{"id":54241,"date":"2026-03-28T21:48:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T21:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=54241"},"modified":"2026-03-28T21:48:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T21:48:50","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignzimbabwe-thrash-botswana-to-reach-mukuru-four-nation-tournament-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/03\/28\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignzimbabwe-thrash-botswana-to-reach-mukuru-four-nation-tournament-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe thrash Botswana to reach Mukuru Four-Nation Tournament final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Zimbabwe booked their place in the final of the Mukuru Four-Nation Tournament after a commanding 3-0 victory over hosts Botswana at Obed Itani Stadium in Francistown on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n<p>The Warriors delivered a clinical first-half performance, scoring all the goals before the break and putting the game beyond reach.<\/p>\n<p>Zimbabwe made an aggressive start and could have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute after Teenage Hadebe\u2019s volley from inside the box sailed over the bar.<\/p>\n<p>As they maintained the momentum, the Warriors suffered a setback in the 18th minute when defender Munashe Garananga pulled up clutching his hamstring. He was forced off and replaced by Isheanesu Mauchi.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the disruption, Zimbabwe continued to control the proceedings and were rewarded in the 24th minute when Mongameli Tshuma opened the scoring with a composed finish, marking his first goal for the national team.<\/p>\n<p>Zimbabwe doubled their lead eight minutes later through Macaulay Bonne, who was on hand to apply the finishing touch following a cleverly worked corner routine.<\/p>\n<p>Bill Antonio, who provided the two assists, turned goalscorer this time on the stroke of half-time to make it three and cap off an impressive first-half display.<\/p>\n<p>Botswana showed more intent after the restart and enjoyed better spells of possession, but clear-cut chances remained limited.<\/p>\n<p>The hosts were handed a lifeline in the 65th minute when Mauchi\u2019s misplaced pass allowed them to break forward, and Hadebe conceded a penalty while attempting to recover. However, goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze came to Zimbabwe\u2019s rescue with a brilliant save from the spot to preserve the clean sheet.<\/p>\n<p>Chipezeze was called into action again deep into stoppage time, producing another sharp save to deny a long-range effort as Zimbabwe saw out the match with authority.<\/p>\n<p>The result sends Zimbabwe into the final, where they will face Zambia on Tuesday at 6 pm CAT. Botswana will take on Malawi in the third-place play-off.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pic Credit: Facebook\/ZIFA\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related Posts<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Zimbabwe #thrash #Botswana #reach #Mukuru #FourNation #Tournament #final<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zimbabwe booked their place in the final of the Mukuru Four-Nation Tournament after a commanding 3-0 victory over hosts Botswana&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1237,168,9703,7228,2233,5416,2037,113],"class_list":["post-54241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-example-3","tag-botswana","tag-final","tag-fournation","tag-mukuru","tag-reach","tag-thrash","tag-tournament","tag-zimbabwe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54243,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54241\/revisions\/54243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}