ZAMBIA NATIONAL TEAM CALENDAR

Exciting times are upon us, as Zambian National teams will be in action donning our national colours across different age groups.

The first to do it will be the U17 WOMEN, in a qualifier for the 2020 INDIA WORLD CUP; the team has been hard at work preparing for the first leg encounter which will be played at the Nkoloma Stadium this Friday the 28^th of February and the second leg is to be played during the period 13^th-15^th March 2020. The Zambia U17 Women team will face their counterparts from South Africa and seek to make it to the second phase of qualification to the World Cup. Another tournament to look forward to for the U17 Women team is the COSAFA in April that will be hosted by Mauritius in Port Louis.

Next up comes the Senior Women Team, who will be playing a fifth-round qualifier against Cameroon. Zambia’s journey can be labelled a smooth ride leading up to this moment as they have had most of their games resulting in wins from being awarded to them unlike stepping unto the pitch and grinding out results. The Shepolopolo head into the fixture boasting of a top scorer in the qualification process with 6 goals to her name and its no other than Grace Chanda. The fifth and final round will consist of 2 round to be played on the 5^th March 2020 which will be the first leg and the 10^th March 2020, with the winner qualifying to the Tokyo Olympics and the loser will have another shot at qualifying as they will have to participate in a play-off against Chile. Zambia in the qualification process has managed to score 11 goals and only concede 2 goals. The Senior Women Team will also be in action at the Women’s COSAFA tournament hosted in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; from September 11^th-23^th

The U20 COSAFA Women tournament will be hosted by Lesotho from December 3^rd-12^th.

Up next is the Chipolopolo who have quite a busy schedule this football season as their first assignment is a qualification game for the 2021 AFCON against Botswana on 26^th March 2020 at home then followed by a second leg fixture away to Botswana on 29^th March. The Senior National Team has had a forgettable campaign so far but a breath of fresh air has been sensed and has brought optimism not only among followers of the game we all love but the players as well. Next for Chipolopolo is the African Nations Championship aka CHAN 2020 hosted by Cameroon in the month of April, a tournament in which Zambia has fared favourably and now with adequate preparation put in place further progress is inevitable. The MEN COSAFA Championship is always one to serve the crowd with good enough football and will be played in the month of June from the 13^th to 27^th in Durban, South Africa. As current Champions of the Men’s COSAFA, Zambia is expected to compete at the tournament and defend the trophy with no lesser result.

The U17 Men COSAFA tournament will be one to let the Junior Chipolopolo have a feel of donning the colours of Zambia for the first time when Malawi host the tournament between July 22^nd and August 1^st 2020.

The U20 Men COSAFA tournament has also being slated for this year and will be hosted Mauritius.