By FAZ Media Copper Queens Coach Nora Hauptle says the team is excited to play at home and confirm their ticket to the 2026 Women Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Addressing a pre-match press conference at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Hauptle says the team has a lot of work to do on set pieces. She says despite leading 4-2 in the first leg, they will have to remain focused to finish off the job at home on Sunday. “We know that in Zambia it is another job, we need to focus on our performance, we are happy to be home and excited and play tomorrow,” Hauptle says. “I think it is all in our hands, we decide if the game is going like this or like that, basically we are in each position better than our opposition.” She says,” Consistency in performance is a lot about discipline and getting the simple things right over 90 minutes and be very critical, we always want to improve.” “An example where we need to improve is defence and set pieces and possession. This is the easy thing to do but we need to do it more often.” She says that she was looking forward to a full stadium at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium to ensure the team felt the push. “I am already feeling goose bumps, to play before a full stadium is our wish,” she says. “We want to play with very offensive full backs and we sometimes convert wingers in this position, we can also convert holding midfielders sometimes on this position,” she says. The Copper Queens host the Brave Gladiators of Namibia in the second leg of the Morocco 2026 WAFCON with Zambia leading 4-2 from the first leg. The winner over two legs will qualify to the WAFCON which will be played in March next year. The game kicks off at 15h00 at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola with tickets on sale across all Shoprite outlets. Tickets are pegged at K50 (North, South & East), K150 (West) and K250 (VIP). Top four teams at the WAFCON will automatically qualify to the FIFA Women World Cup to be hosted by Brazil in 2027.
