The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has recently announced the appointment of Baltemor Brito as the new head coach of Zimbabwe’s senior men’s national team.
A former assistant to Jose Mourinho at Porto and Chelsea, Brito is currently the head coach of Zimbabwe club side Highlanders FC, who are currently in second place in the league, just one point behind the leaders, Ngezi Platinum.
Group C of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers includes Zimbabwe, Nigeria’s Super Eagles, South Africa, Lesotho, Rwanda, and Benin Republic.
According to the announcement made by ZIFA on their official handle, Brito’s term as head coach of the senior men’s team will continue until June 2024.
He will be assisted by Bongani Mafu and Genesis Mangombe, and their first assignment will be the invitational match to celebrate Botswana’s Independence Day on 30 September.
The Normalisation Committee (NC) has been in charge of the recruitment process, and they have selected Brito and his assistants based on regional, continental, and global confederations’ guidelines.
The coaches’ term of engagement will end at the same time as the NC’s mandate so that the next board will have the opportunity to recruit its own coaches.
ZIFA would like to thank Highlanders FC and Dynamos for allowing their coaches to serve the nation.
The coaches will remain with their clubs and will be reporting for national assignments as and when required to do so.
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Brito’s expertise in audio-visual work to prepare the team for matches will come in handy for Zimbabwe’s senior men’s national team.
He was part of a quartet that also included fitness coach Rui Faria, goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro, and chief scout André Villas-Boas that followed Mourinho from Porto to Chelsea in 2004.
Brito’s experience and skills are expected to help Zimbabwe’s senior men’s national team create a team that will compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in November.
ZIFA has asked for the nation’s patience as it continues with the recruitment of remaining national team coaches.
The association is confident that Brito and his team of assistants will bring their best efforts to the role and help Zimbabwe’s senior men’s national team achieve its goals.
