Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Tawanda Chirewa has reportedly been called up for the Zimbabwe senior national football team’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and South Africa next month.
The Warriors, who are in Group C, host Lesotho at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on June 7, and then take on hosts South Africa at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on June 11, 2024.
According to The Herald, despite the Warriors still being without a coach, the ZIFA Normalisation Committee has set up a committee that has been working on selecting players for the two matches.
Chirewa (20), is said to be among those players who have received their calls up from ZIFA.
He had his first Warriors call-up for a Four-nation tournament in Malawi in March, which featured the hosts, the Warriors, Zambia and Kenya.
Chirewa, however, withdrew from the squad saying he needed time to fully focus on club duties, where he wanted to fight for playing minutes at Wolves. He was quoted as saying:
I just want to make a quick message to the fans and the great people of Zimbabwe and let everyone know that I’m honoured and proud to be called to Zimbabwe and how sad I am to withdraw from the national team camp.
I am excited about the call, but I feel that I need to first solidify my place (at Wolves) so that when the next assignment comes, I’ll be an established English Premier League player and ready to take us (Zimbabwe) to the World Cup.
I am hopeful to be called and represent the Warriors shortly and I will be working very hard to take this country back to the levels which I believe it should be.
The Herald reported ZIFA sources as saying Chirewa and Andy Rinomhota are among UK-based players who have been called up for the World Cup qualifiers. Said the source:
Tawanda Chirewa has been included in the team and this time around, he has committed to come. He is a really good lad who can add a lot to the team.
Jordan Zemura, Teenage Hadebe, Marvelous Nakamba, Tino Kadewere, Marshal Munetsi, Donavan Bernard, Martin Mapisa, and Emmanuel Jalai are among those to whom invitations have been sent.
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