Tichaona Katsvamutima
Liverpool defender Isaac Mabaya’s hopes of making his Zimbabwe senior debut have been thrown into doubt after the 21-year-old suffered an injury scare during Liverpool Under-21’s 5-1 victory over Brighton Under-21 on Saturday.
Mabaya lasted just six minutes of the Premier League 2 encounter after appearing to pick up a groin problem while setting up Liverpool’s opening goal.
The Zimbabwean right-back delivered a low cross for Josh Sonni-Lambie to score in the second minute, but was forced off shortly afterwards. The extent of the injury had not been confirmed by Liverpool by Saturday evening.
The setback comes at an unfortunate time for Mabaya, who was included in Warriors coach Ramon Catalá’s final squad for Zimbabwe’s opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zimbabwe are scheduled to face Sierra Leone away on September 24 before hosting the Democratic Republic of Congo on September 28.
Mabaya’s inclusion in the squad had raised expectations that the Liverpool academy product could finally make his senior international debut after committing his international future to Zimbabwe.
Born in Preston to Zimbabwean parents, Mabaya had previously represented England at youth level. He accepted the Zimbabwe call-up after resolving issues surrounding his passport and was named in the Warriors squad for the September qualifiers.
The latest injury is also concerning given Mabaya’s recent history. The defender missed a significant part of last season because of injury, making Saturday’s early substitution an additional setback as he attempts to establish himself at Liverpool.
Mabaya had made a promising start to Saturday’s match, providing the assist for Liverpool’s early opener before leaving the field.
Zimbabwe will now await further medical assessment to determine the severity of the injury and whether Mabaya will be fit to join the Warriors camp ahead of the two AFCON qualifiers.
The potential absence of the Liverpool defender would be another injury-related concern for Catalá, who has already lost Watford utility player Jordan Zemura for the September assignments.
