Zambia have a chance to book their ticket to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations when they welcome host nation Ivory Coast to the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Saturday afternoon.

Kick-off is at 3 pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

With the Elephants having qualified automatically as they host the competition, the Copper Bullets are in pole position to advance from Group H as they sit six points clear of Comoros in second place.

Avram Grant’s side beat Lesotho both home and away in the March qualifiers to maintain the one-point gap to group leaders Ivory Coast, who ran out 3-1 victors in the reverse fixture on matchday 1.

Zambia last appeared at Afcon 2015, when they bowed out at the group stages after failing to win any of their three games in Equatorial Guinea. They were crowned champions for the first time in 2012, beating the Ivory Coast of Didier Drogba in the finale.

Grant was handed the reins in December 2022 and he’s looking to get the national team back to playing football again, insisting he’s not a fan of the direct style adopted by his predecessors.

The Israeli tactician admits that improving the playing surfaces in the country is key to that and revealed he has spoken with the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) about reaching out to his contacts in England, who can share knowledge in this area.

“I think in every organization you look at you are always working on improving. We are working on some areas that we can improve with the association,” he said.

“I have some contact in England with some people who can share knowledge with the coaches and other staff members. Staff is very important now in football, good assistant coaches, good physical trainers, video analysts, etc.

“The pitches need to be better, it will help players play better, less direct football which honestly I did not like. I don’t think it is the nature of Zambians, the nature is to play football.”

Ivory Coast remain unbeaten after four matches, having made light work of the Coelacanths in the double-header three months ago to continue their preparations for the tournament on home soil next year.

Eyebrows were raised when Jean-Louis Gasset named his 22-man squad for the trip to Zambia, which was missing 12 notable players due to injury, including Wilfried Zaha, Nicolas Pepe, and Sebastien Haller.

However, Gasset defended their omissions – described by some journalists as “imaginary injuries” – with the French tactician stating that he trusts the medical documents presented to him by the affected players’ clubs.

“There is only one word that guides us in our work, it is trust. Without it, nothing great can be built,” he said in a press conference to address the concerns.

“I trust the medical certificates that the club doctors give us. I have no reason to question them because they are professionals and above all it is about the players’ careers.”

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Africa Cup Of Nations