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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Warriors will know their 2021 Caf Africa Cup Nations finals opponents on August 17 when the draw for the biennial showpiece is conducted in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Cameroon is also the host country for the biggest football tournament on the African continent.

“Caf together with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of Cameroon announce that the draw for the final phase of the 33rd edition of the Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations , Cameroon 2021, will take place on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at the Yaounde Conference Centre, Cameroon at 19h00 local time (18h00 GMT),” said Cafa in a statement on its website.

A total of 24 countries will participate in next year’s Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations that kicks off on 9 January.

Caf said it will release more information in due course including the draw procedure and special guests.

Zimbabwe will be making their fifth appearance at the finals, having made their debut in 2004 under Sunday Chidzambwe as coach and the mercurial Peter Ndlovu who was the inaugural Afcon finals captain for the Warriors.

Put in the group of hardened giants Cameroon, Egypt and Algeria Zimbabwe, finished bottom of Group C although they managed to stun Algeria 2-1 in the last match with goals from Ndlovu and Joel Luphahla.

They returned to the next edition of the finals in Egypt, playing in Group D which had Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana. They ended the campaign bottom of the group but with same number of points as runners up Senegal and third placed Ghana whom they beat 2-1 through an own goal and a Benjani Mwaruwari 68th minute strike.

Zimbabwe were to watch from the sidelines the next five editions of the Afcon finals from 2008 to 2015 until the arrival of Callisto Pauswa who took the Warriors to the 2017 jamboree in Guinea but again their final group standings was similar to the two previous editions, anchoring the group following their losses to Senegal and Tunisia and a self inflicted 2-2 draw against Algeria.

Chidzambwa returned again to take the nation to the 2019 edition of the finals hosted by Egypt. They lost to the hosts in the opening match, had a one-all stalemate with Uganda and were mauled 0-4 by DRC thereby sealing any dreams of a better placing.

For the 2021 version, their road to the finals began with a rather unimpressive and unexpected nill all home draw against Botswana at the National Sports Stadium, leaving Zimbabweans with little hopes against its next opponents, an away fixture in Lusaka against Zambia.

However, then interim coach Joe Antipas had something up on his sleeves, guiding the boys to a 2-1 win against Chipolopolo through a Khama Billiat brace.

It was to be Antipas’ last dance with the Warriors as Zifa brought in little known Croation national Zdvarko Logarusic in what almost turned out to be a deal that went off badly.

The Warriors fell 1-3 away to Algeria in Loga’s first match in charge, drew 2-2 at home against the same opponents before conjuring a 1-0 away win over Botswana, a result which saw them secure a spot thanks to a 3-3 draw between Algeria and Zambia.

Chipolopolo managed to end their campaign on a positive note, beating the Warriors 2-0 at the National Sports Stadium.

The countries that have qualified for the tournament are defending champions Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.