Zambia will be confident of starting their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with a win when they face Group B rivals Mauritania in Nouakchott on Friday night, kick-off at 16h00 GMT.
The Chipolopolo begin their quest to reach their World Cup for the first time in history against unpredictable Mauritania.
The southern Africans head into the game following a disappointing group-stage exit from the COSAFA Cup and will be looking to bounce back from that poor performance.
Beston Chabeshi, the Zambia coach, has named a strong, predominantly locally-based squad for the match, that has been camping for three weeks in Morocco.
Six foreign based players expected to add impetus to the team, with Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Enock Mwepu being one of the top stars.
Mwepu has already set his eyes on a ticket to Qatar for the 2022 edition and is expecting they will go past Group B hurdle that also have Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia in waiting.
“It has been my dream to try to qualify for the World Cup and take Zambia to the World Cup,” Mwepu told Caf’s website.
“There is this opportunity now; we are just starting to try to re-organize and see what we can achieve together as we play Mauritania in the first game.”
The striker was part of the Zambian team that missed the 2018 World Cup in Russia after they finished second in the qualifying group behind leaders Nigeria.
Mauritania, who have also never qualified for the global football showcase, has a fair share of foreign based players plying their trade in France and Spain.
Al-Murabitun’s coach Corentin Martins is expected to start the likes of Almike Moussa who plays for Trelissac in France, Mahmoud Abdallahi, Ibrehima Coulibaly, Aboubakar Kamara, and Oumar Camara.
Zambia and Mauritania have never met before in an official international match, according to FIFA statistics.
