Mangongo Targets Nigeria’s Qualification for 2028 Cricket World Cup

Stephen Maziva Mangongo, the newly appointed Head Coach and High-Performance Manager for the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), has set his sights on qualifying Nigeria for the 2028 Cricket World Cup.

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It is is very achievable. If you don’t have ambition, then you don’t have any business to be in sports. You must create a goal and work towards meeting that target. Yes, Nigeria is still work in progress but the talents are here and with more hard work, nothing is impossible.

Unveiled in Lagos by the NCF board, led by Dr. Uyi Akpata, the experienced Zimbabwean coach expressed enthusiasm for his three-year contract. Mangongo, who has a strong track record with various Zimbabwe national teams, believes Nigeria possesses talented cricketers with the potential to excel in the sport. He acknowledged that Nigeria is still developing in cricket but emphasized that with hard work, achieving the World Cup goal is attainable.

Motivated by the progress made by the NCF board in grassroots development, Mangongo stated his desire to help a fellow African country elevate its cricket program. He aspires to be remembered as the coach who transformed cricket in Nigeria from a mass sport into a professional one, enabling hundreds of players to earn a living and making Nigeria the top cricket-playing nation in Africa.

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I feel motivated to help a fellow African country to take the game of cricket to the next level. So there is no better honour than to help your fellow Africans to achieve greatness in the sport.

NCF President Uyi Akpata confirmed that Mangongo's role includes developing both male and female players to compete at the highest levels. His mandate also involves refining current grassroots development programs, from primary schools to youth levels, to create a strong player pipeline for national teams. Akpata added that Mangongo will collaborate with local coaches to enhance their skills.

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He's also going to design a programme to refine what we are currently doing with the developmental in the grassroots. That refinement will help with the game in the primary schools to the U15, U17 to the Youth level so that we have a huge reservoir.