23 Feb 2026

A fierce battle is expected at Seshego Stadium as the national women’s football team, the Mares, take on Mighty Warriors of Zimbabwe in the Hollywoodbets COSAFA Women’s Championship today.

The Mares will be seeking their first victory of the tournament. They opened their campaign with a 3-0 loss to Zambia before playing to a 1–1 draw against eSwatini on Sunday.

Botswana currently sits at the bottom of the group standings with one point while Zambia leads the group with four points, followed by Zimbabwe, also on four points but with fewer goals. eSwatini occupies third position with one point and a better goal difference than Botswana.

The Mares coach Gaolethoo Nkutlwisang admitted that her team was still struggling with fitness. She, however, noted that there were positives from the eSwatini match, highlighting that the team managed to score their first goal of the tournament.

Coach Nkutlwisang said the organisation in the attacking front four was encouraging, adding that the introduction of Under-17 and Under-20 players in the second half changed the complexion of the game.

“We created a lot of scoring opportunities, but we were unlucky as we failed to convert them,” she said.

She further noted that Sunday’s match provided useful pointers, which the technical team had been working on ahead of the clash with Zimbabwe.

Group standings in the COSAFA Women’s Championship are determined first by total points accumulated. If teams are level on points, the first tie-breaker is the head-to-head result, followed by goal difference and goals scored in matches between the tied teams. 

If teams are still level, overall goal difference in all group matches is considered, followed by a Fair Play system based on yellow and red cards. One point is allocated per yellow card and two per red card, with the team accumulating the fewest points advancing. BOPA