Grant leaves Zambia 50 days before AFCON kickoff

Avram Grant has left his position as Zambia football coach, less than two months before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco, following the country’s wretched performance in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Football Association of Zambia released a statement on Wednesday after the 70-year-old former manager of Chelsea, Portsmouth, and West Ham made the news on social media, stating that they had amicably decided to part ways.

Grant was named coach of Zambia at the end of 2022, and he oversaw the team’s defeat and elimination in the first round at the most recent Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast.

Chipolopolo are placed in group A of the 2025 African Cup of  Nations alongside hosts Morocco, Comoros, and Mali, and will get their campaign underway against Mali on 22nd December this year.

But in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Zambia finished fourth in their group, losing five of their eight fixtures.

Zambia is the third side headed to the Cup of Nations finals to dismiss their coach in recent weeks, after Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe, following their failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.