaround.
Where it leaves Group E
The three points put Zimbabwe second in Group E, level on points with DR Congo, who beat Equatorial Guinea 2-0 in Kinshasa and top the group on goal difference. The two meet tonight, Monday 28 September, at the National Sports Stadium in Harare.
That fixture is a bigger occasion than a normal matchday two. Arab News reports it will be Zimbabwe's first home international in five years, after renovations at the 60,000-seat stadium sent the Warriors to South Africa to play their "home" games. DR Congo arrive as the group favourites, and Arab News notes they have become a well-drilled and combative side under coach Sébastien Desabre.
Why the comeback matters
Zimbabwe's recent record has been short on moments like this. The Warriors went out of AFCON 2025 in Morocco with one point from three matches, and their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign never got going. Coming from two goals down away from home, against a side that had controlled the first half, is the kind of result that squads build belief on, and it arrived in the first game of a new coach's reign.
It also takes some pressure off tonight. Winning the opener means a draw against DR Congo would keep Zimbabwe firmly in the race for Group E's two qualifying places, while a win would put them top heading into November's double header against Equatorial Guinea. For fans in Harare, many of whom have not seen the Warriors play at home in years, the team they turn up to watch is now one that has already shown it can win a game it was losing.
Sources
- Warriors deliver masterclass fightback to beat Sierra Leone in AFCON 2027 Qualifiers Group E opener, Soccer24
- Dramatic comeback! Warriors stun Sierra Leone in Afcon Qualifiers, The Herald
- Zimbabwe produce stunning comeback as Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire open with wins, CAF Online
- Marvelous Nakamba reveals details of coach Ramon Catala's half-time talk, Soccer24
- Dramatic winners Zimbabwe to end five-year exile by tackling DR Congo, Arab News
